New 'cut scores' get failing grade

Test scores fell throughout New York and across Long Island after the State Education Department effectively raised the bar at all grade levels in an effort to better prepare students for higher education.

The new standard brought a halt to the continually increasing passing rates in English Language Arts and math that school districts across the state had enjoyed in recent years. In the Malverne school district, for example, the average proficiency rate of sixth graders taking the ELA exam dropped by 32 percentage points, while for West Hempstead fifth graders it fell by 28 percentage points.

In addition to the change in scoring guidlines, the tests, which are given every year to students in grades 3 to 8, were moved to the end of the school year, the ELA from January and the math from March.

The changes came after State Education Commissioner David Steiner had recommended increasing the tests’ “cut scores,” which determine a student’s proficiency level. Students scoring at levels 1 and 2 are considered to be in need of academic intervention, while those at levels 3 and 4 are considered to have met or exceeded proficiency standards.

The higher cut scores mean that many students who in the past would have scored at Level 3 are now at Level 2. This year, across the state, 53 percent of all students who were tested passed the ELA exam, compared with 77 percent last year. Math proficiency dropped from 86 percent to 61 percent.

Steiner recommended the cut-score increase after a state review found that students at Level 2, under the new scoring guidelines, have only a 75 percent chance of achieving a passing grade of 65 on the English or algebra Regents exam.

The commissioner acknowledged that the higher cut scores led to lower passing rates around the state. “While that is sobering news,” Steiner said, “it should cause all of us to work ever more effectively together to ensure that all children in New York state get the knowledge and skills they need.”