Island Dispatch, 1995-12-22

              THE ISLAND DISPATCH Serving Grand Island for _SB^ popper Construction Inc Winter Special Now thru March Kitchen & Bath remodeling Call now lor Iree estimate on Kitchen, Bath or any Interior remodeling 773-6781 December 22,1995 20 Pages 650 Vol. 52•N0. 37 Merry Christmas Santa Claus helped Grand Island prepare for Christmas Saturday with several area visits, including McDonald's (above), True Value, the Town Center Park area and Town Hall. Following breakfast at McDonald's, he made his first visit at True Value, where he is expected to return tomorrow. The Fire Company was called in to deliver Santa because the weather downed his helicopter. With sirens wailing and lights flashing, Santa arrived to a crowd of youngsters at Town Center Park, then moved into Town Hall to talk with them. The Reality Cafe provided refreshments and St. Stephen's Playground fund raisers sold candy bars. Music was provided by the "23 Ski Doo" group and toe tapping it was! Pony rides outside were provided by Party Ponies. The line of children waiting for their turn on the ponies was nearly as long as those waiting to talk with Santa. Inside, there were guessing games and coloring to keep the children busy while they waited. Pictured above with Santa is 4-year-old Shaun Winter. Photo by Barb! Lare School report card shows good results; math outstanding by Lee Cohen THE CAR (Comprehensive Assessment Report), is the school district's annual report card. Compiled by the State Education Department for each district statewide, il must be released by Dec. 15. Districts are expected to use the data to improve test results as reported in the CAR. PEP TESTS Administered in grades 3, 5 and 6. these tests measure minimum competency standards and identify youngsters falling below a stale reference point (SRP) and requiring remediation. Grade 3 reading results, which had shown a downward trend, rebounded this year with 93% of students above the SRP, as in similar-sized districts. Grade 6 reading results continue to be excellent, with Grand Island above both Erie County and similar districts at 97% above the SRP. Since 1989 grade 3 math results have been excellent and 1994-95 was no exception, with "~1(W)% above the SRP. In grade 6, 99% were above the SRP, above Erie County and similar-sized schools. Writing is tested in grade 5. After rebounding from a low of 89% passing in 1992-93, results slipped a percentage point in 1994-5 to 94% passing, continually below similar size districts and slighdy below the rest of Erie County. Results are broken for males and females. They show that in 3rd grade boys at both HuUi' and Kaegebein tended to read better than girls while girls tended to do better in writing in grade 5. By grade 6 reading scores were comparable. PET TESTS Program Evaluation Tests (PET) are administered in grades 4 (science) and social studies (grades 6 & 8). Test results assess the curriculum (rather than student achievement) relative to state curriculum guides. Test results are used to evaluate program at local and slate levels. The science test has three components and Grand Island continues lo lag slightly below other large central schools in all three sections, particularly in manipulative skills where there is a widening gap in the comparison. While grade 6 PET results in social studies dropped below both Erie County and similar size schools, grade 8 scores were above Erie County's and on a par with similar district scores. COMPETENCY TESTS Preliminary Competency Tests (PCT) are given in reading and writing in either grade 8 or 9. An SRP has been established for these . tests and students falling below it receive remediation. Students who fell below the SRP on the grade 6 reading PEP test are required to take the PCT. Of 94 taking the test, 97% passed. Students falling below die SRP in the grade 5 PEP test in writing are required to take the writing PCT. Of 83 students tested, 89% passed. Those results are below both Erie County (94%) and similar school districts (95% passing). Regents Competency TesLs (RCT) arc given in January and June to students not in Regents courses as a requirement for a local high school diploma. Math RCTs are given in grade 9, and for the 74 students tested results were significantly higher than for Erie County and similar schools. All 59 students who took the reading RCT passed by June '95, also a significantly higher result. Writing results were also excellent, with all students taking the exam passing by June '95. Of 71 students taking the science RCT, 90% passed, better than Erie County and comparable school results. Grand Island continues to do well in science. Only on this lest was Uiere a significant difference between sexes, with all 40 males passing and only 77 percent of the 31 females passing. Global studies, given in grade 10, measures knowledge based on the state syllabus for grades 9 and 10 and consists of two essays and 50 objective questions. Of 12 students taking the test in January, 50% passed; in June of 94 tested, 73% passed. These results are above both Erie County and similar-size districts, and show a continual improvement over three years. U.S. History and Government results for grade 11 students show that of 95 students tested in June, 88% passed, for the first lime better than Erie County and large central districts. REGENTS EXAMS Regents exams are achievement tests based on Slate Education Department recommended courses of study. According to Priscilla Michaud, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, who presented CAR results to the school board at its last meeting, the percentage of Grand Island students who take Regents exams exceeds state and county totals and is comparable to or higher than totals in similartype districts. While Global Studies had the lowest number passing, 78%, that was on a par with statewide results. In Erie County, however, the passing rate for Global Studies was 83% and in similar districts, 87%. Compared with any other group, results in all three math courses were outstanding, with 96% passing in Math I and 92% passing in Math II and Math III. Statewide, passing results were 73, 55 and 39%, respectively. Students taking the physics Regents also did very well, with 95% passing, a better average than any other group. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 Don't forget to vote today Polls are open until 9 p.m. at Grand Island High School, 1100 Ransom Road, for the Grand Island School District Dunlop referendum.