Still reeling from their abysmal showing on the statewide reading test, city fourth-graders – and their parents and teachers – are working overtime to prepare for this week’s big math exam.
But many fear the scores will be as dismal as those on the new English Language Arts exam – which two-thirds of the city’s fourth-graders failed.
“We don’t know how successful we’ll be, but we’re crossing our fingers,” said Joan Litsky, a math staff developer at PS 246 in the Fordham section of The Bronx.
“It’s a tough test.”
Educators generally expressed hope – but little confidence – that their students would fare well on the exam, the first statewide math test ever.
Students were even less optimistic.
“I’ve been practicing tests at the community center, but I think that I’m not going to do that well,” confessed Nykia Reddick, a fourth-grader at PS 96 in Harlem, where a jaw-dropping 95.7 percent of the students scored below the state standard on the reading test.
“I’m afraid I’m going to get left back,” Nykia whispered.
The revised fourth-grade math test goes well beyond basic problem-solving.
“This test makes children address thinking math questions,” said Litsky.
“It’s not just ‘get the correct answer.’ It’s ‘get the correct answer and show me the steps you went through to get there.'”
Much is at stake for educators – Mayor Giuliani has threatened to remove principals whose schools score in the bottom third citywide.
Incredibly PS 246 ranked in the top third – 29th out of 140 – in The Bronx on the reading test, although only 26.43 percent of its students scored at or above the statewide standard.
Litsky said she has been overhauling PS 246’s math program since the beginning of the school year to meet the new test standards.
Preparations for the test vary from district to district and school to school.
Students at PS 871 on Manhattan’s Upper East Side – ranked fifth among city schools in the fourth-grade reading tests – have been drilled intensively for the last few weeks.
“I feel really prepared,” said fourth-grader Caitlin Masline, who turns 10 today.
Contrast that with the situation at PS 96, one of 10 worst-scoring schools citywide on the reading test.
Several PS 96 fourth-graders told The Post last week that they’ve been taking practice tests in class, but hadn’t received any math homework in days.
“I don’t remember any math homework at all this week,” said parent Karen Joseph.
She and other PS 96 parents said teachers are largely to blame for the poor showing of the city’s schoolkids.
“I give my children problems to solve at home,” said Joseph. “I have to. This school is low on the totem pole. They need the extra attention.”
“A lot of these kids wouldn’t be in this position if [teachers] had watched them from the beginning,” said parent Sherly Camer.
Despite their criticism, both Camer and Joseph agreed that education is a responsibility shared by parents and teachers.
“You can’t blame it all on the teachers,” Joseph said. “You’re a parent, and a parent is a teacher first. Education starts at home.”