Some Gains Shown in Second Round of Common Core Testing

This spring’s Common Core-aligned test scores showed slight increases in New York, but roughly a third of students in the state are still failing to reach proficiency levels. 

The test score results, unveiled Thursday by the state Education Department, are based on the performance of all students who took an exam last year compared with those same students this year at the next grade level. In math, 35.8 percent of students met or exceeded the proficiency standard by scoring a level 3 or 4, up from 31.2 percent last year. In English Language Arts, the score remained essentially the same, rising to 31.4 percent from 31.3 percent.

“As we look at our students’ performance on last year’s 3-8 grade assessments, in 2014 we saw significant statewide progress in mathematics across every need-resource group and also across every race and ethnic group,” state Education Commissioner John King said on a conference call with reporters. “In English Language Arts, the results were flatter, as the chancellor described. There was slight progress statewide and performance was variable across need-resource groups.”

After the sharp drop in scores a year ago, many parents opted their students out of the Common Core tests this year. King estimated that around 5 percent, or some 50,000 to 55,000 students, opted out of the tests this year. Last year, about 10,000 to 15,000 students opted out.

When new Common Core test results were released last year, parents, teachers and students were shocked at the dramatic drop in passing scores. The anti-Common Core movement reached a fever pitch in the fall when parents and teachers began to call to repeal Common Core. Politicians have since taken up the cause against the standards, but have not proposed any comprehensive plans to replace it.

State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch blamed the politics around the Common Core for  hurting the learning environment.

“Our hope is that as this rollout continues and the changes that we’ve all agreed to are put in place, that the [political] temperature comes down and that school go back to the things that they do best: which is teaching students and professionally developing teachers,” Tisch said.  “That will be a very big shift in transformation in terms of the culture of what is going on in schools across the state.”

Proponents for Common Core have repeatedly said lower scores are to be expected at first because the new standards have raised the bar and students will need time to meet it. Recent legislative changes have decreased the high-stakes nature of the tests during this process. The Common Core test scores are not allowed to be used to determine grade placement or graduation eligibility for students until 2022, or for termination decisions for low-performing teachers for two years.

Tisch and King also touted progress in closing the achievement gap across the state. In mathematics, black students across the state saw a 3.2 percent increase in scores and Latinos saw a 4.2 percent increase. In ELA, black and Latino students also saw increases in scores, but both were gains of less than 1 percent.

Some opponents have knocked the standards as being too difficult for students, while another common complaint is that the state has not provided teachers and students with enough guidance to succeed on the tests. Others have said that the implementation was flawed, meaning that students were taught under previous standards but are taking more rigorous tests under the new standards, thus driving down their scores. 

Critics have said Common Core does not sufficiently address the needs of English Language learners and special needs students. Although that dynamic is reflected in the test scores this year, there were some improvements in these groups. Only 11 percent of ELL students achieved proficiency levels in math, up from 7 percent last year, while 8.8 percent of special needs students were graded as proficient, up from 7.2 percent last year. In ELA, 2.6 percent of ELL students were graded as proficient, up from 1.7 percent last year and 5.2 percent of special needs students were graded as proficient, up from 4.7 percent last year. 

King and Tisch both insisted that the tests scores showed real progress and reminded the public that higher scores for higher standards will take time.

“The results today point toward progress and the need for continued vigilance about professional development and providing additional support as we move forward,” King said. 

 A presentation of the new test scores is posted below.

2014 Grades 3-8 ELAMath