State Education Department releases results of spring 2021 state assessments

Oct. 31—MASSENA — With only 4 out of 10 students in grades three through eight participating in spring 2021 state assessments because of the pandemic, state Education Department officials said Friday that the results aren't representative of the state's student population and shouldn't be compared to previous years.

They said, in an ordinary year, the percentage of students who participate in tests is typically more than 80%. In spring 2021, 49.9% of students enrolled in grades three through eight took the English language arts exam, and 39.9% of enrolled students took the math exam.

Because of the smaller-than-usual number of students who participated in the assessments, SED officials said they're not comparing statewide data, and they've posted only district and school-level results on the SED website.

They also said that depending on the percentage of students who took the tests in each school district, those results may not be representative of the district's student population.

"The pandemic exacerbated already existing inequities for students and this fact is most evident in our 2021 statewide assessment participation. While educators and school-based staff rose to meet unprecedented challenges last year, everything about education was different for educators, students and parents, including the state assessments," State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said in a prepared statement. "This year just 4 in 10 students took the tests so the data does not reflect the majority of students' learning. State exams are just one of multiple measures of student learning used to help shape student individualized learning plans so they have the supports they need."

While the results aren't representative of the entire student population, SED officials did note the percentage of proficient students among those who took the tests.

The percentage of local students who were considered proficient in English language arts were:

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Alexandria — 63% grade three, 43% grade four, 24% grade five, 74% grade six, 34% grade seven, and 30% grade eight.

Belleville Henderson — 56% grade three, 56% grade four, 54% grade five, 69% grade six, 54% grade seven, and 37% grade eight.

Carthage — 50% grade three, 50% grade four, 32% grade five, 49% grade six, 37% grade seven, and 49% grade eight.

General Brown — 66% grade three, 65% grade four, 43% grade five, 69% grade six, 54% grade seven, and 50% grade eight.

Indian River — 56% grade three, 52% grade four, 34% grade five, 59% grade six, 34% grade seven, and 54% grade eight.

LaFargeville — 75% grade three, 58% grade four, 42% grade five, 53% grade six, 50% grade seven, and 49% grade eight.

Lyme — 53% grade three, 67% grade four, 45% grade five, 60% grade six, 43% grade seven and 50% grade eight.

Sackets Harbor — 67% grade three, 88% grade four, 66% grade five, 71% grade six, 43% grade seven, and 84% grade eight.

South Jefferson — 61% grade three, 55% grade four, 52% grade five, 60% grade six, 46% grade seven, and 53% grade eight.

Thousand Islands — 56% grade three, 65% grade four, 46% grade five, 63% grade six, 39% grade seven, and 61% grade eight.

Watertown — 46% grade three, 51% grade four, 43% grade five, 58% grade six, 30% grade seven, and 59% grade eight.

LEWIS COUNTY

Beaver River — 49% grade three, 41% grade four, 20% grade five, 58% grade six, 51% grade seven, and 54% grade eight.

Copenhagen— 70% grade three, 41% grade four, 35% grade five, 54% grade six, 68% grade seven, and 76% grade eight.

Harrisville — 53% grade three, 55% grade four, 33% grade five, 52% grade six, 45% grade seven, and 69% grade eight.

Lowville— 53% grade three, 64% grade four, 36% grade five, 59% grade six, 45% grade seven, and 64% grade eight.

South Lewis — 41% grade three, 51% grade four, 40% grade five, 44% grade six, 58% grade seven, and 45% grade eight.

ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY

Brasher Falls — 57% grade three, 38% grade four, 21% grade five, 37% grade six, 29% grade seven, and 43% grade eight.

Canton — 63% grade three, 69% grade four, 54% grade five, 48% grade six, 48% grade seven, and 66% grade eight.

Clifton-Fine — 71% grade three, 38% grade four, no percentage listed for grade five, 53% grade six, 40% grade seven, and 60% grade eight.

Colton-Pierrepont — 68% grade three, 73% grade four, 52% grade five, 68% grade six, 43% grade seven, and 60% grade eight.

Edwards-Knox — 37% grade three, 67% grade four, 47% grade five, 39% grade six, 42% grade seven, and 47% grade eight.

Gouverneur — 29% grade three, 33% grade four, 17% grade five, 43% grade six, 30% grade seven, and 37% grade eight.

Hammond — 50% grade three, 56% grade four, 29% grade five, 22% grade six, 25% grade seven, and 42% grade eight.

Hermon-DeKalb — 48% grade three, 58% grade four, 32% grade five, 35% grade six, 39% grade seven, and 45% grade eight.

Heuvelton — 56% grade three, 57% grade four, 31% grade five, 73% grade six, 38% grade seven, and 35% grade eight.

Lisbon — 50% grade three, 50% grade four, 29% grade five, 37% grade six, 43% grade seven, and 41% grade eight.

Madrid-Waddington — 68% grade three, 37% grade four, 43% grade five, 39% grade six, 43% grade seven, and 66% grade eight.

Massena — 74% grade three, 55% grade four, 37% grade five, 56% grade six, 35% grade seven, and 36% grade eight.

Morristown — 67% grade three, 44% grade four, 26% grade five, 40% grade six, 36% grade seven, and 60% grade eight.

Norwood-Norfolk — 30% grade three, 49% grade four, 10% grade five, 61% grade six, 18% grade seven, and 39% grade eight.

Ogdensburg — 48% grade three, 55% grade four, 23% grade five, 60% grade six, 25% grade seven, and 56% grade eight.

Parishville-Hopkinton — 33% grade three, 57% grade four, 55% grade five, 38% grade six, 64% grade seven, and 54% grade eight.

Potsdam — 69% grade three, 75% grade four, 46% grade five, 73% grade six, 33% grade seven, and 58% grade eight.

The percentage of local students who were considered proficient in math were:

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Alexandria — 51% grade three, 37% grade four, 17% grade five, 42% grade six, 40% grade seven, and 4% grade eight.

Belleville Henderson — 61% grade three, 32% grade four, 36% grade five, 29% grade six, 31% grade seven, and 9% grade eight.

Carthage — 35% grade three, 18% grade four, 16% grade five, 21% grade six, 27% grade seven, and 4% grade eight.

General Brown — 50% grade three, 38% grade four, 24% grade five, 15% grade six, 26% grade seven, and 8% grade eight.

Indian River — 33% grade three, 25% grade four, 16% grade five, 18% grade six, 25% grade seven, and 32% grade eight.

LaFargeville — 84% grade three, 67% grade four, 81% grade five, 19% grade six, 25% grade seven, and 16% grade eight.

Lyme — 53% grade three, 73% grade four, 36% grade five, 40% grade six, 46% grade seven, and 18% grade eight.

Sackets Harbor — 29% grade three, 82% grade four, 54% grade five, 38% grade six, 32% grade seven, and 53% grade eight.

South Jefferson — 30% grade three, 20% grade four, 25% grade five, 30% grade six, 23% grade seven, and 16% grade eight.

Thousand Islands — 62% grade three, 60% grade four, 55% grade five, 44% grade six, 52% grade seven, and 40% grade eight.

Watertown — 32% grade three, 23% grade four, 22% grade five, 31% grade six, 13% grade seven, and 7% grade eight.

LEWIS COUNTY

Beaver River — 23% grade three, 36% grade four, 19% grade five, 37% grade six, 23% grade seven, and 5% grade eight.

Copenhagen — 65% grade three, 57% grade four, 52% grade five, 49% grade six, 79% grade seven, and 53% grade eight.

Harrisville — 56% grade three, 54% grade four, 38% grade five, 23% grade six, 29% grade seven, and 0% grade eight.

Lowville — 59% grade three, 64% grade four, 39% grade five, 37% grade six, 27% grade seven, and 24% grade eight.

South Lewis — 45% grade three, 45% grade four, 37% grade five, 15% grade six, 40% grade seven, and 9% grade eight.

ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY

Brasher Falls — 58% grade three, 41% grade four, 8% grade five, 32% grade six, 22% grade seven, and 17% grade eight.

Canton — 31% grade three, 56% grade four, 37% grade five, 27% grade six, 39% grade seven, and 22% grade eight.

Clifton-Fine — 43% grade three, 38% grade four, 26% grade five, 18% grade six, 10% grade seven, and 0% grade eight.

Colton-Pierrepont — 61% grade three, 76% grade four, 65% grade five, 42% grade six, 52% grade seven, and 31% grade eight.

Edwards-Knox — 37% grade three, 30% grade four, 51% grade five, 20% grade six, 19% grade seven, and 37% grade eight.

Gouverneur — 5% grade three, 14% grade four, 4% grade five, 8% grade six, 14% grade seven, and 6% grade eight.

Hammond — 44% grade three, 39% grade four, 21% grade five, 11% grade six, 33% grade seven, and 40% grade eight.

Hermon-DeKalb — 77% grade three, 41% grade four, 10% grade five, 40% grade six, 17% grade seven, and 34% grade eight.

Heuvelton — 57% grade three, 72% grade four, 55% grade five, 8% grade six, 14% grade seven, and 6% grade eight.

Lisbon — 28% grade three, 36% grade four, 8% grade five, 20% grade six, 11% grade seven, and 3% grade eight.

Madrid-Waddington — 68% grade three, 44% grade four, 37% grade five, 21% grade six, 37% grade seven, and 28% grade eight.

Massena — 57% grade three, 26% grade four, 25% grade five, 38% grade six, 27% grade seven, and 6% grade eight.

Morristown — 54% grade three, 32% grade four, 63% grade five, 5% grade six, 31% grade seven, and 29% grade eight.

Norwood-Norfolk — 17% grade three, 21% grade four, 2% grade five, 20% grade six, 24% grade seven, and 13% grade eight.

Ogdensburg — 33% grade three, 26% grade four, 7% grade five, 24% grade six, 26% grade seven, and 6% grade eight.

Parishville-Hopkinton — 55% grade three, 57% grade four, 48% grade five, 41% grade six, 24% grade seven, and 0% grade eight.

Potsdam — 71% grade three, 71% grade four, 44% grade five, 18% grade six, 24% grade seven, and 8% grade eight.