The Norwood News looked at the latest test results for 21 local schools and here are a few highlights:

• 45 percent of local students passed the language test, compared to 50 percent citywide. On the math test, 54 percent of area students passed, versus 65 percent citywide.  
• This year was the first year all English Language Learners students who had attended school for more than one year were required to take the exam. Previously, English Language Learners were exempted from the test until they had been in school for three years. Citywide, the percent of those who passed remained constant.
• Every school saw more students pass the math test this year than last.
• On the language test, more than half of local schools increased their number of passing scores.
• Students from four schools – PS/MS 15, PS 51, PS/MS 280 and PS 340 – passed the math test at a rate of about 80 percent, which is nearly 15 points higher than the city percentage.
• • Two schools – PS 51 and PS/MS 280 – saw 70 percent of their students pass the language test, 20 percent more than the city percentage. PS 340 followed closely with 64 percent of its students passing.
• • Other schools showed significant achievement compared to their own numbers as of just last year. MS 399 nearly doubled its amount of students who passed in math.
• Both MS 80 and the Jonas Bronck Academy increased the number of students who passed in math by half. At MS 80, 29 percent passed this year, versus 20 percent in 2006, and at Jonas Bronck, 37 percent passed this year, compared with 24 percent in 2006.
• Also, Jonas Bronck added 23 percentage points to its passing language scores, jumping from 33 percent to 56 percent from 2006 to 2007, an increase of more than two-thirds.

Source: New York City Department of Education. Percentages rounded to nearest whole number.