Long Island students' state test scores plunge (New York, Syosset: appointed, 2014)

[ovi8]

From Newsday:

The percentage of students in grades 3-8 deemed proficient or better in math declined to 31.0 percent in the latest tests, compared with 64.8 percent in 2012.
In English, the proportion of students deemed proficient or better dropped to 31.1 percent statewide, according to results from the latest tests administered in April. That compared with 55.1 percent of students deemed proficient or better in 2012.
Statistics show Long Island students, for the most part, mirrored the statewide trend.

Many contend the state is rushing the move to tougher testing and artificially lowering passing rates through manipulation of cutoff scores.
"It's almost like a setup, if you will," said Roberta Gerold, superintendent of Middle Country schools and president of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association.
State school officials, anticipating an angry reaction, have sought to reassure the public that lower scores simply reflect a move to more rigorous standards, not a decline in achievement.

New York State is among the first to incorporate Common Core guidelines into its tests. Most states will not launch such testing until the 2014-15 school year, when new uniform batteries of tests will become available nationwide.
Some Long Island education leaders note that school districts generally responded to a previous state raising of cutoff scores in 2010 by beefing up instruction to boost passage rates.

I can understand the teachers and parents getting up in arms over their current kids' failures, but overall this is good for the kids of tomorrow. Teachers [and parents] will just have to work harder. I'm sure the tax-payers among us wouldn't mind. I'd also be curious to see other states' scores when they first get hit - though perhaps they're given ample warning by then.

[llama8]

Perhaps NYS will actually implement a curriculum and sample assessments so that teachers will know what they are supposed to teach. It is unwise for NYS to push an exam with no test prep materials for teachers and make children sit for an exam before the curriculum is even set up or deemed valid. Teachers were forced to teach to an unfair mystery test and be evaluated on the results to keep their jobs. Children will be getting ranked in unfair ways on a test that NY never allowed them to really prepare for. That is the reason why all of the other states are waiting to implement the tests.

Oh wait...Cuomo is in the pocket of the test prep company that is getting millions of dollars to create shoddy tests and sell textbooks. That makes for sound education policies. Perhaps this will be a wake up call to parents about what is really going on.

[VA Yankee]

Originally Posted by rh71

From Newsday:




I can understand the teachers and parents getting up in arms over their current kids' failures, but overall this is good for the kids of tomorrow. Teachers [and parents] will just have to work harder. I'm sure the tax-payers among us wouldn't mind. I'd also be curious to see other states' scores when they first get hit - though perhaps they're given ample warning by then.

You may experience flack from the teaching union if "extra" is expected from their members.

[ClarkStreetKid]

Here is the CCSS homepage... http://www.corestandards.org/

What happens if a school doesn't meet the standards? We've been dealing with this down here and there is a bit of shenanigans that happen to stay accredited, like putting the IB program in the county high school with one of the highest drop out rates in the state to raise the average GPA of the school.

[Peppin0]

I don't what the big deal here is... they changed the cutoff for proficiency and therefore a lot less students are marked as "proficient." If we were to use last year's standard, then we would get numbers more like last year.

Though I'm very sceptial about assessing student's proficiency over a single test, but I do remember the tests being pretty basic...

[ClarkStreetKid]

Did they break out the changes school by school on the Island? I would expect the better schools and bad schools to see little change, but most of it in the schools closer to either side of the median.

[Quick Commenter]

Originally Posted by ClarkStreetKid

Did they break out the changes school by school on the Island? I would expect the better schools and bad schools to see little change, but most of it in the schools closer to either side of the median.

Partially agree, the bad schools may have VERY bad results. Good schools will slightly decline in scores.

[ClarkStreetKid]

Usually (always) the change happens in the middle of the distribution, like the fluctuation in the number of the middle class while the number of rich and poor are more steady. So I'd be surprised to see much change in CSH, Syosset or the bad schools that I won't name, but more in say NB.

[nancy thereader]

Right before I retired from teaching, the state went berzerk with all of its testing . Class trips , plays and often music & art were pushed aside and sacrificed to test practice. On the day of the test, many children were actually ill from all the stress.

I graded the 4th grade ELA tests for the state a few times and often children would draw a little heart or even a cross on the writing part of the test and plead with the person grading the test not to fail them because their parents would be so disappointed. It was just horrible.

[ClarkStreetKid]

Nancy, were there any repercussions for a school not doing well on those tests?