Education Department Releases ELA & Math Testing Results

New York City students made strides in the tests taken at the end of the first full school year under Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The test will change again next year since the General Assembly has banned this MAP test because it is based on Common Core Standards.

So far, there’s no national data on student performance in other states that administered the test in the spring and no data from previous years in Missouri that could be used for comparison.

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.

About 59.7 percent of Missouri students tested last spring passed the English Language Arts test, and a little more than 45 percent met the threshold in math, according to the results publicly released Tuesday.

In math, the level of proficiency increased seven percentage points in two years: to 38.1 percent in 2015 from 36.2 percent in 2014 and 31.1 percent in 2013.

“These new standards raise the expectations for learning in Missouri”, says Commissioner Vandeven.

“It’s steady progress, and we are going to continue building on it. We’ve set the highest standards anywhere in the nation, and the reforms we are undertaking are giving students, teachers and families the tools they need to succeed”, deBlasio vowed.

Also showing an increase was the number of students who opted out of taking the tests. Under the old test standard last year, the same age group tested at just over 50 percent proficient or advanced in English language arts.

Missing data muddies some of the conclusions that could be drawn from results statewide and in pockets with strong anti-test movements. 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.

Commissioner of Education Margie Vandeven said, “These new standards raised the expectation for learning in Missouri”.

DESE officials said Monday they were very pleased with the results, which they said reflected improved access to “21st century learning tools”. “The results reflect the time our teachers put into preparing for this transition”. Officials said the tests better measure whether children are on track to succeed in college and career. Eighth grade scores dropped from 52.5 percent proficient to 48.9 percent. Diane Ravitch, a New York University researcher and former U.S. assistant secretary of education, has compared the standard to an A grade that is “unreasonably high” for a great many students.