UPDATE:
Rochester
schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas says several factors are to
blame for the flat trajectory of student performance on state tests
over the last three years. The state tests have become more
difficult, he said at a press conference this afternoon, but
Rochester students are not getting the extra instruction time they
need to help them do better.
“Rochester
students receive less instruction time than students in any other
district in Monroe County,” Vargas said.
New
York City students are reaping the benefits of longer school days, he
said, which helps explain why they have made the most performance
gains.
Vargas
said he is working with the Rochester Teachers Association on
extended hours of instruction in at least 10 schools in the coming
school year. And the district has to do a better job of tracking
student performance, especially at the central office level, he said.
But
there was no avoiding the most difficult problem the district has
faced for years: a sobering lack of support for learning at home and
in the community. As one example, Vargas cited being in a library
earlier today where he saw few children reading or taking out books.
“If
our students are not reading to grade level by third grade, we are
going to see more test results like this,” he said.
Almost
70 percent of the students at School 23 met or exceeded proficiency
in math, and more than 50 percent met or exceeded proficiency in
English. But School 23 is the exception. Some schools saw less than
10 percent of their students meet state standards.
Vargas
has spoken candidly about the need for the larger community’s help
in engaging city students academically, as well as in extracurricular
activities. But he said the support hasn’t come as quickly as he
hoped.
“I
don’t see the evidence of it, yet,” Vargas said.
ORIGINAL
STORY
Student
performance on state exams in grades 3 to 8 in the Rochester school
district has fallen. Only 20.7 percent, barely one-fifth of students
met or exceeded English proficiency standards, down from 24.4 percent
a year ago.
And
only 27.3 percent met or exceeded math proficiency standards, down
from 29.4 percent a year ago.
Rochester
students showed the lowest performance among the state’s Big 5
districts, with Syracuse, Yonkers, and New York City students showing
progress, according to a report released today by the New York State Education Department.
Exam
scores in New York City schools, for example, improved from 43.9
percent a year ago to 46.9 percent in English, and 60 percent met or
exceeded math standards.
This article appears in Jul 11-18, 2012.
