Gains, drops in state assessment scores

State test score rose in most categories in the Baldwin School District during the second round of assessments under the Common Core State Standards.

When the Common Core was instituted at the beginning of the 2012-13 school year new exams were designed for students in third through eighth grades in English Language Arts and math. The assessments were administered in the spring, and the results were published this month. Scoring on the assessments is divided into four levels, and levels 3 and 4 are considered passing grades.

Passing rates in seven of the 12 categories — Math and ELA tests for students in third through eighth grade — increased in Baldwin, including jumps of more than 16 percentage points in both grades three and five ELA test scores when compared to last year.

But there were dips as well — the largest being eighth-grade math, where five percent of students tested received a passing mark. However, Superintendent James Scannell said that figure is misleading because more than half of the eight grade students didn’t take the assessment.

Eighth-grade math students who are taking advanced math classes had the option to opt-out of the state assessment. Instead, those students took Regents exams at the end of the school year. Baldwin has an open enrollment for its honors classes, Scannell noted, meaning that any student who would like to challenge him or her self with tougher courses can take honors classes.

“We didn’t suddenly tank in our math results,” Scannell said. “The data is just not worth anything at this point,” he added, referring to the eighth-grade math scores.

Overall, Scannell said, he’s pleased with the results. “We are moving in the right direction with the new Common Core tests,” he said. “Hopefully our kids will continue to show gains.”

One area Scannell was happy with was the third-grade class which made gains in math (16.6 percentage points) and ELA (6.9 percentage points) when compared to last year’s results. Although it’s too early to tell if this is a trend, Scannell said, he is hopeful that the district’s work with younger students will yield growth in the future.