Rye City District Continues to Outperform Peer Schools, But Is That Good Enough?

Testing 1-2-3. Testing… That sound is not confirmation of a working microphone, but rather the start of another animated discussion about testing in our schools.

By Bob Zahm

Testing 1-2-3. Testing… That sound is not confirmation of a working microphone, but rather the start of another animated discussion about testing in our schools.

If you had kids between third and eighth grade last year, you should be receiving reports of their performance on NY State’s standardized English (ELA) and Math tests. These reports are sent every year, but this year they are a bit different, due to changes to the tests reflecting Common Core learning goals.

Much of what you’ve heard about these tests has probably focused on “expectation management.”  The idea was to prepare us for drops in the performance of our kids and schools compared to previous years. Well, scores did significantly drop. What’s unclear is if the drops matter and what we can learn from them.

According to the NYS Education Department, 68.9% of NY third-eighth graders were “insufficient” on the English test and 69% on the Math test. On the flip side, 31.1% were “proficient” on the English test and 31% on the Math test. Rye students – like many high performing districts – fared much better with overall passing rates of 66% for English and 71.1% for Math. These are averages. Some grades and schools in Rye did better than others, but on a relative basis, Rye continues to outperform NY State averages.

Looking at Rye’s relative performance to the District’s 2011 definition of the top 15 Westchester school districts, Rye placed 5th for English and 2nd for Math in 2013. Despite the new test and new standards, Rye’s students’ relative performance – along with that of our “peer districts” — is fairly consistent with the old tests.