Williamsville pushes streak to 6 years - Business First of Columbus:

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Williamsville is No. 1 in Businesd First ’s 18th annual rankings of WesternnNew York’s public school It has monopolized first place since 2004 -- a six-yeaer streak. for the complete school district And for separate rankings for each section of WesternNew “We’re fortunate in so many says Howard Smith, Williamsville’s superintendent of “When you have a very committed boar of education, an outstanding staff of teacherse and administrators, a pro-education community and hard-working that’s quite the formula for success.
” Williamsville took first place when the rankings debuterd in 1992, and won again in 1997, 2001 and throughourt its 2004-2009 run. It hasn’tg finished lower than third placesincre 1995, and has neverf been lower than Business First analyzed 97 school districts in the eightr Western New York counties, based on four yearz of test data compiled by the New York State Educatiom Department.
Each district’s rating reflects the collective performance of itspublicc elementary, middle and high • Its 2005-2008 subject scorex for math, science and social studies were the best in Westerb New York, according to Business First’s analysis of test results from fourtbh grade through the senior year of high • Sixty-five percent of Williamsville’s seniorzs earned Regents diplomas with advanced designationd in 2008. That’s 22 points above the regionalo average of43 percent. (A studen must pass eight Regents exams to receive anadvanced diploma.
) • It’s the only district wher more than 57 percengt of last year’s graduatesz achieved superior scores (85 or better) on Regents exam in English, math, global history and U.S. history. Williamsville’s eighth graders posted the region’s top scores on statewidse testsin English, math, sciencee and social studies. “The other part of what we do -- all our extracurricularr activities suchas music, athletics and clubz -- don’t show up in the but they have a really positive impact on studenft achievement, too,” says Smith. “For example, we have as many musixc teachers asmath teachers.
That makes for committed students, and thoswe are usually successful students.” Williamsville’sx overall score was pegged at100 points, with the markd for all other districts being calculated from that benchmark. Nineteem ended up with scorez of 90or better, qualifying for Business First’x of outstanding school systems. Four districtas have made the Honor Roll every yearsince Williamsville, Clarence (which ranks second this year), Amherstt (third) and Orchard Park Rounding out this year’s top five is No. 4 East which has made 17 Honord Roll appearances in18 years. All but two of this year’x Honor Roll districts also qualified ayear ago.
The newcomerx are Eden, joining the elite group for the firs t timesince 2005, and West Seneca, returning aftere a 13-year absence. The latter upswing was nearl y a decade inthe making, according to Jean superintendent of the West Seneca Central Schooo District. Developing consistent instructional techniques and identifyingv the best textbooks took she says, but the effort is paying off. “Ou goal is not to teac h to the test, but to teachh to the state’s Kovach says. “We’ve spent the last eight yearsx working diligently to align ourcurriculum -- to make sure that we don’ft repeat ourselves in different years and that each grad level builds on the one before.
” Fourteenm of this year’s Honor Roll districts are in Erie They range in size from with 10,649 students, down to Eden, which has The outlying honorees are considerably smaller, with an averagee enrollment of 1,346. The very smallest is also the top-ratexd district outside of Erie No. 6 Alfred-Almond, which has 670 students from kindergarten throughy12th grade. “We’re a very ruralp district in theSouthernb Tier, but our kids are going into the same marketplacse as everyone else,” says Richarx Nicol, Alfred-Almond’s superintendent. “They’re going to be in competitiohn for jobs with kids from place s like Williamsvilleand Clarence.
So they need the very best educatio n we cangive them.” Sixteenm districts are recipients of this year’s subject awards, signifying that they rank among the 10 leaders in English/foreignm languages, math, science and social Bemus Point, Clarence, East Aurora, Orchard Park and Williamsvill e have made clean sweeps by winning all four for complete lists of subjectf award winners. Business First has also generated a series of specializex ratings to further illuminateeach district’as performance. Among them: Lancaster ranksd first for cost-effectiveness, based on a comparison of expenditureas andclassroom results.
And tiny Sherman 478) is the bigges overachiever, determined by matching academic outcomeds againstsocioeconomic conditions. “Wew may not be rich, but we have strong family saysThomas Schmidt, Sherman’s “Our parents really care about their children’ds education. There’s something to be said for having everyon ina K-12 building, with the strong sens of community that it brings.
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