Thousands across Central New York no longer found proficient. School officials charge state shouldn't have changed scoring after students took the tests.
Donna Evans Orr, a Pre-K teacher at Roberts Elementary in Syracuse, participates in a training session today at a teacher center in Syracuse. Teachers were learning on how to work with students for whom English is a second language. Non-English speaking students tend to have difficulty on state assessment tests.
By Elizabeth Doran
and Maureen Nolan
Staff writers
The number of students who passed the state’s math and English tests dropped dramatically this year after New York state adopted a tougher grading standard, according to scores released Wednesday.
State education officials decided the scores on assessment tests in grades 3 through 8 didn’t accurately show how well students were doing, so they changed the scoring to make it harder to be deemed “proficient.”
Across grades 3 through 8 statewide, the number of students considered proficient in English dropped from 77 percent in 2009 to 53 percent this year. In math, the number proficient dropped from 86 percent to 61 percent.
Syracuse and the state’s four other big urban districts were hardest hit by the change, according to data released by state Education Commissioner David Steiner.
Disadvantaged students did worse than their peers, Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch said at a news conference in Albany. Syracuse and other urban districts have a relatively high number of low-income students, students for whom English is a second language and students with special needs.
The percentage of Syracuse third- through eighth-graders who met the state goal on the math test dropped from 58 to 26 percent. A similar drop was seen in the district’s third- through eighth-grade English scores —from 53 to 26 percent.
Local school superintendents object to the state decision to change the scores after the test was already taken. They say it’s unfair to kids, parents and teachers and said the state should change the curriculum and test first, and then apply the new scoring system.
East Syracuse-Minoa Superintendent Donna DeSiato said the district believes in more rigorous standards, but questions the arbitrary way these scores were changed after the fact.
“It’s an injustice to start with an entry point that suggests our students are less than proficient,” she said. “The entry point should be with the new standards. Otherwise, it’s problematic and confusing.”
Syracuse city officials said they fully support more rigorous standards for students, but agree it’s unfair to change the rules after the game has been played. They said that makes the data less than meaningful.
If the state had not changed the scoring, the Syracuse district would have continued to see progress, Deputy Superintendent Chris Vogelsang said.
For instance, 26 percent of Syracuse students met the state standard in math, but if the state hadn’t changed the scoring, 63 percent would have been found proficient, up from 58 percent the previous year.
State test scores have climbed in the last few years, and even though the tests were flawed, “there’s no question that a portion of the gains were real,” said John King, state senior deputy commissioner for K-12 education.
Baldwinsville Superintendent Jeanne Dangle is not sure how to interpret the results. “If the tests are flawed, why not just invalidate these results?” she said.
Dangle said she’ll compare her district’s results with other districts like hers to help identify areas of weakness in students’ knowledge.
New York State Council of School Superintendents Executive Director Robert Reidy said average scores earned by students remained about the same despite the sharp drop in “proficiency,” showing the drop comes from changes in scoring and “not from any fall-off in school performance.”
Districts won’t be punished for the declines; in fact, the state is asking the federal government to allow districts who would have made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) had the cut scores not changed to get credit for making AYP in 2009-10. AYP is a measurement used to determine how schools are performing academically according to standardized test results.
The state also compared how students performed on English and math assessments compared to the National Assessment of Educational Progress exams, another standardized test, and found kids weren’t measuring up.
The same is true with Regents. For example, a student scoring a 3 on the eighth-grade state math assessment test has a 30 percent chance of scoring an 80 or higher on the Math Regents. English was slightly better, with a 60 percent change of scoring a 75 or better on that exam.
Many superintendents have sent letters to parents explaining the scoring changes, and offering to share other test results and performance indicators with parents. Although districts won’t be required to provide extra help to students who score a 1 or 2, those interviewed said they’ll give children extra help if necessary.
Tisch, the Regents chancellor, said the scoring change is just one step in a multistep program that will eventually lead to common national standards and assessment.
Next year, the state Education Department is changing the test to make it longer, broader and less predictable. By 2012, the test should include more open-ended questions and more writing. Officials also are working on a state curriculum.
What will school districts do in the fall to prepare for the new tests? Focus on the overall curriculum and make sure kids understand all facets of what’s being taught, superintendents said. It will be challenging when the new standards haven’t been outlined yet, administrators say.
“It’s difficult for schools to adapt that fast; it’s a process that takes a couple of years,” said William Silky, chairman and director of Le Moyne College’s education department. “You have to train staff , revise the local curriculum, purchase textbooks and do professional development.”
That’s the problem with changing the scores, DeSiato said. The scores become a distraction, when the focus needs to be on learning. “Our energy should be focused on what should be incorporated into the new standards,” she said .
Educational officials stressed teachers should not be blamed for the lower scores, but said the grading correction is critical to accurately measure students’ mastery of skills.
“We are doing a great disservice when we say that a child is proficient when that child is not,” Tisch said.