As the State Education Department announced across-the-board gains on the grades 3-8 English language arts exams, union leaders said the improved scores show the state needs to keep investing in what works.

In statewide results released in early May, 77 percent of students across grades 3-8 met the state standards in English this year, compared with 68 percent last year.

And across the various groups of the neediest students, fewer showed serious academic problems in English.

"These results show that the children who began the grade-by-grade curriculum in the early grades are making bigger gains than those who started later," said Education Commissioner Richard Mills. "And the children who took the third-grade test this year performed better still — showing that state foundation aid, pre-K and rigorous instruction are paying off."

Mills credited the grade-by-grade curriculum adopted by the Regents in 2006, helping schools to better align instruction. Schools have also created literacy teams of teachers and are increasing professional development opportunities to improve instruction, he said.

The results show the achievement gap in ELA continues to close, but much more remains to be done to help English language learners and students with disabilities, said NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira.

"This shows that the state's investment in education is paying off," she said. "That's why we have concerns about the impact a two-year freeze in state aid will have on student performance."

Mills noted across all grades, black and Latino students experienced significant growth in meeting the standards. Last year, 52.9 percent of black students across grades 3-8 met the standards; this year 64.3 percent did. Similarly, last year, 52.6 percent of Latino students across grades 3-8 met the standards; this year, 64.8 percent did. These gains exceeded those achieved by white and Asian students statewide.

In each of the Big 5 city school districts (New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers), the percentage of students scoring at Levels 3 and 4 has significantly increased over the past four years, Mills said.

Neira noted this is SED's earliest release of the ELA results. "More timely release makes it possible for students to get intervention over the summer and for teachers to use the results to inform student assignment and instruction in the coming school year," Neira said.