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YONKERS, N.Y. Yonkers City School District students showed improvement in standardized test scores this year but remained below state averages, state Education Department data released Tuesday show.
Overall, 40.7 percent of third- through eighth-grade students tested in April met or exceeded the English language arts standard, up from 37.8 percent last year, the state report says. In math, 46.8 percent of tested students met or exceeded the math standard, up from 40.4 percent last year.
Yonkers Superintendent of Schools Bernard Pierorazio said the districts improvement indicates progress.
We are optimistic that we continue to move in a positive direction, considering the change in the state assessment metric requiring all assessments to be more rigorous and challenging in content, he said in an emailed statement.
Statewide, test scores were on the rise, as 55.1 percent of third- through eighth-graders met or exceeded the English language arts proficiency standard and 64.8 percent met or exceeded the standard in math.
While Yonkers failed to meet those benchmarks, Pierorazio noted that 12 percent of district students were learning the English language and 14 percent were special needs students. He said those numbers affected district scores.
A child who speaks no English is required to take both assessments after only one year of formal education in our district, Pierorazio said. In the past, the child was given the assessment after three years of formal education. As long as we continue to move in a positive direction, that indicates progress.
State officials faced intense scrutiny in 2012, the first year they had used Pearson as the test consultant. Some questioned the validity of the spring test after more than two dozen questions, most notably a passage about a talking pineapple, were dismissed from the exam because they were confusing or unanswerable.
Pierorazio said test reliability is always a concern, especially when dealing with subject matter that is unfamiliar to the tested population.
Test results are available in a variety of formats on the state Education Department website.
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