State Test Scores Plunge

As expected, state test scores released Wednesday showed a large decline in the number of students deemed proficient in math and English.

But local and state education officials cited the use of new Common Core Standards for the tests that raised standards and with little time to prepare for those new expectations.

Statewide, just 31 percent of students met or exceeded proficiency standards on tests taken in April by students in third to eighth grades. Last year, 55 percent of students were proficient in English and 65 percent were in math.

Huntington school superintendent James Polansky said, “Districts have been doing all that they can to adhere to a simply unreasonable timeline for Common Core implementation. 

"The Commissioner has identified the statewide results as 'sobering' and that scores represent a new 'baseline.'  He also is also very clear in stating that 'the change in test scores does not mean that students are learning less or that teachers and schools are performing worse …'  Unfortunately he is unlikely to be the one explaining this to the teachers who have worked diligently throughout the year in terms of training and revising strategies, or to the students and parents who have experienced drops in scores.”

On Tuesday, anticipating the release of the weaker scores, State Sen. Carl Marcellino, R-Syosset, wrote, "The other states will begin testing Common Core principles in 2014. Perhaps this fact alone demonstrates that the NYS Education Department (NYSED)  may have moved too quickly."

The state education said:

• 31.1% of grade 3-8 students across the state met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 31% met or exceeded the math proficiency standard
• The ELA proficiency results for race/ethnicity groups across grades 3-8 reveal the persistence of the achievement gap: only 16.1% of African-American students and 17.7% of Hispanic students met or exceeded the proficiency standard
• 3.2% of English Language Learners (ELLs) in grades 3-8 met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 9.8% of ELLs met or exceeded the math proficiency standard
• 5% of students with disabilities met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 7% of students with disabilities met or exceeded the math proficiency standard