LI's sagging math test scores have educators searching for solutions

Just over 40% of Long Island students taking New York's math tests passed their assessments, the latest sign that the COVID-19 pandemic has weakened academic achievement, government records show.

A Newsday analysis of district-by-district results in grades 3 through 8 also found that a little more than 50% of students tested in English Language Arts passed their assessments in Nassau and Suffolk counties. Scores in both math and ELA were provided by the state Education Department. 

While scores were down, student participation was up. About 60% of eligible students on the Island took part in the 2022 round of assessments, compared with 40% tested in 2021, when thousands were exempted due to confinement at home during the pandemic.

Slumping scores have touched off a fresh wave of educational soul-searching, as government and academic leaders ask why youths struggle with math, aside from the pandemic's obvious effects. Hofstra University Professor Alan Singer posted a blog speculating this might stem from the fact that today's students use calculators to just "punch in numbers" without mastering basic skills themselves.

New York State's release this week of district-by-district scores marked the first full look at student performance since the pandemic temporarily shut down schools in March 2020. Newsday's analysis drew on results of testing in 129 public school systems and charter schools between April and May, involving nearly 118,000 students on the Island. 

Major findings include: 

Mathematics — Islandwide, 48,356 of the students tested, or 41%, scored at the proficient or advanced levels, meaning they passed. That was similar to the statewide average.

Percentages of students scoring at that level in 2019, before the pandemic began, were substantially higher. However, comparisons can't be precise, because of shifting numbers of students who opted out of tests or did not participate for other reasons.

Another 25,526 students, or 22%, scored partly proficient in 2022. The remaining 27,839 students scored well below proficient.

English Language Arts — Across the Island, 57,618 students, or 52%, scored proficient or advanced. That was higher than the state average of 47%. Another 33,997 students, or 30%, scored partly proficient. The remaining 20,221 students scored well below proficiency, meaning they lacked fluency in reading. 

Test participation — The 117,753 Island students who took math tests represented 61% of those eligible. This was lower than the statewide average of 82%, reflecting the fact that the testing opt-out movement is stronger on the Island than in most other parts of the state. 

For English testing, the 111,836 Island students participating represented 58% of those eligible. This was also below the state average of 81%.

Addressing the results

Classroom performance came under the spotlight after federal officials announced in Washington, D.C., that math scores in New York and most other states fell at record rates during the pandemic. In response, New York officials promised a review of how mathematics is taught and how math teachers are trained. 

"The math results are unacceptable," said Emily DeSantis, an assistant state education commissioner for public affairs. "Supporting learning must be at the core of all we do."

Efforts to achieve that are already underway. On the Island, more than 110 school systems have filed plans with the state for spending a half-billion dollars in federal relief money on after-school tutoring, student counseling and other types of support. 

Nearly $149 million has been spent or committed to date, according to those plans. 

"I don't think anybody's shocked or surprised that scores took a direct hit as a result of the pandemic," said Robert Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association. "What's more important now is what schools have been doing and are continuing to do to make up for those lost learning opportunities in a variety of ways." 

Testing experts generally agreed the pandemic disrupted students' work in math more than in English. That, experts said, was because math is the sort of subject that is difficult to learn when students are quarantined at home, without a teacher nearby who can readily check their work and make corrections. 

Beyond that, educators said, in-class instruction generally seems to work better than the remote variety.

Two school superintendents on the Island who head up professional associations in their respective counties, Dominick Palma of the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents and James Polansky of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association, underlined the point in a joint statement.

"While virtual instruction was necessary during the time of mandatory school closures, we know that it is not equivalent to in-person learning," the message stated. "Student and teacher absences caused by illness and quarantine further impacted our students' ability to learn in a consistent, uninterrupted manner." 

Disparities between LI districts

Testing results showed wide differences between individual districts on the Island, reflecting the region's disparities in family incomes, educational levels and other factors. For example, passing percentages in math ranged from more than 75% in at least 10 districts to fewer than 35% in 10 others. 

In the Cold Spring Harbor district, where student participation and scoring are relatively strong, Superintendent Jill Gierasch said she was pleased with testing results at some levels, including grades 5 and 6.

The schools chief added that there were concerns over a small dip in scores in grade 3, and that the district was looking into this to see how performance might be enhanced. Cold Spring Harbor expanded math instruction at the beginning of this school year, by doubling periods in the subject three times weekly for grades 2-6.

In a further move, Cold Spring Harbor administrators and about 75 teachers and other instructional staff gathered on Oct. 21 for half-day workshop sessions. Here, they scrutinized score statistics, looking for patterns that would show what had gone right or wrong in students' achievement.

"Really, it's everybody rolling up their sleeves," Gierasch said. 

Kevin O'Rourke, who teaches math at the district's Lloyd Harbor Elementary School, said he and colleagues gained useful experience with the uses of educational technology and distance learning during the pandemic years. The veteran teacher added, however, that the instructional staff also had heightened appreciation for the benefits of face-to-face connections in classrooms. 

"I think the biggest lesson that we've learned is nothing can replace teacher-to-student interpersonal learning," O'Rourke said.