Post by lilly on Nov 2, 2011 10:44:59 GMT -5
Just throwing it out there for discussion...
Any comments?
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www.newsday.com/long-island/math-scores-drop-for-ny-fourth-graders-1.3288462
Math scores drop for NY fourth-graders
New York is the only state where fourth-grade math scores fell significantly during the latest round of national testing.
On a scale of 0 to 500, average scores in New York dropped to 238 from 241 two years ago, federal officials reported Tuesday in the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
This marked the first time since 1992 that New York's performance in fourth-grade math has fallen below the national average in the assessment. The national average is 240 this year, up from 239 in 2009.
2011 NAEP REPORTS: Math | Reading
The assessment, described as the "nation's report card," is a federally funded project that since 1969 has tested samples of students at the national level, and more recently state-by-state.
In another blow to New York, the chairman of the NAEP's Governing Board Tuesday singled out the state, along with Iowa and West Virginia, as places where overall academic progress has been particularly sluggish -- both in reading and math -- during the past eight years. The board is a bipartisan panel appointed by the U.S. education secretary to oversee testing policy.
David Driscoll, the Governing Board chief who also is a former Massachusetts education commissioner, observed at a Washington news conference that the three states have "stood virtually still" since 2003 in percentages of students attaining proficiency on fourth- and eighth-grade tests.
Most other states since 2003 have shown substantial improvement in fourth- and eighth-grade math, and more modest gains in reading. In the 2011 round of testing, national scores rose significantly in fourth-grade and eighth-grade math and in eighth-grade reading. National results in fourth-grade reading remained flat.
New York State Education Commissioner John King Jr. called the results "disappointing and unacceptable." He added that a new Common Core curriculum, slated for statewide phase-in during the next school year, will help student achievement.
"The goal is college and career readiness for every student, and that starts the first day a child walks into a classroom," King said.
The Common Core curriculum is part of a multiyear, national drive to raise the bar of American students' achievement. The new standards put more emphasis on advanced literacy and applied math. The program, which is linked to international academic standards, has been approved by 44 states.
Driscoll said in a phone interview that New York has made considerable efforts to boost scholastic achievement. He suggested, however, that his own state of Massachusetts has made greater progress by aligning its testing standards early on with standards set at the national level -- a move that New York only recently began.
"I think the proof here is that Massachusetts leaped to the top of the country," Driscoll said of his state's test scores. "If you're a coach, I don't think you start the season saying you want to go two and eight."
Jack Bierwirth, superintendent of Herricks schools and an expert on testing issues, agreed that Massachusetts has set the pace among states in terms of rigorous assessments. Bierwirth added that New York needs to redouble its efforts to help failing students.
"We have some of the highest-achieving students, and we also have some of the lowest," said Bierwirth, who serves on state-level panels dealing with assessments. "And I think it's unconscionable that we have so many kids at the margin."
NAEP's math assessment was administered to a representative sample of 209,000 fourth-graders and 175,200 eighth-graders across the country. In reading, a representative sample of 213,100 fourth-graders and 168,200 eighth-graders participated.
The organization does not make public the districts where students are tested.
New York State racked up solid gains on most NAEP tests through 2007, but then the momentum slowed.
In more recent years, state school officials have conceded that the cutoff scores they set for students to reach the so-called proficiency level had dropped too low to keep pace with federal standards. Those cutoffs were raised in July 2010.
_______________________
Any comments?
____________________________
www.newsday.com/long-island/math-scores-drop-for-ny-fourth-graders-1.3288462
Math scores drop for NY fourth-graders
New York is the only state where fourth-grade math scores fell significantly during the latest round of national testing.
On a scale of 0 to 500, average scores in New York dropped to 238 from 241 two years ago, federal officials reported Tuesday in the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
This marked the first time since 1992 that New York's performance in fourth-grade math has fallen below the national average in the assessment. The national average is 240 this year, up from 239 in 2009.
2011 NAEP REPORTS: Math | Reading
The assessment, described as the "nation's report card," is a federally funded project that since 1969 has tested samples of students at the national level, and more recently state-by-state.
In another blow to New York, the chairman of the NAEP's Governing Board Tuesday singled out the state, along with Iowa and West Virginia, as places where overall academic progress has been particularly sluggish -- both in reading and math -- during the past eight years. The board is a bipartisan panel appointed by the U.S. education secretary to oversee testing policy.
David Driscoll, the Governing Board chief who also is a former Massachusetts education commissioner, observed at a Washington news conference that the three states have "stood virtually still" since 2003 in percentages of students attaining proficiency on fourth- and eighth-grade tests.
Most other states since 2003 have shown substantial improvement in fourth- and eighth-grade math, and more modest gains in reading. In the 2011 round of testing, national scores rose significantly in fourth-grade and eighth-grade math and in eighth-grade reading. National results in fourth-grade reading remained flat.
New York State Education Commissioner John King Jr. called the results "disappointing and unacceptable." He added that a new Common Core curriculum, slated for statewide phase-in during the next school year, will help student achievement.
"The goal is college and career readiness for every student, and that starts the first day a child walks into a classroom," King said.
The Common Core curriculum is part of a multiyear, national drive to raise the bar of American students' achievement. The new standards put more emphasis on advanced literacy and applied math. The program, which is linked to international academic standards, has been approved by 44 states.
Driscoll said in a phone interview that New York has made considerable efforts to boost scholastic achievement. He suggested, however, that his own state of Massachusetts has made greater progress by aligning its testing standards early on with standards set at the national level -- a move that New York only recently began.
"I think the proof here is that Massachusetts leaped to the top of the country," Driscoll said of his state's test scores. "If you're a coach, I don't think you start the season saying you want to go two and eight."
Jack Bierwirth, superintendent of Herricks schools and an expert on testing issues, agreed that Massachusetts has set the pace among states in terms of rigorous assessments. Bierwirth added that New York needs to redouble its efforts to help failing students.
"We have some of the highest-achieving students, and we also have some of the lowest," said Bierwirth, who serves on state-level panels dealing with assessments. "And I think it's unconscionable that we have so many kids at the margin."
NAEP's math assessment was administered to a representative sample of 209,000 fourth-graders and 175,200 eighth-graders across the country. In reading, a representative sample of 213,100 fourth-graders and 168,200 eighth-graders participated.
The organization does not make public the districts where students are tested.
New York State racked up solid gains on most NAEP tests through 2007, but then the momentum slowed.
In more recent years, state school officials have conceded that the cutoff scores they set for students to reach the so-called proficiency level had dropped too low to keep pace with federal standards. Those cutoffs were raised in July 2010.
_______________________