New York State Releases Aggregate ELA and Math Test Scores for New Rochelle Schools – Not Good

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — New York State yesterday released the ELA and Math Assessments for students throughout the State including New Rochelle. The results are going to shock many parents despite warnings from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and New York Schools Commissioner John King.

The much lower scores reflect a new testing standard based on the Common Core curriculum and so represent an entirely new baseline for evaluating year-to-year progress. The new standards are based on what is called “CCR” or College and Career Ready. What these tests scores indicate is that at this time a very large number of students in New Rochelle are not on a positive CCR track.

This is aggregate data for each building by test/grade. As expected, the new standards has resulted in significantly lower outcomes across the state. These numbers are going to look even worse when they are broken out by racial/ethnic classification.

2013 New Rochelle ELA and Mathematics District and Building Aggregates (.pdf)

WHEN WILL I SEE MY CHILD’S TEST SCORES?

The first question parents are asking is “when will I see my child’s test results”. According to a letter to parents from SED Commissioner John King (excerpts below), those reports are being prepared now and will be made available to parents after school starts in September. The district gets this information in advance for purposes of class placement but the information is embargoed.

Incoming Grade 4 Students/Kaleidoscope

Read this letter from Dr. Korostoff.

Lowlights

There are no good results in any of the data, there are a few less bad results. Level 3 or 4 is considering “passing”; Level 1 or 2 is considering “failing”.

A few results that jump out from the data:

District-wide

• 5.3% of third graders scored a 4 on the ELA.
• 4.8% of eight graders scored a 4 on the Math.
• 76.7% of eight graders failed the Math.

Building-Level Results
Columbus – 2.5% scored a 4 on Grade 5 ELA.
Davis – 65.5% failed Grade 3 Math.
Jefferson – 82.1% failed Grade 5 ELA; 82.7% failed Grade 4 ELA.
Trinity – 78.5% failed Grade 4 ELA.
Ward – 60.6% passed Grade 5 Math.
Webster – 25% scored a 4 on the Grade 5 Math.
ALMS – 46.4% passed Grade 8 ELA.
IEYMS – 85.4% failed Grade 6 ELA; 84.9% failed Grade 8 Math.

We will analyze the data over the weekend and produce a more complete report next week, looking at

201 Westchester ELA and Mathematics District and Building AggregatesMedia (.pdf)

Excerpts from letter to parents from NYSED Commissioner John King:

You will notice that more students struggled on this year’s test than in previous years. This is because we changed the expectations for New York State students when we adopted the Common Core State Standards. The Board of Regents adopted these standards in 2010 and teachers and principals have been working to make important changes in student learning over the last 3 years. It is exciting that these changes have already begun, but our test results tell us that we have a long way to go.

We are making this change to the Common Core State Standards because we want every single one of our students to be on track for college and careers by the time they graduate from high school. Our former standards did not prepare all of our students for 21st century college and careers.

More students struggled on this year’s test than in previous years. This is because we changed the expectations for New York State students when we adopted the Common Core State Standards. The Board of Regents adopted these standards in 2010 and teachers and principals have been working to make important changes in student learning over the last 3 years. It is exciting that these changes have already begun, but our test results tell us that we have a long way to go.

We are making this change to the Common Core State Standards because we want every single one of our students to be on track for college and careers by the time they graduate from high school. Our former standards did not prepare all of our students for 21st century college and careers.

I want to make it very clear that the change in test scores (including, possibly, one in your child’s score) does not mean that students are learning less or that teachers and schools are performing worse than last year. Proficiency rates – the percentage of students meeting or exceeding the standards – on the new Common Core assessments cannot be compared with last year’s proficiency results since the old scores are from an old test based on the former standards. This is a new beginning and starting point that will provide better, clearer information to parents, teachers, and principals about what our children know and are able to do. The results from these assessments will help you and your school directly address the learning needs of your child so that he or she gets and/or stays on track for college and career success.

Parent reports are currently being prepared and will be sent to you near the start of the school year. With these reports, we will provide you with detailed information on how best to understand the results and resources that you can use to help support next steps for your child.

Read the entire letter here.

Get full information:

Office of State Assessment/2013 Grades 3-8 Tests