The latest test results from English and Math exams are out from New York State for students in grades three through eight.
Officials say that students statewide made significant progress in math. Students made slight progress on the English Language Arts exams.
Statewide, the percentage of students scoring at the proficient level and above in Math rose to nearly 36 percent for all grades combined. In Rochester City School District, the number of students reaching that level was up two points to 6.8 percent.
In the English tests, statewide, the number of students who met or exceeded the standard was just over 31 percent. In the Rochester city school district, it was 5.7 percent.
District Superintendent Bolgen Vargas says there's certainly still a lot of work to do, but he's encouraged by the progress he did see.
"In Rochester we saw some encouraging numbers particularly in math, we definitely have a long way to go, but we're on the right path." Vargas also told reporters he believes the district has the right strategy in place.
"Strong, early childhood education, make sure that our children are attending school every day, that we have a strong Pre-k program that we're going to offer to every child, and we have closed the opportunity gap in Rochester."
Rochester had the lowest scores among the so-called Big 5 districts which also include New York City, Buffalo, Syracuse and Yonkers.
RCSD officials say that students at 18 schools, including all five of the district's expanded learning schools, showed improved proficiency compared to last year.
