On Board Online • October 15, 2018

By Cathy Woodruff
Senior Writer

In grades 3-8, 45.2 percent of students who took state tests in the spring of 2018 scored high enough to be deemed proficient in English language arts and 44.5 percent were proficient in math.

But changes in test format make it impossible to say how those proficiency rates compare to prior years, according to state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia.

This year, the testing period for each exam shrank from three days to two. The State Education Department trimmed the number of questions on each test and set new standards for each scoring level.