A pair of RCS science teachers spent several days this summer analyzing what they - and their colleagues - are doing right in the classroom and where they can improve.

The focus on their in-depth study? Student Regents exams.

High School Science Teachers Stephanie Branley and Bryan Wood spent several days compiling the results of each question for RCS students on the Living Environment Biology and Earth Science Regents Exams.

"They examined what questions our students get wrong consistently, what questions they did well on and where are those concepts in our curriculum," said Assistant Superintendent Diane Albano, Ed.D.

Branley, who is science curriculum content specialist in the high school, said through their efforts, they determined that students had a difficult time drawing conclusions and answering open-ended questions.

"They do horribly when it comes to answering the open-ended questions, which is between one-third and two-thirds of the Living Sciences exam," she said.

"Ironically, that was consistent with what (Pieter B. Coeymans Elementary School Science Content Specialist Karen Miller) identified as an issue among our fourth grade students," said Branley.

As a result, Ms. Branley said the department is looking at modifying not only how it teaches during the year, but also how it tests.

Specifically, she said, students can expect more open-ended questions on their exams during the school year to hone their conclusion-drawing abilities and to better prepare them for the Regents Exams.

While there are a variety of ways to evaluate how students learn and how well teachers are performing in the classroom, specifically looking at the raw data from the exams and the message its delivers is perhaps the best.