State Education Department raises the bar for
student achievement
New “cut scores” could
mean a dip in test scores for districts across the state
Call the Superintendent's Office at (518) 695-3255,
ext. 3242 for more information on
this article.
July 20, 2010
During the week of July 26, 2010, the New York
State Education Department (SED) will release test scores for the grades
3 through 8 math and English language arts exams that were administered
to students in May 2010. The results will reflect newly adopted
procedures from SED that raise the scores students must earn in order to
be considered “proficient” in a subject.
“Like many districts across the state, Schuylerville may see a dip in
its test scores due to a change in the ‘cut scores’ that SED uses to
determine whether students are achieving at high enough levels,”
explained Superintendent Dr. Ryan Sherman. “We want to be sure our
parents and community members understand how this new scoring system may
affect individual student test scores and overall district results
before media outlets begin covering the story.”
Under the state’s testing system, “cut scores” are used to classify
students into one of four performance levels. Students at Level 1 are
not meeting learning standards; those at Level 2 are partially meeting
learning standards; pupils at Level 3 are meeting learning standards and
those at Level 4 are meeting learning standards with distinction. SED
has just raised the cut scores for Level 3, meaning students must
achieve at higher levels than ever before in order to be considered
proficient.
“Because this change affects scores on tests that were already given,
it’s likely that fewer students will be placed in Level 3 when we see
the results from SED next week,” Sherman said. “We’re anticipating a few
more students in each grade level will move from Level 3 to Level 2 for
the math and English language arts tests. If this happens, it means our overall district scores will appear lower, as well. We’ll
provide extra academic intervention services to students who are
affected by the change. In the meantime, we’re asking parents and
community members to keep an open mind as we work with the state to
raise the bar on student achievement.”
Part of a larger trend to raise student
achievement
SED’s change in the cut scores for the grades 3 through 8 math and
English language arts scores are just one part of a larger effort in New
York to raise student achievement. Education Commissioner David Steiner
and his colleagues have been traveling around the state over the last
few weeks to not only forewarn of an expected drop-off in test scores,
but also to share details on the state’s new push toward tests that are
less predictable and more demanding.
In a press release on the SED Web site, SED Senior Deputy Commissioner
John King said, “The data shows that schools responded to the assignment
they were given—they worked hard to help students achieve standards as
measured by the state tests that were being given at the time. And more
students did, in fact, pass those tests. The problem is that those exams
didn’t sufficiently test students’ abilities—the bar was set too low.
But we’re changing that now. It’s time to end the annual debate over
whether our tests have become easier and to put to rest questions about
what it means to achieve proficiency in New York.”
In the same press release, Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch added,
“For the past several years, we have seen more and more students scoring
‘proficient’ or better on our state tests. At the same time, however,
their performance on the NAEP [National Assessment of Educational
Progress] exam—the gold standard in testing—has
remained essentially flat. We haven’t been testing the right things in
the right ways. ‘Proficiency’ on our exams has to mean something real;
no good purpose is served when we say that a child is proficient when
that child is not. So we’re improving our assessments by raising cut
scores, making the exams less predictable, testing more areas, and
making the tests longer. But more rigorous exams are only one piece of
the Regents broader reform vision—a vision that includes a more
challenging curriculum, better training for teachers and principals, and
a world-class data system. In short, we are lifting the bar to ensure
that New York remains at the very forefront of the national effort to
raise standards.”
For more information, go to the
SED Web site (http://www.oms.nysed.gov/press/Regents_Approve_Scoring_Changes.html).
