Faculty Itemize Regents Test results in effort to boost student scores

While students and many teachers were enjoying their summer off, more than 100 RCS faculty members spent at least part of their summer break determining how to improve their work in the classroom.

One area studied was student performance on Regents exams.

High School Science Teachers Stephanie Branley and Bryan Wood spent several days analyzing student performance on the Living Environment Biology and Earth Science Regents Exams.

“They examined what questions our students answered incorrectly consistently, what questions they did well on and where that content is in our curriculum,” said Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Dr. Diane Albano.

“It identifies areas where we are weak or we need to improve our teaching methods,” said Mr. Wood.

Ms. 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 have difficulty 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 (PBC Science Content Specialist Karen Miller) identified as an issue among our fourth grade students,” said Ms. 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.