Grade 3-8 test scores show improvement

On Board Online • August 15, 2016

By Cathy Woodruff
Senior Writer

The State Education Department's announcement that math and English Language Arts test scores continued to improve for students in grades 3-8 this year came with a commissioner's warning: use caution when attempting to compare current results with past performance.

"Because of changes made to the 2016 exam and the testing environment, the 2016 test scores are not an apples-to-apples comparison with previous years and should not be viewed as such," Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said as she announced increases of 6.6 percentage points in the share of students whose ELA scores indicated proficiency (levels 3 and 4) and 1 percentage point gain in math proficiency.

In ELA, the percentage of students with scores representing proficiency rose to 37.9 percent, up from 31.3 percent last year. In math, the percentage of students determined to be proficient rose to 39.1 percent, up from 38.1 percent last year.

Elia described the content of this year's tests as comparable and "similarly rigorous," but she also noted that they contained fewer questions and proctors had discretion to give students unlimited time to finish. Those changes may cloud direct comparisons of this year's results with those of prior years, she said.

Also, one-fifth of students around the state did not take the tests, which clouds the picture. "This year's proficiency rates reflect only those students who took the tests," Elia said. "We have no statewide measure of knowledge or skills for those students who refused the test."

Students who refused the test this year were "much more likely" to live in districts considered to be of high or average wealth "and were more likely to have scored below the proficiency level in 2015, if they took those tests," Elia said.

This year's test questions were more extensively vetted by educators, with every question reviewed by at least 22 teachers, Elia said. She said this year's results also suggest that teachers and students are getting a better handle on the knowledge and skills encouraged by the Common Core State Standards, which were adopted in 2010.

The most striking improvements in test scores were found in the ELA results for students in grades 3 and 4. The portion of third graders in the "proficient" range for ELA rose from 31 percent last year to 41.9 percent this year, a jump of 10.9 percentage points (and an overall year-to-year increase in proficient students of 35 percent). Fourth graders also made big gains.

"We are pleased to see overall gains in student proficiency, particularly in ELA, on this year's state assessments," said Timothy G. Kremer, NYSSBA's executive director. "We expect that schools will use this data to help teachers assess their classroom instruction needs and tailor assistance to individual students, which will go a long way toward continuing the gains made by students this year."

New York State United Teachers released a statement applauding the performance of students and teachers, but criticized the "benchmarks" being used to assess students and determine college and career readiness, saying they "do not accurately reflect the high levels of teaching and learning in our schools."

Black, Hispanic ELA scores climb

Score improvements were particularly strong in lower grades, where students were more likely to have received instruction aligned with the standards since they began attending school. The results also show a narrowing of the "achievement gap" between proficiency of black and Hispanic students and their white peers.

In ELA, proficiency among black students rose from 18.5 percent last year to 26.2 percent this year, up 7.7 percentage points. Among Hispanic students, the increase was 7.1 percentage points, from 19.7 percent to 26.8 percent. Whites improved by 5.6 percentage points, reaching a proficiency rate of 46 percent.

Gains in math were less notable for all racial groups. For black students, proficiency rose 1.7 percentage points, to 23 percent. For Hispanics, the increase was 1.2 percentage points, to 25.7 percent. And for whites, it was 0.3 percentage points, to 50 percent.

Eileen Graham, Rochester public school parent and founder of Black Student Leadership, voiced skepticism that there was improvement. "As a black parent, I'm not satisfied with Commissioner Elia's claims that the changes as they relate to black and Hispanic students are improvements," Graham said in a news release. She said Elia's suggestion that "things got better for the most vulnerable students" is "nonsense" and "patronizing."

Group questions SED's integrity

An anti-testing group challenged the statistical processes used to calculate this year's scores, suggesting they may have been used to paint an overly rosy picture of results. New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE) issued a press release with the headline, "Did NYSED Manipulate Test Scores to Boost Proficiency?"

The group said "the percentage of raw points necessary to achieve a proficient performance (level 3) were lower on 11 out of the 12 2016 NYS Common Core tests." The group said this raises a question "on whether NYSED has manipulated the raw score to scale score conversion in order to increase proficiency rates."

"This analysis is flawed, irresponsible and misleading," said SED spokeswoman Emily DeSantis. "This year's tests were just as rigorous as those in the past, and the cut scores are the same that have been used since 2013."