State test results fairly flat for Dutchess students
Nina SchutzmanThe percentage of Dutchess County students deemed proficient in math and English Language Arts was mostly unchanged as compared to 2016, inching up by 1 percentage point.
Students in grades 3-8 took math and ELA tests in the spring. The state Education Department released the results and refusal rates Tuesday.
In Dutchess, 36 percent of students met or exceeded math and ELA proficiency standards, getting test scores of 3 or 4.
RESULTS: Student scores inch up; opt outs down
DATABASE: Check your district's test scores
REFUSALS: Opt-outs high but steady as NY proposes Common Core revamp
Rhinebeck and Spackenkill had the highest overall local proficiency rates, each with about 53 percent.
They are the only two local districts in which more than half of the test-taking students are considered proficient.
However, many area superintendents cautioned against drawing conclusions from the test results. One reason for that is the high rate of students opting out of taking the tests; nearly a third of Dutchess students opted out in 2017.
"While I’d certainly rather see our children’s test scores improve from year to year rather than not, I’m reluctant to place value on assessments and test scores for their own sake," said Rhinebeck Superintendent Joseph Phelan. "Much less for meeting compliance requirements, for comparing schools or, as in the recent past, for evaluating teacher and administrator effectiveness."
Poughkeepsie, a district that struggles with a high rate of poverty and lower-than-average graduation rates, had the lowest proficiency rates: 17 percent in ELA and 13 percent in math. But those rates were improvements from last year, when 13 percent of students were considered proficient in ELA and 8 percent in math.
The gains reflect the district's "intensive focus on high-quality, rigorous instruction," said Elizabeth Ten Dyke, Poughkeepsie's director of data analysis and accountability.
"Mission Literacy remains a central focus of our educational program," said Ten Dyke, in a statement on the district's website, posted in response to a Journal inquiry. "Reading, writing, speaking, listening and analytical reasoning are emphasized across the curriculum."
Across the state, the percentage of New York students deemed ELA proficient increased 1.9 percentage points to 39.8. The math proficiency rate increased 1.1 percentage points to 40.2.
Opt outs
Nearly a third of eligible Dutchess students didn't take the tests. The 32 percent overall refusal rate represents a 1 percentage point increase from last year.
This was the fourth year of a testing boycott, rooted largely in parent-led groups who have criticized the state's reliance on testing, particularly after the roll-out of the Common Core education standards in recent years.
The tests have come under heavy criticism, and the state has paused using the exams to determine grades or teacher evaluations. The number of questions on each test have been reduced and a time limit to complete the work was dropped. Next year, testing days will be cut from six to four.
Refusals appear to have leveled off in many local districts, with the bulk of opt outs coming from middle-school aged students.
State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said the majority of New York students that skipped the exams were white students in rich or average wealth districts.
English Language Arts
The percentage of students deemed proficient in ELA increased, year-over-year, in 10 of Dutchess' 13 districts. In Ulster County, all three local districts saw a higher percentage of ELA proficient students.
Gains ranged from 1 percentage point in Pawling, Red Hook, Wappingers and Webutuck, to 9 percentage points in Rhinebeck.
ELA proficiency rates in Dover and Pine Plains declined by 4 and 3 percentage points, respectively. Arlington's stayed flat.
"Historically, the numbers from 3-8 state assessments have not been a true indicator of future success for our students," said Superintendent Mike Tierney. "To accept the state data as the true measure of any school or district would be irresponsible.
With a quarter of all Dover students opting out, "I question whether the students sitting for the assessments are taking them seriously," Tierney added.
"With a small school like ours, changes of a few percent are one or two kids and are not significant," said Pine Plains Superintendent Martin Handler.
More than a third of students in Arlington and Pine Plains didn't take the tests.
"This makes the data on the school as a whole not useful," Handler said. "Which kids opted out? The ones who would have done well, or the ones who would do poorly? The results are useful in working with individual students."
But Arlington's opt-out rate "prevents us from gleaning a very clear picture of overall district performance," Lyons said.
Math
Twelve of the 16 local districts saw math proficiency gains. Marlboro, Millbrook, Red Hook and Wappingers saw decreases.
Math increases ranged from 1 percentage point in Hyde Park, New Paltz and Pawling to 10 percentage points in Highland.
In Marlboro and Wappingers, proficiency rates decreased by 1 percentage point; Red Hook saw a 2 percentage point decline and Millbrook's drop was 7 percentage points.
"Across the state, ELA scores went up and math scores went down, so we are following the trend," said Millbrook Superintendent Phil D'Angelo. Meanwhile, the district's ELA proficiency rate increased by 7 percentage points, and D'Angelo said he's pleased those "scores went up so dramatically."
Like Arlington and Pine Plains, more than a third of Millbrook students opted out.
"Our level of test refusals is impacting our scores which, unfortunately, does not give us a true gauge of how our students are doing," D'Angelo said.
Wappingers Superintendent Jose Carrion could not be reached for comment by the Journal's deadline. Forty percent of Wappingers students refused the tests.
The tests
The Poughkeepsie district consistently has the lowest local opt-out rate. That was true even before this past spring, when the district launched a "Think Win-Win, I'm Opting In" campaign in its middle school, which is in receivership.
The campaign rewarded middle schoolers that took both tests, worked hard and displayed good behavior with a picnic at Bear Mountain State Park, according to a letter the district sent parents. Poughkeepsie's overall refusal rates (for both tests combined) dropped from 7 percent in 2016 to 3 percent.
Exam results "provide useful insight for teachers and administrators, and they contribute to our process of continuous improvement in instruction and learning," said Ten Dyke, the data analysis and accountability director. "We will remain relentlessly focused on improvement, sustaining and increasing gains made in English Language Arts, and significantly accelerating learning in mathematics."
As a Poughkeepsie district elementary school teacher, Donald Stark tries to prepare his students for the exams.
But as a parent, he's planning on opting his children out of the tests when they enter the Spackenkill district this year. They previously attended Tabernacle Christian Academy, which does not administer those two exams, he said.
"I do think the tests are difficult and confusing," Stark said. "The way the questions are worded, the number of steps in the questions. The proof is in the numbers. The children are not passing."
Poughkeepsie students "are wonderful and the tests really don’t tell us anything," Stark said. "The families and community are making judgments based on these numbers... it can be hurtful."
The state
Test scores statewide improved for black and Hispanic students over last year, which has been a focus of the state's efforts because of a gap in performance with white students.
Meanwhile, 19 percent of the eligible students opted out this year, a 2 percentage point drop from 2016.
High Achievement New York, a coalition of groups including various business organizations that support the Common Core, said: The continued "rise in proficiency scores is a clear sign that high standards are preparing students for future challenges.
"The results show the right thing to do is to keep moving forward, not tear down high standards and end annual assessments like opponents call for,” said Stephen Sigmund, High Achievement executive director, via statement.
Next month, the state Board of Regents is expected to adopt other round of reforms to the testing. The new standards would be implemented in the 2020-21 school year, Elia said, giving schools and teachers enough time to plan for the new curriculum.
The "anchor standards" — the basic tenets of the Common Core — will largely remain in place, though some repetitive themes and standards will be "streamlined," as the Education Department puts it.
Nina Schutzman: nschutzman@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-451-4518, Twitter: @pojonschutzman; Gannett's Albany Bureau contributed to this report