Nyack Schools Address State Assessment Questions

New York State's new assessments for students in grades three through eight began drawing intense scrutiny once the results were released in August. 

Though state and local administrators cautioned the public against comparing the scores to previous years because the tests were changed so dramatically, only 31 percent of students across the state met or exceeded proficiency in math and in English Language Arts and that created concern. Read more about the scores in this report on Patch.

The new assessments are based on New York's Common Core Learning Standards, which were adapted during the 2010-11 school year. The implementation of those standards has drawn further scrutiny, leading to New York State Education Department Commissioner John King facing heavy criticism during a forum on the Common Core last week in Poughkeepsie.

Local school districts have responded by doing what they can to inform parents and the public regarding the Common Core standards and state assessments. Nyack Public Schools Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Personnel Winsome Gregory gave a presentation on those topics during the board of education meeting Tuesday. Gregory's PowerPoint slides can be found on the district website here. 

The standards are designed to be more challenging with the goal of helping better prepare students for college and careers. Gregory stressed that the 2012 state assessments provided a baseline to be used for future comparison rather than a measure to be compared to previous years.

"We have to recognize that the tests themselves are completely different than the past," Nyack Superintendent Dr. James Montesano said. "Really, the performances we see this year are a baseline for us."

The presentation compared the number of Nyack students who tested as proficient as compared to Rockland County as a whole and New York State at every level. In most cases, Nyack's numbers were close to the county average, above it in many cases at the elementary school level.

Gregory pointed out that all of Nyack's schools are in good standing with the stat and Upper Nyack Elementary was one of 112 Reward Schools as designated by the state education department for high performance. 

Performance English Language Learners continues to be a source of concern for the district. She said the program needs to be reviewed. 

"We know this and have been dealing with this," Gregory said. "We have things in place to address it. We have a new math curriculum at the elementary level."

"My concern is it is always those kids at the bottom. It never changes," said Nyack School Board President Claudette Jimerson. "That's very unfortunate."

One impact from the state assessments is a higher number of students getting some form of support services, which is required for those who do not test as proficient. That includes 30 more students in eighth grade and 20 more in seventh grade. Gregory pointed out that in many cases, students who did not do as well by the state testing cutoffs are doing well in the classroom.

Board Vice President Karen Hughes said she was concerned that no subgroup in Nyack even had 50 percent of the students test as proficient and suggested seeking out districts that are handling Common Core standards and assessments well and learning from them.

"If you look across the state, and we spent time looking at similar schools, the pattern is consistent across the board," Gregory said. "Better scores in ELA than math. There is clearly a significant difference in how students are able to conceptualize the math."

Board Trustee  Leeann Irvin asked about a dropoff from elementary school to middle school.

"When you compare our elementary school scores to the county, they hold up well," Montesano said. "We've seen tremendous dropoff to middle school. Our assessment of the math program when we did the renewal was that our middle school was a good two years behind where the Common Core tells us we need to be.

"It is simply a matter of the program. It is not just a phenomenon in Nyack. We were lulled into a false idea. The kids were getting good grades, but from a curriculum standpoint, it has to be ratcheted up."

The next round of state assessments will be administered in May. As with many other districts, Nyack administrators expect to see improvement in their students' scores.Part of that is teachers having a better idea what the testing will be like. Also, the classroom curriculum this year better reflects the Common Core standards upon which the assessments are based.

"We expect to see progress this next cycle," Montesano said. "I'm very confident we will."

Two parents spoke up at the meeting regarding their concerns with the Common Core curriculum and assessments,including Gregory Birchett, President of Nyakc's Special Ed Parent Teacher Association.He praised the work of the administration and teachers, but brought up many of the issues that been popping up in districts all over the state. 

"I am always very concerned when I get a letter in the mail saying what level my child is at," Birchett said. "I understand the benchmarks and the tests changed. Prior to this, we would receive the number and  be concerned if it did not go up, it went down. Now we have a new word  for it. My son is not college or career ready. That is highly disturbing. My son wants to be president of the United States.

"What I have noticed is every day I'm hearing, 'I don't want to go to school. That is highly upsetting to me as a parent: We have to get better at this. How can we get the numbers better. I'm not comfortable with all of the subcategories below 50 percent (proficient)."

Montesano pointed out that by the assessment scores, 70 percent of the state is not college ready.