Schenectady City School District state test scores showed modest improvement in newly released scores from the 2022-2023 school year, while the district is still listed as a target district by the New York State Education Department, with three of the district’s 15 schools considered in good academic standing.
The percentage of Schenectady students in grades 3-8 who passed the state’s English Language Arts (ELA) increased by 3.96% over the prior year, with 24% of students achieving a level three or level four proficiency on the ELA exam.
The district’s participation level for students in grades 3-8 taking the ELA state test rose from 85.77% in the 2021-2022 school year to 92.5% in the 2022-2023 school year.
The district’s math proficiency rate increased by 6.93% in the 2022-2023 school year, with 16.72% of students in grades 3-8 recording scores on level three or four, which represent a passing grade on the exam.
The percentage of students in grades 3-8 in Schenectady who took the math assessment rose from 81.96% percent in 2021-2022 to 92.55% in 2022-2023.
Third grade students in the district passed the state math exam at a rate of 25.55%, up from 19.67% the previous year.
In 2021-22, zero eighth grade math students passed the state’s math test, with 11% passing the exam in the last school year.
“There was an increase in proficiency in math at every grade level with third grade showing the highest proficiency rate,” Schenectady Superintendent Anibal Soler Jr. noted in a statement. “Grades 8 and 7 had the greatest increase with 11.08% and 10.85%, respectively. That’s significant growth, especially at 8th grade. When we look at individual schools, Yates and Pleasant Valley elementary schools showed the greatest growth with increases of 13.82% and 12.22%. Additionally, all of our subgroups grew in math proficiency. Like with ELA, we are not yet where we want to be but all indications are that we are moving in the right direction.”
The district received mixed results for the percentage of students who passed state Regents exams in 10 academic categories. The district showed improvement on the Regents physics exam, with 36.36% of district students passing the exam, up from the 7.14% of students who passed the test in 2021-2022.
The district saw slight declines in Regents exams for ELA global history, with 54.16% of students passing the history exam in the 2022-2023 school year, down from the 60% mark the district recorded in the prior year.
None of 15 district buildings were in good academic standing in the state’s accountability system, with nine district schools, including Mont Pleasant and Oneida Middle Schools, in need of comprehensive support and improvement, according to the state.
Schenectady High School is categorized as needing local support and improvement. Five district schools that were considered to be in good standing by the state in the 2021-2022 school year, including Hamilton Elementary School, are now listed as needing support under the state criteria.
The Schenectady class of 2023 had a 76.1% graduation rate, down from the 79.6% rate the district recorded the year prior and the 80.1% rate from the class of 2021.
Soler noted that requirements were more relaxed in the two years immediately following the pandemic, as virtual learning for students replaced in-person attendance.
“We know that we still have much work to do, but we should view this as strides forward,” Soler wrote of the district’s test scores in a statement. “Let’s remember that we have to get to here before we get to there. It doesn’t happen overnight. We will keep working at it and will be sure we are doing all we can to make it happen.”