Diane Ravitch has a must-read Op-Ed exhorting David Steiner, the incoming head of the New York State Department of Educaiton, to crack down on New York’s dumbing down of state tests.
In 2006, students in all grades had to earn around 60 percent of the points to reach Level 3 (proficiency) on the math test. But by 2009, they had to get only about half the points on the math test to meet state standards. In 2006, a seventh-grade student needed to get 59.6 percent of the points on the state math test to become proficient (Level 3); by 2009, it was just 44 percent.
Given the recent discussion on Talk of the Sound about claims of cheating on test scores over at Isaac E. Young Middle School, it is worth pointing out that Ravitch cites Buffalo, Syracuse and New York City test scores as having achieved “phenomenal results” on State math tests.
In Buffalo, the proportion of students who met state standards leapt from an abysmal 29 percent in 2006 to an incredible 63 percent in 2009, in Syracuse from 30 percent to 58 percent and in New York City from 57 percent to 82 percent.
Buffalo had 30% growth, Syracuse had 25% growth and New York City had 12.5% growth between 2006 and 2009. Isaac E. Young Middle School says students demonstrating proficiency in math went up about 25% a year for black and hispanic students between 2006 and 2008. It might be tempting to claim that nothing is amiss at Isaac because there is at least one other place to point to that showed the kind of growth found at Isaac Young. A few problems with that. First, Buffalo started with a base of 29%, a shockingly low figure. Second, there was no similar growth for scores for white students at Isaac. Third, the sorts of increases claimed by Isaac did not occur anywhere else in the District including the schools that feed up into Isaac.
Perhaps even more pathetic is what New York State for the students at the low end of the spectrum — kids that No Child Left Behind was specifically intended to help. Ravitch continues:
The state also made it easier for students to advance from Level 1 (the lowest category) to Level 2. In 2006, third-grade students had to get 43.6 percent of the points on the math test to earn a Level 2 — but by 2009, they needed to get only 28.2 percent of the points. On the English language-arts test, the cutoff to earn a Level 2 in sixth grade dropped from 41 percent of the points in 2006 to just 17.9 percent in 2009.
So, those students are right back where they started — being shuffled along from year to year without learning only to be dumped on the streets once they turn 18 without a real education.
it is likely even worse than that
good a respectable educator who, by the way, if by no means a conservative think tank pundit, has reinforced the message that I have placed on the blog over the past week or so and we can only speculate why richard mills and his department of education cohorts would undertake such violence to the future of our children. they cannot successfully compete in many cases as it is in the global economy. this recklessness not only is an insult to every taxpayer scrambling and scratching to pay property and school taxes, it masks poor or underachieving performance in districts and of course, in schools within districts. what it does is to lull the unthinking parent, the timid taxpayer, and others into thinking not only that “the kids are alright”, but also that this bloated, barely sustainable district is actually on the road to success.
the deafening silence from city hall and council continues without end. every parent, every taxpayer should demand accountability from their elected officials on these matters, regardless of whether they have line responsibility or not over school district activities. This is their city damn it, we entrust our ever diminishing scarce funds to them, and we get silence. parents from all parts of this city need to SIT UP AND TAKE NOTICE of this — don’t simply say it is a state epidemic — that is only part of the truth. remember that bob cox mentioned at the last staff meeting that there were something like 19 or so power point slides with little acknowledgement of what really went on in albany. surely the presenter and the superintendent had a moral responsibility to present the data in the right light and context and, i should think as educators, express outrage at the heavy-handed mortgaging of our children. and don’t be beguiled by any soft pedaling by state or district bureaucrats about the context issues — meaning there is more to this than the test. this is irrelevant. there may be, but we can have no confidence that grade and subject appropriate learning has taken place. good teachers throughout the state must be outraged at these results.
did you fence sitters and wishful thinking parents and voters think that this is trivial and unimportant? if so, shame on you! do you know that skilled psychometricians and statisticians indicate that you literally could guess at mulitple choice questions and pass the test. not too hard either if you read bob cox’s material on the ever shrinking grade ranges — you literally could pass the test by achieving what any reasonable person would consider to be totally unacceptable raw scores. mind you, this is not grading on a curve, it is RAW SCORES.
nobody is saying tests are everything or should replace creative and dynamic classroom instruction, but how can that take place in a cloud of uninformed and poorly educated childre?
i think david lacher was trying to get to the heart of some of this via a previous cox report. david, you now are fully aware of this so i am asking you and any other right thinking and concerned board member to quadruple your efforts to wipe away the stains and to bring our children up to a highr level and earn taxpayer respect. you got some new blood on the board; people i hope who are outraged, even if quietly, on this debacle. can the elected trustees really continue to rationalize and abide the subpar performance of organisiciak, his curricula staff, selected principals and administrators? if you can read between the lines it is only a question of time before the federal government kicks in with its new mandates around accountability. and, are you comfortable with a union that refuses to stand up for excellence, refuses to give back some gains to help this city fiscally survive? are you content with what you have in front of you concerning information on how we come to the numbers regarding student population in district or what data you have on long range capital improvement and expansion?
just today, someone presented a number that surprised me — apparently there are 80 or so students from both Avalons in our system. the numbers were attributed to specific schools so sh/e must have so insight into the breakouts. what you do know is that is not remotely close to what the superintendent has reported. what you also know is that the mayor has offered up some questionable math on the contribution being made by new developments to the school district coffers. are you comfortable with this?
we now have a new state education commissioner and regents head in the state. we also have a potential issue in participating in signficant stimulus funding along with wisconsin and california — based on, among other things, an unwillingness by the unions to accept student evaluations as a performance measure. note secretary duncan did not say the only measure, he said a performance measure. now we are seeing language arguments taking place over whether these are relevant for tenure purposes or not, etc……. SHEER AND UTTER NONSENSE AND INSENSITIVITY to the taxpayer and children. Damn it Ms.Richmond and others — enforce it as a rule and take a grievance or even a strike. show some courage, marty daly will not, repeat will not, pull his people out of the classroom for this reason! he is too much of a political animal for this and picks his spots.
parents and taxpayers —- i am calling on you to make education and school taxes part of your deliberation when looking at the upcoming mayorality election as well as city council. if any incumbent or candidate pulls a Pontius Pilate and says “I have no responsibility as they are separately elected” remember the relationship of a vibrant city to its educational reputation and resources and DO NOT VOTE for this candidate.
and yes, demand that Organisiciak be dismissed for incompetent and lack of community response and focus.
warren gross
PTA meeting at Trinity
At a PTA meeting at Trinity Mr. Organisciak responded to a question about all the new development within NR and whether the district could handle it. I was there. He said there were “a small handful” of children in the Avalon and none that he knew of at the Trump. He said that the Avalon II was filled with college kids. He said it very clearly. It was during the budget process in the Spring when they really wanted the full day kindergarten. Mr. Organisciak, were you deceiving us then? If you were, that is absolutely not right. We pay you handsomely and you have a very high public role. If you are not honest with this type of conversation, how can we trust you with our children and our tax dollars?
If Mr O lied , I’m sure it was an “isolated incident”
You’ll never see him in a room with only one exit . He always needs another way out . Like a rat . Trinity isn’t the only place he’s said that same comment , nor is he the only one who has touted that line . Many on this site and in the “water cooler ” conversations have pointed out this kind of behavior over and over in the months leading up to the school board election and budget vote . Many tried to dismiss these people as radicals and axe grinders . So what happens ? 3600 people come out to vote . Mostly employees of the district and the brainwashed pta robots . This is the end result . Business as usual , corruption abounds (no matter what anyone says , this IS a lot of suspect/ illegal behavior), Fuse union takes a raise and says outright they took a little less so they can take even more later , Hastie and Polow are impotent , Lacher is outnumbered (Thanks for trying David), no noticible reform in sight , school rankings dropping , overcrowding with no master plan to address Boy Bramsons evil plan to add turn NR into Metropolis , millions in give aways, it goes on and on and on ad nauseum . Can’t say we didn’t try to tell you though . Just as we can’t control who moves into the Avalon, Trump etc , nobody can get people to believe the ongoings being reported . You have to come to that realization yourself . We all have the capacity to make a difference . Do it.