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Public school children across the state between grades four and eight showed tremendous improvements in their standardized test scores in recently released results from the state education officials. In particular, NYC and the "Big Four" --Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers--made double digits increases that have now prompted some to wonder if the most recent test was too easy.
Mayor Bloomberg trumpeted these results yesterday, saying, "Today, they are performing almost on the level of suburban districts, and we're making continued progress closing the shameful achievement gap. We've put our children first and focused on results-and all New Yorkers should be very proud of what our schools are achieving." Though he emphasized there is still a lot of work to be done (it's not good when "only 43 percent of city eighth grades were able to meet state standards this year, while less than 53 percent were able to do so in sixth grade"), Schools Chancellor Joel Klein credited the Mayor's transformation of the Department of Education with the gains.
And State Education Commissioner Richard Mills said, "The bottom line is this: Performance is up in mathematics. It's up in English and more students are meeting the standards." Still, some opponents of standardized testing suggest that the curriculums are shaped to only teach what's on the tests. NYU professor Robert Tobias told the Daily News, ""Given that the scores are going up to a very large degree, especially in certain grades, it suggests the test is probably easier than it was in the past."
Inside Schools has a good analysis of the racial breakdown of the NYC test scores, "The achievement gap that yawns between white and Asian students and their black and Hispanic peers has narrowed, but continues far too wide." Some sides from the DOE showing the differences in scores across races are after the jump.
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A friend of mine teaches fifth grade and told me months ago when he first saw the tests that they were much easier this year than they had been before. Looks like he was right.
I remember I went to public school in the 80's and all the teachers just gave the students the answers during the tests. They were all like "you ain't gonna pass anyway, here's the answer, just move up and out of my grade so I can be gainfully employed with teacher's benefits" - Well, they didn't say that, but that's how it was and is to this day. Never send your kids to public school in NYC.
how did things get so fucked up. we spend a zillion dollars on education, and for what?
We should consider a different approach.
Maybe make school attendance mandatory only through 9th grade, and make attendance after that a privileged to be earned, instead of a right.
We could offer a trade school program for those who fail out but want to attend that, but again, attendance is a privilege not a right.
Maybe also allow them to attend military school/boot camp if they want -- there are probably plenty of kids who would thrive outside of a classroom environment but could still be productive and contributing members of society.
Anyone who doesn't qualify for 10th grade and doesn't want to attend or gets kicked out of trade school/military school can submit to fingerprinting and dna testing, be preemptively assigned a parole officer (call it something else, like social worker), and set free until they commit a crime (it's not a big stretch to imagine that a good number of the opt-outs would eventually be criminals).
"teachers teach to the tests" isn't a reason to oppose standardized testing, it's a reason to oppose lazy teaching.
where are the stats for asians? do they not put that stat on so white people wont feel so dumb?
It is a reason to oppose putting so much emphasis on standardized testing if you want kids to get a well-rounded education. I want my kid to have band practice and learn a foreign language, and that kind of stuff is being shutout because of the need to spend so much time on standardized tests. My friend who I mentioned above is a test specialist who spends all his time bouncing around a Queens public school teaching test-taking techniques to different classes. That's all he does. His principal took him out of regular teaching duties to do this because the school ranking and the principal's bonus are based almost solely on test scores.
don't you need to take foreign language to get into some colleges? why are they getting rid of that?
music/chorus will always be the first to be cut. shame because reading music is a great skill. along with music appreciation in general.
K-A-T cat. I'm outta here!
–Brian Regan
If the kids aren't able to get a well-rounded education and still learn the basic math (come on, the shit on the standardized tests isn't that hard) that's required, it's because the teachers aren't doing their jobs well enough.
Yonkers is one of the "big four" in New York state outside of the city? I would have thought it would be Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany.