Finance news

Business First rated 287 public and private elementary schools that participate in the statewide testing program for fourth graders.

Each school’s rating was based on four years of data from the New York State Education Department, covering the period from 2006 through 2009. The greatest weight was given to results from the most recent academic year.

Fifty percent of each school’s rating was determined by its students’ scores on the statewide English test for fourth graders. The other 50 percent was based on the statewide math test for fourth graders.

Each test from each year was analyzed twice. The formula considered the percentage of students who demonstrated superior skills, as well as the percentage with basic skills.

Superior is defined as a Level 4 score on either test. Basic is defined as a Level 3 or Level 4 score.

A total of 16 statistical indicators were analyzed for each school — two results per test, two tests per year, for four years.

Three types of schools were not rated:

1. Elementary schools that don’t extend to fourth grade.

2. Schools that have been open for less than two years, or that have not generated at least two years of test data.

3. Private schools that don’t participate in the statewide testing program.

Source