“Starkly Improved” English Regents Scores in Huntington
This year’s six hour English Regents exam saw Huntington High School students compile scores sharply higher compared to those of just a year earlier. School officials credit a change in teaching strategies and approach along with an improved use of data and just plain hard work for the strong showing.
The overall passing rate of 90 percent includes special education and ESL students. The passing rate rises to 95 percent of all students when measured against the state variance requirement. Among general education students, 96 percent of test takers passed the Regents and 99 percent met the state requirement under the variance.
"The hard work of our students and professional guidance of our teachers, together with departmental leadership and thorough analysis of past years' data, all combined to reflect one of the single highest jumps in percentage of students passing in over a decade,” said Joseph Leavy, district director of humanities, who complimented Kelly Quintero-Lashley, curriculum coordinator of the high school English department.
Mr. Leavy said this year’s passing rate was 12 percentage points higher than last year. “Mastery rates were at an all-time high and these results confirm what we have known for a long time; that the caliber of English language arts instruction among our secondary school staff is unparalleled in the region."
“The results of the English Regents make us all very proud of the work the students, teachers and administrators undertook during the past few years,” Huntington Principal Carmela Leonardi said. “Teachers have been working very hard not only in the classroom but in collegial groups in order to better align the curriculum and support areas that needed to be enriched.”
The English department approached this year’s exam differently than in the past. Faculty members used data from previous Huntington High School Regents results and identified specific performance indicators that required more attention. “While maintaining the high standards in those areas in which our students have traditionally performed well, and focusing on the area of critical response, the scores this year were starkly improved,” Mr. Leavy said.
Assistant Superintendent Michael O’Brien told School Board members the high scores resulted from the implementation of “a laser-like focus on academic achievement." Administrators collaborated on adjustments to schedules for students in need and teachers cooperated in sharing practical, useful and tested methodologies so that student writing, literary analysis and critical thinking skills advanced along grade level expectations.
Mr. Leavy credited "enhanced departmental collaboration and cooperation” under Ms. Quintero-Lashley for contributing to the exceptional Regents results. He said that changes in teaching strategy and approaches involved "ongoing refinement and implementation of researched based methodologies as a result of professional development."
Huntington High School continues to offer after school Regents review sessions. Faculty members have also mastered the ability to focus on specific students whose assessments in earlier grades provide reliable information about targeted areas in need of improvement.
“The recent success with the state exam is due to careful planning and implementation of a comprehensive program,” Dr. Leonardi said. “We congratulate the teachers for their hard work and the students for their dedication to a higher level of performance.”
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