Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Dr. Alice. Bowman gave the student performance report for the 2022-2023 school year at the board of education meeting on Oct. 11. The report covered the test scores of third through eighth grades on the ELA and math New York State exams, in addition to the Regents and AP test scores of high school students.
There was a high proficiency rate—scoring three or four—in grades three through eight in ELA, with grade six posting the lowest proficiency rate of 68.21% and grade eight the highest at 91.84%, said Bowman.
In math, grade three scored the lowest with 79.7% of students proficient and grade four the highest (88.46%). The eighth grade math test was only taken by students who were not accelerated and enrolled in algebra 1, resulting in a 63.42% proficiency rate.
“Because we have been working hard to increase enrollment in our algebra course, the pool of students who are in our math 8 class has been reduced and they are more fragile as math students,” said Bowman.
In both 2022 and 2023, 100% of graduates from Pelham Memorial High School received Regents diplomas. Comparing Regents scores from the two years, the passing rates for the English, algebra 1, earth science, living environment and global history tests all were about the same, Bowman said.
There were notable differences in the geometry and chemistry Regents, in which the passing rates rose by 8.24% and 23.59%, respectively.
“Our student performance in geometry has increased significantly from last year because of the reflective practices that have been put into place over time,” said Bowman.
In the high school, there were a total of 471 AP students, 79.19% of them receiving three or higher on their exams. Seventy percent of students in grades 10 to 12 took at least one AP test.
“What I think you will see is a constant theme to the story of Pelham year over year is that our students are provided with world-class opportunities in a school district that cares deeply about them all,” Bowman to the school board.
The next board of education meeting will take place on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the middle school library.
