Scores for students in the Westbury School District saw modest increases as a whole, yet challenges still remain in preparing students for what the state defines as college and career readiness.
Student scores on Regents and AP exams were discussed at the Oct. 13 board of education meeting, during an in-depth presentation by Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Eudes Budhai, Westbury High School principal David Zimbler and Westbury Middle School principal Fernando Agramonte.
For 2015-16, the amount of sixth grade students achieving proficiency on the ELA was 28 percent, a 9 percent increase from the year before. In seventh grade, proficiency was 19 percent (up from 15 percent) and in eighth grade it was 28 percent, an 11 percent increase. In math, 17 percent of sixth grade students achieved proficiency (up from 11 percent the year prior) as did 11 percent of seventh graders (up from 10 percent). Eighth grade saw the biggest increase, with 51 percent of students achieving proficiency on the Algebra 1 Regents, up from 33 percent the year prior.
- 68% of the Westbury High School 2016 Senior Class took the SAT, an increase of 5% from 2015. The average score was 1203.
- 127 students took AP exams, with 85 of them receiving a 3 or higher.
- 34% of the Class of 2016 plans to attend a four-year college institution; 46% planned to attend a two-year.
Middle school students taking living environment seem to be excelling, as the class boasted 100 percent proficiency in the 2014-15 school year (with 107 students enrolled) and 99 percent in the 2015-16 school year (with 104 students enrolled). There are 274 students enrolled in the class for the 2016-17 school year. Middle school students taking U.S. History and Government also seem to be doing well, with all 17 of the students passing the Regents. Much of this success could be due to the three-year sequence at the middle school where students take the Regents at the end of eighth grade, and which creates a pathway for students to take AP courses when they reach high school. Westbury Middle School is one of the only districts on Long Island to offer U.S. History and Government in the middle school level.
As of August 2016 at the high school, 87 percent of students passed the English Regents, 87 percent passed the integrated Algebra Regents, 76 percent passed the Living Environment Regents, 86 percent passed the Global History Regents and 94 percent passed the U.S. History Regents. A passing score is 65 percent.
The New York State Education Department determines “college readiness,” a score of 75 and above in English and 80 and above in math. By that measure, in 2016, 190 students (59 percent of the class) passed the English Regents, and 76 students (24 percent of the class) passed the math. That’s up from 52 percent in English and 20 percent in math from 2015. Sixty-two students (19 percent) achieved passing rates in both tests, the same percentage as last year.
Zimbler said his goal is to see a 20 percent increase in five years, with a five percent increase every year.
The presentation also revealed that 68 percent of the 2016 graduating class took the SAT, an increase of five percent from 2015. The average score was 1203, lower than the New York state average of 1467. There were 127 AP students this year, who took a total of 222 exams, with 85 students (or 66.9 percent) earning a 3 or higher on the test, a “success” score that research finds predictive of college success and college graduation.
Graduation rates were also brought up during the presentation about scores. The 2012 cohort had 308 students, with 82 percent of them graduating in June, a number that went up to 85 percent by August.
Thirty-four percent of students in the Class of 2016 planned to attend a four-year institution, with 46 percent planning to attend a two-year institution. Zimbler said the high school encourages all students to attend four-year universities, through college fairs, financial aid workshops and trips to campuses.
“We show them what the monetary value is for a college degree and high school degree, in terms of how much of a salary increase there is,” said Zimbler. “We have multiple college awareness sessions for parents and students early on in the year. We promote college for all. College is the goal.”
Questions about the correlation between scores and overcrowding were brought out during the presentation on Oct. 13, with trustee Dr. Pless Dickerson saying the rollout of a plan to alleviate the burden of the district’s overcrowding shouldn’t wait for higher scores.
“There have been incremental gains all along in this district. Learning has been taking place,” Dickerson said, saying that teachers and students both needed more space. “Unfortunately our community looks at the final scores as it’s presented. We have to show our growth incrementally. There are incremental gains.”
Trustee John Simpkins said that improvements were happening despite the growing enrollment.
“It flies in the face of the question of more students, lower scores,” Simpkins said. “There are improvements in these areas—enrollment didn’t go down, it went up. But we still saw gains.”
Percent Of Students Achieving Proficiency
Middle School ELA
14-15 15-16
6th Grade 19% 28%
7th Grade 15% 19%
8th Grade 17% 28%
Middle School Math
14-15 15-16
6th Grade 11% 17%
7th Grade 10% 11%
8th Grade* 33% 51%
*(Algebra 1 Regents)
Regents Passing Rates
June 2015 August 2015 June 2016 August 2016
English 85% 88% 85% 87%
Integrated Algebra 84% 87% 80% 87%
Living Environment 79% 82% 74% 76%
Global History 75% 78% 84% 86%
US History 78% 82% 93% 94%
College and Career Readiness
English Regents (75 and above)
2015: 148 students (52% of class)
2016: 190 students (59% of class)
Math Regents (80 and above)
2015: 58 students (20% of class)
2016: 76 students (24% of class)
