NYC’s 4th Grade Math Results Reflect Success of Early Childhood Initiatives
by Assemblyman Steven Sanders

The recently released figures reflecting an unprecedented rise in 4th grade math scores is a direct reflection, at least in part, of the success of the State Assembly’s LADDER (Learning, Achieving, Developing by Directing Educational Resources) program, ýiming education aid to early childhood programs and especially for reduced class sizes in grades K-3 and a rolling out of universal pre-k programs for four-year-olds. Begun in 1998, the LADDER initiative, spearheaded by Speaker Sheldon Silver and me, is predicated on the Assembly’s steadfast commitment to the notion that investment in early childhood programs makes a tremendous difference in getting our youngest children to acquire learning skills that will establish their academic foundation and set them on a course for future success.

Most educators and leading experts have agreed for years that investing in early childhood education brings tangible results, with children at the most impressionable age acquiring an openness and focus that renders them optimally prepared to learn and to enjoy the acquisition of knowledge and critical learning skills.

This is the first 4th grade class that entered school as LADDER moneys were first allocated in the 1998-99 school year, and these dollars have clearly paid off. Statewide, the new scores reflect a 10.5 percent increase in the number of 4th grade students scoring in levels 3 or 4, which means they are meeting standards or exceeding them. And in New York City, the number of 4th grade students in the public schools meeting or exceeding state standards in math jumped 14.7 percent, bringing the total number of 4th graders in levels 3 or 4 to 66.7 percent.

These are remarkable results, which is not to say that everything is suddenly perfect in our elementary schools. These numbers, however, do demonstrate how right the Assembly majority has been to fight Governor Pataki’s assault on early childhood education each and every year since LADDER was enacted.

It is worthwhile to note that the very exciting results of New York City public school students in 4th grade math greatly exceeds results for 8th graders, where the falloff is dramatic. In New York City, for example, only 34.4 percent of 8th graders achieved scores putting them in the level 3 or level 4 category—meeting State standards.

In the aggregate, over the first five years of Ladder’s implementation, the State invested close to a billion and a half dollars for reduced class size and universal pre-k, of which approximately two-thirds—or a billion dollars—went to New York City schools.

When we invest and establish a sound education program at the earliest age, and when we emphasize instruction and getting children off to a good start, they will have continued academic success throughout the succeeding years, enhancing not only their grades, but also their confidence and self esteem.#

Assemblyman Sanders is chairman of the New York State Assembly’s Committee on Education. You may contact him at (212) 979-9696, email him at sanders@assembly.state.ny.us or write to him at 201 East 16th Street (4th floor), New York NY 10003.

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