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GREENBURGH, N.Y. – Students in the Edgemont Union Free School District scored higher than the county average on state-mandated tests, according to recently released test score data from the New York State Education Department.
Students in the Greenburgh Central School District and Elmsford School District generally scored lower than the county average, except in third-grade English and math. The education department reported slighter higher scores across the state for students meeting or exceeding proficiency standards.
Test scores are divided into four levels: level one scores indicate a student's score is below standards, level two means students meet basic standards, level three means students have met proficiency standards, and level four means students have exceeded proficiency standards.
Edgemont saw more than 80 percent of each grade meet or exceed proficiency standards on the English and math tests, except for third-grade English. The lowest scores were in third- and seventh-grade English, and third- and fifth-grade math.
Greenburgh saw more than 50 percent of each grade meet or exceed proficiency standards on the English and math tests, except for fifth-grade English. The lowest scores were in fifth- and seventh-grade English, and sixth- and eighth-grade math.
Elmsford saw more than 50 percent of each grade meet or exceed proficiency standards on the English and math tests, except for sixth-grade English and eighth-grade math. The lowest scores were in sixth- and seventh-grade English, and fifth- and eighth-grade math.
Students who achieved scores in level three or four are said to be “college-ready.” The state education department has a breakdown of each scoring level on its website.
Statewide, 55.1 percent of all students in grades three through eight met or exceeded proficiency standards in English language arts (ELA) and 64.8 percent of all students in grades three through eight met or exceeded proficiency standards in math.
Percentage of students meeting proficiency standards, according to the state:
- Greenburgh ELA scores: 73.6 third grade, 53.3 fourth grade, 48.6 fifth grade, 53.6 sixth grade, 53 seventh grade and 61.1 eighth grade.
- Greenburgh math scores: 77.3 third grade, 62.1 fourth grade, 58.5 fifth grade, 52.2 sixth grade, 62.7 seventh grade and 51.4 eighth grade.
- Elmsford ELA scores: 67.1 third grade, 61.3 fourth grade, 60 fifth grade, 45.1 sixth grade, 51.5 seventh grade and 55.6 eighth grade.
- Elmsford math scores: 72.6 third grade, 67.9 fourth grade, 54.8 fifth grade, 75.3 sixth grade, 71.8 seventh grade and 46.2 eighth grade.
- Edgemont ELA scores: 79.3 third grade, 88 fourth grade, 88.3 fifth grade, 87.9 sixth grade, 84.2 seventh grade and 85.6 eighth grade.
- Edgemont math scores: 82.3 third-grade, 95.1 fourth-grade, 89 fifth-grade, 93 sixth-grade, 89.1 seventh-grade and 93.1 eighth-grade.
To view all school district and building results in each grade and subject, see the state’s website. A summary of test results is also available online.
Comments (4)
I agree with the above,... many stories can be told by statistics. These numbers are not best represented by a line graph, a bar graph may be more appropriate. However the story is not far off. Elmsford schools have the potential to be the best in the County, but the disproportionaly high number of special needs, english as a second language students is far too many for one small district to handle (approx 950 total district student enrollment). The administration has failed to recognize this and I don't believe they really understand the dynamics of the community.
The poor state test scores scare off middle income families, that may consider purchasing single family homes / renting apartments in the Village. Its a vicious circle, the schools are poor performing, new people don't move in, without people to move in property owners create illegal apartments, increase the density and often the population of special needs / english as a second language students. Fortunately there is no violence and the facilities are in good shape.
The statistics also seem to show that while third graders in all districts seem to start at similar proficiency levels as they progress through the grades, Edgemont students maintain or improve their proficiency while the Greenburgh and Elmsford students decrease. Is it because good students leave Elmsford and Greenburgh and not Edgemont or is their something wrong with the teaching? I don't know, but I do think parents may need to be able to choose their district. Our taxes are the same, but our school results aren't.
you don't have to look at a chart to know Elmsford school district is a joke
Pff... graphs like these are terrible, and a very misleading way to communicate a statistic. How so? Because you react foremost to the visual appearance -- "Wow, look how much HIGHER the yellow line is than the others! They're kicking their butts!"
Aaaaaaand then you realize that the baseline starts at 650-and-up, and the actual point spread is hardly as dramatic as the chart depicts it to be. If the baseline was 0, then the graph lines would look MUCH more close to one-another and give you an entirely different impression of the numbers.
I don't dispute the facts of the figures, but I've seen this sort of thing many times before (not here, just in general) and it's a pretty sneaky way to put a spin on data.