Schools

State Releases New Grade 3-8 Test Results

Nyack Superintendent of Schools Dr. James Montesano used an analogy many have utilized to describe the changes in standards, testing and evaluation in New York State Schools.

"It's like trying to redesign a 747 while in flight," Montesano said. "That's what it feels like. I've never seen this amount of change before."

Those changes include new evaluations for teachers and administrators, Common Core Learning Standards that changed school curriculum at all levels and new state assessments that test students on those standards.

New York State Education Commissioner John B. King, Jr. released results of the Grade three through eight assessment results for math and English Language Arts (ELA) for 2013 Wednesday. This is the first set of state assessments tied to the more challenging Core Learning Standards, which were adopted by the state in 2010. 

The results were 31.1 percent of students in New York State grades three through eight meeting or exceeding the proficiency standard in ELA, 31 percent reaching or beating the standard in math. Those numbers are down from 55 percent in ELA and 65 percent in math in 2012, but educators warn that comparisons between such different assessments may not be valid. 

“New York State just released the scores this week. All school districts were notified last school year to expect a drop in scores," Pearl River Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Morgano said. "This was confirmed (Wednesday) by NYSED that this test sets a new baseline score based upon a new curriculum and new tests. As is our typical process, we will disaggregate the assessment data and prioritize our next steps.”

"It truly is apples and oranges," Montesano said. "It is a different set of tasks that kids are being asked to perform."

Links to full results of the assessments and King's statement is available here. According to King, the percentage of students who reached the standards for proficiency is lower, but this does not reflect a drop in performance. 

"The new assessments are a better, more accurate tool for educators, students and parents as they work together to address the rigorous demands o the Common Core and college and career readiness in the 21st century," King said.

Clarkstown Superintendent Dr. J. Thomas Morton is away until Monday and has not had the opportunity to discuss the results with staff. Nanuet Superintendent Dr. Mark McNeill is going through the numbers with his staff and they are reviewing the data. The Pearl River and Nyack administration also expect to have more to say about the results once they have had more time to analyze the data. 

That presents an additional challenge because the tests are new. 

"Experience gives us confidence," said Robert J. Reidy, Jr., Ph.D., executive director for the NYS Council of School Superintendents. "The Common Core Standards represent an unprecedented shift in our expectations for schools and the students they teach. Students who meet these new expectations will be better prepared for the demands of the world they will inherit. Over the past year, teachers and school leaders worked very hard to change instruction to match the new standards. With more time and resources, our schools will refine their practices and enable more and more students to reach the standards and surpass them – as we have when standards have been raised in the past. Overwhelmingly, superintendents see the Common Core standards as a step toward raising the quality of education in our state." 

Montesano said it was important to make sure parents understand the changes they will see in scores on the Grade 3-8 assessments from past years and that this year's scores will serve as a baseline for comparison in the years to come.  

"I've always found that the truism ..... The more you raise expectations on our kids and staff, the more you do see increases in overall achievement," Montesano said. "When changes happen, you see brief dips in scoring and performance of the kids until the schools better understand the targets, teachers retrain and there are new materials available. We will see gradual improvement in regard to the outcomes for the kids.

"This is one of the fastest significant changes in assessments I've ever witnessed. There really was not enough time available for districts to re-calibrate themselves, but it's happening. Teachers are becoming more aware of what the Common Core Standards are about."


School districts use standardized testing results to measure student progress and find those who may be in need of help. Without other years to compare to with the new assessments, that could lead to relying even more on teachers to evaluate student progress. 

"We always rely on the voice of our teachers in the classrooms," Montesano said. "They know your kids best. That's a part of what our assessment is going to be. This is a baseline score. We have to look at it over time. We now have a new baseline to work from. We will rely on our teachers to help us to better understand which kids need added assistance."

"My job is to support my teachers," said Carlos Sanchez, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for Port Chester Public Schools. "We have teachers who are leaders in our district and they are helping us to understand what we need to do to get this done."


The assessment themselves presented new challenges, such as longer times for each testing session and more days o testing. This is combined with more difficult standards at each grade level as mandated by the state and philosophical changes such as more of a focus on non-fiction materials in ELA. 

"There has been a change in academic rigor from a content perspective," Montesano said. "Now we see some concepts formerly taught in Grade 5 mathematics. Now they appear for third grade students."

The changes were made with the goal of ensuring that students are better prepared when they leave local school districts. Wednesday's statement from The New York State Education Department about the assessments included a statement from Founding Principals of Student Achievement Partners Susan Pimental and Jason Zimba, who contributed to the development of the Common Core Standards.

"We have worked with NYSED since 2009 to support the state's transition to the Common Core. New York has been a leader in identifying the shifts demanded by these higher standards. We know that not enough students in this country are on track for success in college and careers--assessments that measure the standards will show this.Students, families, and educators in NY should now have more clarity about the work that lies ahead to ensure that all students who graduate from schools in NY are college and career ready."

"It's not like Albany is trying to make everybody miserable," Montesano said. "(The changes come) with the recognition of the need for kids to be prepared with a more rigorous curriculum."

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