South Colonie Central School District News

Posted august 11, 2011

South Colonie Students 'Making The Grade' On New Gr. 3-8 State Assessments in English Language Arts and Mathematics

South Colonie students, overall, are “making the grade” when it comes to achieving on the new annual New York State assessments in ELA and Math, according to data recently released by the New York State Education Department.

Test scores released on August 8th from exams taken last May in grades 3-8 show that South Colonie students are above the state’s “cut” score or the minimum number students must receive on an assessment to be classified as “proficient.” Only on the Grade 5 ELA exam did South Colonie students, overall, finish below the cut score of 678, and that was by just one point (677). A full score chart comparison is below.

Considering the assessments administered in May were new and the cut scores were raised by the state to require public school students to be more proficient in the ELA and Math subject areas (explanation below), the district is very pleased with these results.

“The bar was raised and our students and teachers worked hard to meet this challenge,” said Tim Backus, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction.

Score Comparison Chart Grade 3-8 NYS Assessments in ELA and Math - South Colonie Results Vs. New York State Cut Scores

More about the test scoring

All New York State public school students in grades 3-8 are required to take annual state assessments in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics, as well as science and social studies. In July 2010, the New York State Education Department and the Board of Regents announced a change in the "cut scores" for the grades 3-8 assessments in an effort to raise student achievement.

Under the state’s testing system, “cut scores” are used to classify students into one of four performance levels. Students at Level 1 are not meeting learning standards; those at Level 2 are partially meeting learning standards; pupils at Level 3 are meeting learning standards and those at Level 4 are meeting learning standards with distinction.

SED has now raised the cut scores for Level 3, meaning students must achieve at higher levels than ever before in order to be considered proficient. In a report released by the Board of Regents in July 2010 entitled: "A New Standard for Proficiency: College Readiness," (pdf) the Regents used a variety of academic performance statistics to justify this change, saying, "The Regents raised (academic) standards a decade ago. Now the Regents are embarking on a new era of reform to improve student achievement and better prepare graduates for college."

New York State mandates that all public school districts offer Academic Intervention Services (AIS) to any student who is falling behind in meeting the state standards (those who do not reach the cut scores). Students are identified for AIS according to their performance on the state ELA, math, social studies and science exams in grades 3-8. South Colonie students who score in Performance Levels 1 and 2 are eligible to receive AIS in the designated subject area. Some students are referred to the district's Response To Intervention (RTI) program.

The assessments (exams) themselves have also been changed and made tougher. In the August 8, 2011 press release, NYSED officials commented about some of the changes noting that they were “significant” in nature and were designed to reflect the department’s “commitment to the continuous development of a more robust testing system.”

The release also noted the following:

• The Department is no longer releasing test questions after they have been administered.

• Students now have to answer more multiple choice questions on both the math and English exams. Doing so enables the Department to test a greater range of performance indicators at varying degrees of difficulty. With a greater number of questions to answer, the length of time each test takes to complete has increased.

• Students at every grade level must now write at least one full essay on the English exams (i.e., essays were added to the exams in grades 3, 5, and 7).

For more information:

Click here to view the complete press release from NYSED.

Click here for a complete listing of the South Colonie District Grades 3-8 ELA and mathematics assessment results, including a school-by-school breakdown. (PDF)

Click here for the complete results and tabulations for all New York State school districts.

The 2010-2011 Annual School Report Cards are slated to be released to the public in the near future. South Colonie's most current NYS Report Card, released in February 2011, covers the 2009-2010 school year.