Opt-outs skew state test scores

Districts frustrated by process that produced data

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New York state test scores were released two weeks ago, but what they mean is questionable, according to local school officials, because so many students did not take the tests this year.

Opt-outs spiked in Valley Stream’s four school districts, with 34 percent of eligible third- to eighth-graders opting out, 24 percent in District 24, 6 percent in District 30 and 25 percent in the VSCHSD. That was an increase of more than 20 percentage points for all but District 30, which increased from less than 1 percent last year.

The districts’ superintendents expressed frustration about the process.

“What that has resulted in is data that is being reported to our communities that is actually skewed,” said District 30 Superintendent Nicholas Stirling. He said the opt-outs make it difficult to make any accurate comparisons year-over-year.

With the assessments in their third year, District 30’s scores were higher than the state’s average rate of 15.4 percent of elementary school students scoring proficiently in English Language Arts and 20.8 showing proficiency in math.

“We’ve surpassed what the state has done, but that has not brought us any comfort because we’re still below 50 percent,” Stirling said, adding that he’s uncomfortable discussing the scores because of the skew. “Someone’s got to ask the question: Is the state’s assessment too rigorous?”

He said that part of the problem is the design of the tests, which he said pose difficult questions that students are not given enough time to think about and answer.

District 24 Superintendent Ed Fale said that the district exceeded the state median and accomplished its goal of exceeding the Nassau County median for math. He said it might have done the same for ELA if fewer students had opted out, since many of those students scored proficiently on previous assessments.

“It raises questions about how accurate these numbers actually are,” he said.

District 13 Superintendent Constance Evelyn, who started the position on July 1, said the district would continue to work to improve student performance.

VSCHSD Superintendent Bill Heidenreich said that with one in four students in the d istrict having opted out, drawing any conclusions from the data was difficult.

“Five years ago it was easy,” he said. “You would get the scores and compare them to past years and surrounding districts.”

This year, the district will look at individual students, but “a blanket statement wouldn’t be very valid,” Heidenreich said.

He added that the district would undertake its own teacher assessment initiative this school year, entirely separate from the state’s. He said results would be available more quickly, enabling the district to implement changes in a timely manner. Heidenreich said the state Education Department has a tendency to “over-assess” students, and that the district’s assessments are “more reliable and valid, quite frankly.”

For Stirling, the latest data isn’t just unreliable, it’s damaging.

“I’m very disturbed that the results do not reflect what we know to be true about the teaching and the leadership going on in our classrooms,” he said. “This is only data that speaks to standardized assessments of performance. It’s hurtful to kids because the kids have to live with these scores. Kids take to heart these assessments. They spend a lot of time preparing, and then they get these results. It confuses parents and distresses educators.”