2006 GCSD report card
Highlighting strong high-school finishes, after challenges along the way



GUILDERLAND — In presenting data from required state testing, known as the school report card, Nancy Andress this year reversed her usual order and started with results from high school Regents exams.
"This is where we want to be," said Andress, the district’s assistant superintendent for instruction. "Kids aren’t little cogs in a wheel," all rolling along at the same rate, she told the school board.

As the state and federal government have ramped up testing requirements in recent years, Guilderland School Board members have expressed varying views on whether rich curriculum need be or should be sacrificed to teach in such a way that students will perform well on high-stakes tests.

Some board members have said they’d rather give up some points on test scores to focus on more creative learning. Others have said there is no conflict; standardized tests cover the basics and curriculum can build from there. Still others have said it is important to teach students how to succeed on tests.

The report-card format has led to widespread comparison of schools. The state’s education commissioner has said one of the functions of the testing system is to alert schools to problems so students get help when they need it, but some teachers have complained the test results are so delayed that it makes meaningful remediation difficult.

With these debates as a backdrop, Andress quoted from Deborah Meier, a scholar at New York University, that, if a function of public schooling is to strengthen democracy, then kids need to learn about trade-offs, critical judgments, and responsibilities inherent in democratic life.
"If we seek only to improve scores on tests of standards determined by others," writes Meier, "then educating students for democratic life is not necessary."
Andress called the report card "a picture of our school district performance" that "offers a measure of accountability." That "picture" was taken in the 2004-05 school year. The data is compiled in an inch-thick report and is also available on-line at the district’s website: www.guilderlandschools.org.

Guilderland is grouped for comparison with other wealthy school districts, like Bethlehem locally, and Scarsdale in Westchester County.
Andress stressed, "This is just one piece of our whole educational program."
Her introduction stated, as it has in recent years, "We recognize that such critical areas as love of learning, performance skills, and habits of mind and character that lead to successful living in a democracy are not numerically represented."
In the course of making her televised presentation, Andress also said, "We’re looking at a lot more than just a score. We want to see growth over time."

She also said the test results were used to inform instruction.

The high-school results Andress started with showed high passing and advanced rates in state-wide Regents exams.
The only subject where the passing rate wasn’t above 90 was in Math B. In Math A, the passing rate (meaning students scored between 65 and 100 percent) was 95 percent, and the advanced rate (meaning students scored between 85 and 100 percent) was 50 percent. But in Math B, the passing rate was 68 percent and the advanced rate was only 18 percent. Andress called it "a more challenging exam."

The Class of 2005 graduation information showed that 97 percent earned Regents diplomas, meaning they had passed all the state-required exams. Seventy-one percent of the class went on to four-year colleges, and 24 percent went to two-year colleges.

Younger students
Tests for middle- and elementary-school students are graded at four performance levels. Students at the top level, 4, exceed standards; students at the next level, 3, meet standards; students at Level 2 need extra help; and students at Level 1 are deemed to have "serious academic deficiencies."
Middle school students at Farnsworth went through what Andress termed "the middle-school dip." The phenomenon is state-wide.

In English Language Arts in 2005, for example, 67 percent of Farnsworth eighth-graders scored at levels 3 and 4.

Andress included a chart that showed, in 2002, sixty-seven percent of Farnsworth eighth-graders also scored at levels 3 and 4. Those same students then took the English Regents exam as high-school juniors and 98 percent of them passed.
There appears to be little or no "middle-school dip" in science with 92 percent of Farnsworth eighth-graders scoring at levels 3 or 4.

At the elementary level, the state requires scores to be figured by individual schools. Guilderland has five elementary schools. All of the Guilderland scores were above state averages.

At Altamont and Westmere elementary schools, 8 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, an indication of household income. At Guilderland, Lynnwood, and Pine Bush, the percentage is half that.

In English, fourth-graders who met or exceeded standards were 78 percent at Guilderland Elementary, 79 percent at Westmere, 81 percent at Altamont, 87 percent at Lynnwood, and 88 percent at Pine Bush.

In math, fourth-graders who met or exceeded standards were 89 percent at Westmere, 92 percent at Guilderland, 93 percent at Altamont and Lynnwood, and 97 percent at Pine Bush.

In science, fourth-graders who met or exceeded standards were 93 percent at Lynnwood, 94 percent at Westmere, 96 percent at Guilderland and Pine Bush, and 97 percent at Altamont.

Successes
and challenges
Andress highlighted in her presentation a list of nine "successes" and seven "challenges." The successes were:

— Recognition of Farnsworth as a high-performing gap-closing school, based on math and English results;

— Ninety percent of fourth-grade general education students scored at or above the state standards in English and 98 percent in math;

— Ninety-five percent of Guilderland High School students went on to college;

— Ninety-seven percent of general education high-school graduates received Regents diplomas;

— Seventy-seven percent of Regents diplomas were with Advanced Designation;

— Sixty-eight percent of students with disabilities received Regents diplomas;

— Results on Regents exams, at both passing and advanced levels, were strong;

— Teachers and administrators receive training to challenge students, develop curricula, refine teaching, and prepare for assessments; and

— Eighty-percent took the Scholastic Assessment Test, with strong results.

The challenges listed by Andress were:

— To work on strong performances at all levels in math, especially in middle school, to meet the requirements of the new math standards;

— To work on early intervention and to continue to provide assistance for students who do not meet the state standards;

— To develop systems for tracking performance of students and managing data in meaningful ways through the state’s Data Warehouse System;

— To support students with disabilities to enable them to meet federal requirements in math and English;

— To encourage higher levels of performance for students with exceptional academic ability at all levels;

— To meaningfully share test results with parents at all levels; and

— To continue curriculum mapping to make core curricula part of the fabric of instruction.

Other business

In other business at its May meetings, the board:

— Honored 21 staff members who are retiring, giving each one a plaque and applause.
"They have touched many lives in many different ways," said Susan Tangorre, the district’s personnel director, adding a characteristic they have in common is "commitment to the Guilderland schools";

— Officially declared the results of the May 16 budget vote and school board election tallies.
"I would like to thank the community or their continued support...It’s a difficult time and we appreciate the vote of confidence," said Vice President Linda Bakst, who presided over the meeting in the absence of President Gene Danese;

— Accepted the lower of two bids for copy paper — $28,442.19 from Ricoh Corporation;

— Accepted the lowest bids for athletic supplies for the next school year. Seven vendors bid on over 75 items. The three most substantial awards were $2,324 to Passon’s Sports; $2,093.63 to Scholastic Sports Sales, Ltd.; and $1,170.49 to Cannon Sports;
— Decided, after discussion and debate, to meet in closed session with new board members on July 11, before the public reorganizational meeting. The closed session will be for "team-building activities," Superintendent Gregory Aidala said, allowed under the state’s Open Meetings Law;

— Discussed nominating new board officers, as the current vice president and president are retiring from the school board.

Member Thomas Nachod volunteered again this year to survey members to see who wants to run for office. The board will elect its leaders at the July 11 meeting;

— Heard from Andress that Micki Nevett, Westmere Elementary library media specialist, has been elected through the American Library Association to serve on the 2008 Newberry Committee, which awards medals annually for exemplary children’s books;

— Learned that 43 seventh- and eighth-graders at Farnsworth Middle School, under the direction of enrichment teacher Deb Escobar, participated in the 2006 Johns Hopkins Center of Talented Youth SAT Challenge.

Seven students received state awards and 22 will receive certificates of distinction, meaning their scores on the SAT exam equal or exceed the average score for a college-bound senior;

— Heard that Guilderland staff developer, Kathy Oboyski-Butler, received a New York State Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Affiliate Award;

— Learned that Seth Schwartzbach, son of Mr. and Mrs. Barry Schwartzbach of Slingerlands, won the youth men’s division of the Joel Dolven Memorial vocal competition sponsored by the Mendelssohn Club;

— Heard that Robert Whiteman, enrichment and class teacher at Westmere Elementary School, was selected by the Walt Disney Company as one of 44 teachers to be honored this year for the Disney Teacher Awards. Of the 76,000 teachers nominated, 10,000 applied.
The award comes with a $5,000 honorarium for the school and $10,000 personal money for Whiteman. Disney will also pay for training for Whiteman so he may "build more collaborative cultures" within the school to benefit children, Andress said;

— Learned that students, under the direction of Escobar, again did well in the state History Day competition.
Eighth-graders Katie Wells, Sohee Rho, and Casey Gerety for the second year in a row won first place for a documentary — "The March in Washington: Standing Up or Freedom" — and will compete nationally.

Ninth-grader Zagreb Mukerjee won first place in the senior category for his paper on Mahatma Gandhi and will also compete nationally.

Jennifer Robbiano and Lessa Cerio made it through the runoffs for their documentary on Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.
Jean Kang and Bobby Ruggles each won a Nation Archives "Best Use of Primary Sources" award. Kang wrote a paper on Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Ruggles created an exhibit called "Tarnished Badges, Broken Dreams," about Frank Serpico blowing the whistle on corruption in the New York City Police Department.

Brendan Blendell also competed with his individual documentary on Pete Seeger, activist and folksinger; and

— Met in executive session to discuss the superintendent’s annual performance review.