With the exception of grades six and eight, English scores were improved in the elementary and middle schools last year.  Math scores were better across the board, except in eighth grade.  In the high school 98.8% of the students who took the English Regents exam passed, with 58.6% reaching the level of mastery.  96.3% of those who took the test in January passed with 77.8% reaching mastery.

Principal Michelle Brantner said that she wants to stress mastery over passing grades.  "Quite frankly that's the score that I feel like we need to keep our eye on going forward," she said.  We need to try to push more students to that level because we're not having problems with our passing rate."

DiPaola noted that students with special needs and those who are below the poverty level did less well than the average general education students.  She noted that in some cases the tests do not reflect the curriculum.  Most striking were differences between economically disadvantaged sytudents and those who are not, with large gaps in fourth and seventh and eight grades in English, and seventh and eighth grades in Math.

But despite lower percentages the district showed improvement in most cases over the three year period.  And Lansing tends to score better than similar schools in the region.  All the administrators said there is room for improvement, and they are using the statistics to identify problem areas so that they can work with teachers to improve student performance.

Brantner reported that no student has ever failed to graduate as a result of not passing an exam while she has been at Lansing.  The district's overall success was summed up in mid-August when school board member Richard Thaler asked, "On a percentage basis how many seniors have applied to college and how many have been accepted?"

Brantner replied, "The last two years we've had 100% of our senior class that had applied and been accepted."

----
v4i34