The Common Core results are in and overall the district performed reasonably well according to Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction, Marianne Litzman at Sept. 17’s school board meeting.
“The students in grades 3-8 performed wonderfully in some areas but there were also some challenges,” said Litzman. “Overall as a district we performed above average for the County and State levels.”
According to Litzman, students in grades 3-8 performed above average in all grade levels for Mathematics and above the County average for grades 3-5 and at the County average for grade 6. In English Language Arts, students in grades 3-6 and grade 8 performed above the State average and above the County average for grades 3-5 and grades 6 and 8.
“Hicksville Public Schools students showed growth and exceeded the previous year’s performance on NYS Assessments in grades 3, 4 and 6 for ELA and in grades 3-7 for Math,” said Litzman. “As all 8th graders are accelerated for math these students took the Integrated Algebra I Regents instead of the NYS Assessment in mathematics for grade 8.”
Litzman said that the 7th grade Math results were below State and County proficiency but that the exam was, “particularly difficult as shown by overall scores across the board.”
In order to continue to strengthen student learning, Litzman said that a summer academic program had been implemented for students in grades K-5.
She added that the district is continuing to work with Columbia University’s Teachers College Writing Project for grades K-8 and will expand the use of eSPARK and the use of apps to address individual learning needs. All middle school students will be issued an iPad to help them with their studies.
The Board of Education received the State Assessment results on Aug. 12 and all the data was uploaded on the district website, http://www.hicksvillepublicschools.org/ on Aug. 29. The data was loaded into the PowerSchool Parent Portal section of the website.
Other News:
Interim School Superintendent, Carl Bonuso said that the district has recently formed several Ad-Hoc Committees and hopes that teachers and parents will play an active role in them. Some of the new committees mentioned were the Efficiency Committee, Turf Field Committee, 5th Grade Field Trip Committee and High School Main Hall/ Lobby Facilities Committee.
On Monday, Sept. 29 the district will hold a community focus group meeting in the Administration Building at 7 p.m. to hear input on the search for the new superintendent.
