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Volume XVIII • Number 44 • October 27 - November 2, 2011 •
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For local schools: A long way to the top
By MIAWLING LAM It's a long way to the top for Riverdale’s public schools. New data reveals local schools have fallen out of the top 15 percent and are struggling to match the academic achievements of their counterparts in Manhattan and Queens. As part of a special investigation last week, the Riverdale Review sorted through countless pages of standardized test results to create a table of all New York City schools ranked according to performance. Using raw aggregates supplied by the NYC Department of Education, two ranking ladders were created—one, which sorted schools by the percentage of students performing at grade level, and another based on a school’s scaled mean scores. This year, P.S. 24 was ranked 94th in English Language Arts and 113th in math out of 711 elementary schools. Meanwhile, P.S. 81 was ranked 299th in math and 152nd in English. The latest rankings represent a fall from grace for Riverdale’s elementary schools, especially for P.S. 24, which was once declared the seventh-best-performing school in the city. According to the New York Times, P.S. 24 had the top reading scores in The Bronx in 1993, with 89 percent of its students performing at or above grade level.
This year, however, only 71 percent of pupils at the Spuyten Duyvil school were deemed proficient in English, while 81 percent met the state’s bar for math proficiency. At P.S. 81, 64 percent met the state’s bar for math proficiency, and 64 percent of children were deemed to be performing at grade level for English. Figures also show P.S. 24 may no longer represent one of the crown jewels of The Bronx’s public schools. While it still boasts the best English scores in the borough, P.S. 307 in Kingsbridge Heights emerged as the top-performing Bronx school in math. A total of 86 percent of its students were deemed to be performing at or above grade level. Pupils need to achieve a score that falls within Levels 3 and 4 to be considered proficient. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said he was saddened to hear of P.S. 24’s decline. “Hearing those numbers is very disappointing,” he said. “I remember when P.S. 24 was in the top 10, so not being in the top 100 is certainly disappointing. “Clearly they are above more schools than they are behind, but I would hope that our schools would be in the very top tier and they’re not, so I think we have to work harder to make sure they get back into the top tier.” Dinowitz said although curriculum was a major factor in determining a school’s test scores, the number of
experienced teachers in classrooms and the percentage of students with special needs also influenced results. “I’m sure that we can do better, and there are a lot of good people in the schools, so we need to acknowledge their efforts,” he said. Meanwhile, the rankings reveal that the Riverdale/ Kingsbridge Academy’s middle school is ranked in the top 30 percent in the city across both subjects. The school placed 77th in ELA and 97th in math out of a total of 331 schools. Despite cracking into the top 100, the school recorded a pass rate of just 45 percent for English and 62 percent on the math exam. In fact, The Bronx’s performance as a whole trails behind the rest of the city by so much that RKA is the sixth-best school in the borough for English and ninthbest for math. Among District 10 schools, it’s only second to J.H.S. 118 in Tremont. Elementary schools in Manhattan and Queens dominated the top 20 for both subjects, accounting for a whopping 16 of the 20 highest ranks. The Anderson School, otherwise known as P.S. 334, a highly competitive gifted and talented school on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, topped the English rankings, with more than 99 percent of its students scoring Continued on Page 2
RKA’s high school gets an ‘A’ By MIAWLING LAM The Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy defied tougher graduation requirements and earned an A on this year’s progress report card. The annual evaluations, released by the Department of Education on Monday, reveals H.S. 141 was one of just 128 high schools to receive the top grade this year. It also secured an A in 2010 and 2009. The school racked up 73.9 points out of a possible 100— slightly down from its score of 75.3 in 2010—on the back of recent graduation rates and student performance on Regents exams. Schools that score 70 points and above are awarded an A. RKA's percentile ranking also rose slightly, with the school assessed as being better or equal to that of 77 percent of the city’s high schools. Calls to the school were not returned as of press time, but following the city’s announcement, RKA principal Lori O’Mara took to social media to share the school’s news. “RKA HS earns an A on the NYCDOE Progress Report! Con-
grats to our wonderful teachers, parents and students!” she posted on Twitter. A breakdown of the progress report shows the high school earned an A for student performance and a B for student progress, a category that accounts for 60 percent of a school’s grade. However, a poor showing in school environment dragged down its overall score. The school earned just 6.5 points out of a possible 15—a D grade—after parents, teachers and students criticized the administration on the latest school surveys. For the first time ever, education authorities also included three new college-readiness measures on this year’s evaluations. The metrics detail the number of students who take on and excel in advanced courses, graduate ready for college and enroll in a college after high school. Data shows although 38 percent of RKA students graduate college-ready—nearly double the citywide average—the remaining 62 percent are likely to require remedial services. Citywide, only 22 percent Continued on Page 19
RKA Student Government members Rory Muldoon, Ashley Greaves, Evan Silverman and Ezel Peterson welcomed visitors and guided them around the school at last week’s open house for community leaders.