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Scoring the Math Test Results
December 9th, 2009

During the mayoral campaign both Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Christopher Cerf, a former Education Department official who had moved over to the campaign, predicted that the city’s scores on a national math test would show an increase. Yesterday the figures for the National Assessment of Educational Progress told a different story: Between 2007 and 2009 city fourth and eight graders showed no significant improvement on the test. This represents a sharp contrast to results on state tests, where city students have improved dramatically during Bloomberg’s tenure.

What does that mean? It depends whose spin you chose to believe. The Department of Education painted the results as good news. “SchoolsChancellor Joel Klein today applauded consistent and sustained gains by New York City public school students” on the math exam, the department release said.

To reach that conclusion Klein and his staff compared the 2009 results with those from 2003 and found an increase of 11 points (on a scale of 500) for fourth graders and seven points for eight graders — a larger rise than for the nation as a whole or for New York State. That, Klein said in the statement, reflects “what we have seen in the classroom and what we have seen on state tests since Mayor Bloomberg took control of the schools — that New York City students are making consistent and meaningful progress thanks to their hard work and the dedication and determination of our educators.”

Perhaps most damaging to an administration that has made improving the school a civil rights issue, the 2009 scores showed no shrinkage of the so-called achievement gaps between white and Asian students on one hand and black and Latino ones on the other. For example, white fourth-graders had an average score 26 points higher than that for black students, compared to a gap of 25 points in 2003.

In a press conference yesterday Klein reportedly said the gap persists because the results for all students, regardless of race, have gone up.

But the national test scores raise new questions about what the tests, or any standardized tests, measure. According to the state, most city students are proficient in math. According to the federal test they are not. In 2009, to take on example, 71 percent of city eighth graders met standards for math, on the federal test, only 26 percent did.

The state math test has come under increasing scrutiny. Earlier this year, the New York Times found that seventh grades could pass — meet state standards — if they answered just 44 percent of the questions correctly. The city university has found many incoming students require remedial math classes before they can do college level math.

While praising the mayor’s record on education, Meryl Tisch, chair of the state Board of Regent, said, “I frankly believe that these NAEP scores reflect a misalignment between state standards and national standards that we are going to address.”

In the view of Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, which is fighting the mayor’s effort to link test scores and tenure decisions, the scores highlight flaws that go far beyond the validity of this or that test. In a statement, he criticized the administration for making “flawed state test data the key barometer for everything from school progress reports and teacher bonuses to school closings.” Mulgrew continued, “Teaching to the test doesn’t promote intellectual curiosity, critical thinking and problem-solving in students, nor does it quench the thirst for new ideas or ignite that spark in children’s minds when they finally grasp a difficult concept. We need to prepare our students for college, work and life — not for taking tests.

By Gail Robinson on December 9, 2009, 2:33 pm
In category: Civil Rights, Education, Gotham City, Measuring UP | No Comments »

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