Clarkstown Central School District Newsletter

The 2009 administration of the New York State English Language Arts assessments in grades 3-8 reflect gains at every grade level and in all schools. Not only did the percent of students reaching proficiency increase across the board, (students who reach levels three and four out of four) but the number of students reaching mastery (four out of four) increased as well. These gains are attributed to parent, student, staff and district efforts. A special thank you to the teachers for the excellence reflected in our results and for all those involved in professional development, curriculum and data analysis efforts. Our district has worked very hard in the past three years to align our resources in a targeted manner while focusing upon the areas of greatest need. The 2009 results found below indicate the effort has resulted in significant across the board improvements.

Overall, the District experienced significant gains from 2007-2008 to 2008-2009 in the percent of students who scored at Levels 3 and 4 on the ELA 3-8 assessments:

Increased 5% in ELA 3 (from 87% to 92%)
Increased 5% in ELA 4 (from 85% to 90%)
Increased 2% in ELA 5 (from 91% to 93%)
Increased 9% in ELA 6 (from 82% to 91%)
Increased 6% in ELA 7 (from 85% to 91%)
Increased 8% in ELA 8 (from 76% to 84%)

We also increased the percent of students who met the standards with distinction (scoring at Level 4) by 12% in ELA 5 (from 8% to 20%); 4% in ELA 6 (from 7% to 11%); and by 7% in ELA 7 (from 4% to 11%).

All of our elementary schools experienced corresponding increases in the percent of students who met the New York State learning standards in ELA (scoring at Levels 3 and 4):

Bardonia increased 5% in ELA 3 (from 89% to 94%); and 1% in ELA 4 (from 89% to 90%).
Congers increased 14% in ELA 3 (from 80% to 94%); and 7% in ELA 4 (from 78% to 85%).
Lakewood increased 8% in ELA 3 (from 89% to 97%); 18% in ELA 4 (from 74% to 92%); and 9% in ELA 5 (from 84% to 93%).
Laurel Plains increased 6% in ELA 4 (from 91% to 97%); and 5% in ELA 5 (from 94% to 99%).
Link increased 14% in ELA 4 (from 79% to 93%); and 2% in ELA 5 (from 94% to 96%).
Little Tor increased 4% in ELA 5 (from 92% to 96%).
New City increased 8% in ELA 3 (from 92% to 100%).
Strawtown increased 7% in ELA 3 (from 90% to 97%); and 4% in ELA 4 (from 94% to 98%).
West Nyack increased 10% in ELA 3 (from 79% to 89%); and 22% in ELA 4 (from 70% to 92%).
Woodglen increased 11% in ELA 3 (from 81% to 92%); and 9% in ELA 5 (from 82% to 91%)

All of our elementary schools also increased the percent of students who met the standards with distinction (scoring at Level 4):

Bardonia increased 9% in ELA 5 (from 8% to 17%).
Congers increased 7% in ELA 3 (from 17% to 24%); and 9% in ELA 5 (from 4% to 13%).
Lakewood increased 14% in ELA 3 (from 8% to 22%); and 3% in ELA 5 (from 7% to 10%).
Laurel Plains increased 3% in ELA 4 (from 16% to 19%); and 14% in ELA 5 (from 13% to 27%).
Link increased 2% in ELA 4 (from 7% to 9%); and 12% in ELA 5 (from 10% to 22%).
Little Tor increased 4% in ELA 3 (from 16% to 20%); and 6% in ELA 5 (from 9% to 15%).
New City increased 4% in ELA 3 (from 19% to 23%); and 25% in ELA 5 (from 8% to 33%).
Strawtown increased 4% in ELA 3 (from 18% to 22%); and 4% in ELA 5 (from 8% to 12%).
West Nyack increased 2% in ELA 3 (from 17% to 19%); 1% in ELA 4 (from 7% to 8%); and 8% in ELA 5 (from 13% to 21%).
Woodglen increased 7% in ELA 3 (from 14% to 21%); 2% in ELA 4 (from 9% to 11%); and 15% in ELA 5 (from 5% to 20%).

Similarly, all of our middle schools experienced gains from 2007-2008 to 2008-2009:

Felix Festa - A School increased 10% (from 82% to 92%) in ELA 6 in the percent of students who scored at Levels 3 and 4; and increased 5% (from 7% to 12%) in the percent of students who met the standards with distinction (scoring at Level 4).

Felix Festa - C School increased 4% (from 89% to 93%) in ELA 7 in the percent of students who scored at Levels 3 and 4; and increased 6% (from 5% to 11%) in the percent of students who met the standards with distinction (scoring at Level 4).
Felix Festa - C School also increased 13% (from 74% to 87%) in ELA 8 in the percent of students who scored at Levels 3 and 4.
Felix Festa - D School increased 8% (from 83% to 91%) in ELA 7 in the percent of students who scored at Levels 3 and 4; and increased 9% (from 2% to 11%) in the percent of students who met the standards with distinction (scoring at Level 4).