Archive: News

Director of Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and Professional Development Colleen Ledley and Lansing school principals presented a summary of student test results at Monday's Board Of Education meeting that showed good results in the middle and high schools, but not as good, especially in English Language Arts (ELA) in the elementary school.  She referenced the New York State Education Department's data site, recommending that board members especially look at the district's school report card.

Ledley said there is "a lot to feel good about" in Lansing student achievement, but the test statistics and further investigation have indicated that a new ELA curriculum is indicated for elementary students.  Ledley said that administrators looked at state and local testing results that showed significant patterns of students K-4 being under the grade level. 

"With research and some consultation with some folks who are working on the inclusive schooling really identified that this isn't really about particular kids, this isn't about particular teachers," Ledley told the Board. "This is about a core instruction problem where we really need to look at the materials that we have and the interventions that we have and do some research and identify some materials and curriculum and some structures in the school to shift wholeheartedly across all classrooms, K to 4."

She noted that math scores are better than ELA, and science scores are even better .

"Science does really well and continues to do really well from year to year. It is important to note that our grade four exam will shift to grade five and next year," she said. "So that will no longer be an elementary example for us -- it will go into the Middle School. Our science teachers have been working hard on aligning their practices to the next generation science standards. And we've introduced some more or new science kits here at the elementary and had some, um, sort of terrific training where the teachers actually do the whole science kit first with each other before implementing. And those are aligned to next-gen standards as well. And the kids love them. "

Ledley was especially pleased to report a 100% proficiency score in Algebra 2 at the High School.  And a 96.6% graduation rate in 2019 exceeded the district's 95% goal.

Ledley said the data shows educators should identify a proven literacy program to replace the one Lansing currently uses.  The data also showed that the district needs to improve achievement for students with disabilities and those whose families are economically disadvantaged.

Replacing a key portion of the curriculum is likely to be expensive, and Board of Education President Christine Iacobucci said that she would need more hard evidence that the curriculum is the culprit before voting to spend a lot on new materials.

"As a board member, when somebody says there's a core instruction problem, and that's why we want to buy this stuff, I need to see more evidence that there's a core instruction problem and it's not some other factors and that that's the thing that we need to spend their money on," she said.

v16i11