Columbia Public Schools discusses state and local test results

New York education officials say the state’s third- through eighth-grade students did slightly better on Common Core-aligned math and English assessments than last year, but the majority of students still aren’t considered proficient in the subjects.

Scores statewide for 5th graders dropped a percentage point from last year, from 48 percent proficient to 47 percent.

Elementary school students took the test online for the first time.

This is the third year of the state’s Common Core testing, which is designed to be more hard than previous state exams.

The state divides student results into four categories – levels one and two do not meet the state’s standard for knowing math or English, while levels three and four do.

The state education department estimated that about 20 percent of eligible New York students did not participate in the tests and did not have a valid reason for not participating.

Still, she reiterated her support for Common Core academic standards, while noting that New York was among many reviewing them for possible refinements, with teacher input.

West Seneca is among the top 10 districts statewide with 71 percent of its students opting out of English tests and 72 percent opting out of math tests. “Whether they’re up or down, they tell us virtually nothing meaningful about students or their teachers”, she said.

The State Board of Education is meeting Tuesday in Jefferson City discussing the results, including the performance of minority students and those who qualify for free-and-reduced lunch prices, a marker of poverty. The change, coupled with increased standards for Math and English testing, meant 2015 results could not accurately be compared to 2014 MAP results, according to the department.

More than 44 percent of Jefferson County fourth graders scored a Level 3 or above on the math assessment, as did 37.6 percent in St. Lawrence County.

The fact that so numerous boycotting students did not pass last year’s tests suggests that this year’s statewide results could be slanted in some way.

In Nyack, 34 percent of students in grades 3-8 showed proficiency in 2015, no change from 2014.

Kansas City and Hickman Mills are provisionally accredited and were hoping to have the state fully accredit them this year.

Schools have been preparing for the transition to new standards for five years. Officials said the tests better measure whether children are on track to succeed in college and career. “We looked at those standards and back-mapped, what would a senior need to know all the way down to a kindergarten student and we put those Missouri learning standards in place”.