New York State Testing 2011
Catholic School Results on New York State Assessments – Exceeding the Standards
Sister Shirley Anne Brown SSJ, Assistant Superintendent of Schools

What do our children in our Catholic Schools know and what are they able to do? In the world of good educational practice, assessment is an integral part of every lesson regardless of grade level. However, periodically there are those benchmark assessments in which we have the opportunity to compare overall progress against objective criteria such as New York State Standards and Diocesan Curriculum. Such an opportunity exists for the Catholic Schools when they participate in the New York State Assessment program both in the Grades 3-8 testing and the High School Regents and Proficiency exams. Our students’ participation in this testing program provides us an opportunity to evaluate our students’ performance compared to their peers in New York State. It is also a source of solid data for on-going educational program planning in individual schools as well as designing programs to meet specific performance strengths and needs of individual students.
The Catholic Schools of the diocese have completed their third year of participation in the New York State grades 3-8 testing program in mathematics and English/Language Arts. “How well are they doing?” is a question commonly asked of school personnel by parents and our many parish supporters.  Even in the midst of New York’s transition to the National Core Standard and yearly changing its assessment in terms of cut off points for proficiency and length of the tests,      I am pleased to report that our students continue to perform above state averages. The following chart gives clear indication of that performance. The numbers under the subject areas represent percent of students scoring proficiency on the State exams.

In regard to the regents exams for our High School students, historically, our passing rates are equally impressive compared to State averages. Although the State average results are not yet available for the 2010-2011 year, preliminary reports from the high schools indicate that the tradition of academic excellence continues. Our two high schools, Immaculate Heart Central in Watertown and Seton Catholic in Plattsburgh, report an overall passing rate of 91.5% on New York State Regents Exams. The Middle School Language Proficiency was not given this year due to a cost cutting measure in New York State Education.  However we continue to offer the Middle School Language and our students must pass a local exam approved by the high school Language teachers.
The Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Ogdensburg welcome this benchmark opportunity as one of its tools to assess student progress and educational programming. The successful results are due in no small part to the efforts of the professional expertise of our teachers and administrators who provide a seamless program that balances standards, instructional process and assessment. In this same manner, the same high level of educational programming and assessment is applied to our Early Childhood Programs grades Pre-K to 2 and most importantly, to the overall instruction and integration of the knowledge and lived expression of our Faith, our Church and the Person of Jesus who is the foundation and rationale of our entire educational program.