WNY School district rankings

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - The Williamsville Central School District finds itself in a position that is definitely familiar, yet never grows old.

Williamsville is No. 1 in Business First's 18th annual rankings of Western New York's public school systems. It has monopolized first place since 2004 -- a six-year streak.

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"We're fortunate in so many ways," says Howard Smith, Williamsville's superintendent of schools. "When you have a very committed board of education, an outstanding staff of teachers and administrators, a pro-education community and hard-working students, that's quite the formula for success."

Full details will be available in Business First's 2009-10 Guide to Western New York Schools, which hits newsstands today (Friday). Highlights are also available at the newspaper's website: buffalo.bizjournals.com.

Williamsville took first place when the rankings debuted in 1992, and won again in 1997, 2001 and throughout its 2004-2009 run. It hasn't finished lower than third place since 1995, and has never been lower than sixth.

Business First analyzed 97 school districts in the eight Western New York counties, based on four years of test data compiled by the New York State Education Department. Each district's rating reflects the collective performance of its public elementary, middle and high schools.

Williamsville sets the pace with a broad record of academic excellence:

- Its 2005-2008 subject scores for math, science and social studies were the best in Western New York, according to Business First's analysis of test results from fourth grade through the senior year of high school.

- Sixty-five percent of Williamsville's seniors earned Regents diplomas with advanced designations in 2008. That's 22 points above the regional average of 43 percent. (A student must pass eight Regents exams to receive an advanced diploma.)

- It's the only district where more than 57 percent of last year's graduates achieved superior scores (85 or better) on Regents exams in English, math, science, global history and U.S. history.

- Williamsville's eighth graders posted the region's top scores on statewide tests in English, math, science and social studies.

"The other part of what we do -- all our extracurricular activities such as music, athletics and clubs -- don't show up in the rankings, but they have a really positive impact on student achievement, too," says Smith. "For example, we have as many music teachers as math teachers. That makes for well-rounded, committed students, and those are usually successful students."

Williamsville's overall score was pegged at 100 points, with the marks for all other districts being calculated from that benchmark. Nineteen ended up with scores of 90 or better, qualifying for Business First's Honor Roll of outstanding school systems.

Four districts have made the Honor Roll every year since 1992:
Williamsville, Clarence (which ranks second this year), Amherst (third) and Orchard Park (fifth). Rounding out this year's top five is No. 4 East Aurora, which has made 17 Honor Roll appearances in 18 years.

All but two of this year's Honor Roll districts also qualified a year ago.
The newcomers are Eden, joining the elite group for the first time since 2005, and West Seneca, returning after a 13-year absence.

The latter upswing was nearly a decade in the making, according to Jean Kovach, superintendent of the West Seneca Central School District.
Developing consistent instructional techniques and identifying the best textbooks took time, she says, but the effort is paying off.

"Our goal is not to teach to the test, but to teach to the state's standards," Kovach says. "We've spent the last eight years working diligently to align our curriculum -- to make sure that we don't repeat ourselves in different years and that each grade level builds on the one before."

Fourteen of this year's Honor Roll districts are in Erie County. They range in size from Williamsville, with 10,649 students, down to Eden, which has 1,688.

The outlying honorees are considerably smaller, with an average enrollment of 1,346. The very smallest is also the top-rated district outside of Erie County, No. 6 Alfred-Almond, which has 670 students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

"We're a very rural district in the Southern Tier, but our kids are going into the same marketplace as everyone else," says Richard Nicol, Alfred-Almond's superintendent. "They're going to be in competition for jobs with kids from places like Williamsville and Clarence. So they need the very best education we can give them."

Sixteen districts are recipients of this year's subject awards, signifying that they rank among the 10 leaders in English/foreign languages, math, science and social studies. Bemus Point, Clarence, East Aurora, Orchard Park and Williamsville have made clean sweeps by winning all four awards.

Business First has also generated a series of specialized ratings to further