Schools

Supe: Test Scores Don't Reflect Our Students' Achievements

Three Village superintendent Cheryl Pedisich says state exams were too long and had design flaws.

Though this year’s state test scores suggested sharp declines in Three Village students’ proficiency in math and English in grades 3 through 8, the district’s superintendent said it’s impossible to compare this year’s results to previous years’ results – and said the scores aren’t a true reflection of the students’ actual grasp of those subjects.

In a letter distributed to parents on Monday, Cheryl Pedisich said the district does not believe there is “a correlation between these latest assessment results and our students’ ability to be college and career ready.”

She said that belief is based not just on the students’ various awards and achievements throughout their school years in Three Village, but also on the high percentage of students who graduate and go on to “many of the most prominent and prestigious colleges and universities.”

Find out what's happening in Three Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

However, she continued, the Common Core curriculum itself should not be “viewed as the problem.” She said the real issue is the design and the length of the tests, as well as the fact that the tests were administered without giving teachers “an opportunity to connect them to the curriculum.”

“The Common Core has many benefits and should not be seen as ‘the culprit,’” she said.

Find out what's happening in Three Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While test scores appear to have sharply declined from the 2011-12 school year to the 2012-13 school year, Pedisich said because the cut scores were so different from year to year, it is “virtually impossible” to accurately compare them to the previous year’s results.

Parents will be able to view their children’s test scores in the Infinite Campus portal beginning Friday.

Test Results As Reported by New York State

Grade 3 English – scoring at Levels 3 & 4

  • 2013: 51.3 percent

  • 2012: 74.7 percent

Grade 3 Math – scoring at Levels 3 & 4

  • 2013: 56.3 percent

  • 2012: 81.4 percent

Grade 4 English – scoring at Levels 3 & 4

  • 2013: 49.3 percent

  • 2012: 76.1 percent

Grade 4 Math – scoring at Levels 3 & 4

  • 2013: 63.8 percent

  • 2012: 85 percent

  • Grade 5 English – scoring at Levels 3 & 4

    • 2013: 44.6 percent

    • 2012: 76 percent

    Grade 5 Math – scoring at Levels 3 & 4

    • 2013: 40.8 percent

    • 2012: 81.7 percent

    Grade 6 English – scoring at Levels 3 & 4

    • 2013: 50.7 percent

    • 2012: 80.9 percent

    Grade 6 Math – scoring at Levels 3 & 4

    • 2013: 54.5 percent

    • 2012: 83.7 percent

    Grade 7 English – scoring at Levels 3 & 4

    • 2013: 52.9 percent

  • 2012: 77.9 percent

  • Grade 7 Math – scoring at Levels 3 & 4

    • 2013: 50.9 percent

    • 2012: 88.4 percent

    Grade 8 English – scoring at Levels 3 & 4

    • 2013: 54.6 percent

    • 2012: 73.1 percent

    Grade 8 Math – scoring at Levels 3 & 4

    • 2013: 45.9 percent

    • 2012: 81.6 percent

    In a statement released Wednesday, State Education Commissioner John B. King, Jr., acknowledged that more students across the state struggled on these tests this year than in previous years because they were based on the "new, challenging standards" of the Common Core curriculum.

    "We want every single one of our students to be on track for college and careers by the time they graduate from high school," King said. "Our former standards did not prepare all of our students for 21st century college and careers."

    The tests given this past spring were the first to test students based on the national Common Core curriculum, which New York State adopted in 2010. Individual school districts had three years to implement the Common Core standards, knowing that the spring 2013 assessments were on the horizon. In a recent memo, Ken Slentz, a deputy commissioner in the state's Department of Education, said the Common Core standards "were developed by mapping backwards from college and career success, internationally benchmarked, and informed by research."

    State officials have said the cut scores – meaning the specific point totals that determined where students scored within the four proficiency levels – were set based on research and analysis. They said in this way, the scores will provide a benchmark for measuring future progress.

    “We believe the significant decrease in this year’s assessment results ... is not attributable to a decline in student performance or in teacher instructional skill and/or preparation,” Pedisich wrote in the letter, “but instead reflects the fact that the assessments were prematurely implemented before students could effectively be instructed in the new, more rigorous Common Core Learning Standards curriculum.”


    Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

    We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here