Yippee! Standardized Test Scores up in NYC!

Jul 19

jonpeltoEducation Reform, Michelle Rhee, Standardized Testing, Stefan Pryor, Steven Adamowski, StudentsFirst , , 18 Comments

The Malloy Administration may be keeping the “Lid On Mastery Test Scores,” but in New York, politicians are already vying for credit after “New York City public school students show slight gains in math and reading tests.”

According to a story in the Daily News, “city public school students showed slight gains in state test results released Tuesday. Overall, 47% of third- through eighth-graders passed the 2012 reading exams, up from 44% last year.”

Mayor Bloomberg led the self-congratulations effort claiming, “(the results) are not only a celebration of our students but also our parents and educators, who work day in and day out to bring out the best in them…If this doesn’t put a smile on everyone’s face, I don’t know what will.”

Bloomberg added, “I think we can do better and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that every single New York City student graduates ready for college and the working world.”

Interestingly, the was no mention whether officials in New York use the technique former Hartford superintendent of schools Steven Adamowski used when he shifted nearly 10 percent of the lowest performing students off the Connecticut Mastery Tests thereby making it appear that test scores were up during his tenure.

Readers may remember that Bloomberg, another big-time “education reformer,” reportedly provided Michelle Rhee and StudentsFirst with a large personal donation that helped pay for the television ads that were run last Spring in support of Governor Malloy’s “education reform” plan.

StudentsFirst also ran an ad after the bill passed thanking Governor Malloy for his outstanding leadership.  See http://www.studentsfirst.org/blog/entry/new-ad-says-thanks-to-gov.-malloy-for-putting-kids-first

Meanwhile, back in New York, Bloomberg failed to mention that nearly three dozen questions on the New York Standardized Tests had to be eliminated after they were deemed to be “confusing, poorly translated or unanswerable by students at a particular grade level.”

In addition, the Daily News reminds its readers that a “series of questions stemming from a reading comprehension passage about a talking pineapple was also discarded.”

Pearson, the major standardized testing corporation that has also worked extensively in Connecticut was, once again, responsible for developing and scoring New York’s standardized tests.

For the Daily News article go to: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/new-york-city-public-school-students-show-slight-gains-math-reading-tests-article-1.1116249#ixzz214Dktzhg

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  • Linda174

    The Daily News, The Post and the New York Times are servants to Blooomberg, the mayor for life. The objective, non-worshipping on line outlet for NYC schools is the Gotham Schools website. Bloomberg pretty much controls the rest; they are rarely critical. Even their “news” articles fawn all over him.

    This is another perspective if you have time:

    http://gothamschools.org/2012/07/18/seven-takeaways-from-a-closer-look-at-the-state-test-scores/

    And the charters will always do better: no or less sped, less ELL and counseling out techniques in abundance….some in NYC seem to have an endless supply of money.

  • Linda174

    And if you listened carefully to the Rheeject’s ad she still found a way to insult CT teachers. In reference to the letters the kids were writing, there was a sentence stating something to the affect: even with the spelling and grammar errors the kids wanted Governor Malloy to know……

    She is presently being sued by a former DC teacher for firing him after he reported cheating on the tests. I suppose her billionaire grassroots supporters will help her out.

    http://www.rheefirst.com/second_amended_complaint.pdf

  • Buygoldandprosper

    “One should not, as a rule, reveal one’s secrets, since one does not know if and when one may need them again. The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.”

    Malloy and his cronies have taken a page from…Joseph Goebbels?!  My goodness. I knew Dan’s approach to government sounded familiar!
    Keep those CMT’s secret. Keep those state “investments secret. Tell your version of the truth loudly and often.
    Dan and his big lies.

    • guest

      What an amazing connection!  And so apt.
      Adamowski is a very big liar.  I must remember this quote.

  • guest
    • Linda174

      They should not be allowed to take jobs in towns or cities where teachers have been laid off. If there are openings, those teachers should be called back first.

      Otherwise, teach for a while elitists are nothing but scabs. Scabs that leave in two years. This should be ripe for lawsuits and CEA and AFT should be leading the fight on our behalf.

      • Magister

        Nor should they be awarded quickie MA in Education Administration degrees by the same universities who are simultaneously running conventional, full -length teacher prep programs for earnest, career teachers. I believe it is Central that has this arrangement with TFA.

      • Linda174

        CEA and AFT should be monitoring this closely. Not one certified, employed or employable teacher in CT should lose their job or their chance for a job to a teach for a while temporary scab!

      • Guest

        In my local paper last night, one of those announcement that parents like to put in about their  children.  Local 2012 Vassar grad chosen for TFA program.  Will be teaching in DC schools.  NO EXPERIENCE. Article goes on to say she joins TFA’s incoming corps which numbers a record 5,800.  She was chosen out of a candidate pool of over 48,000.

  • gawdland1

    CMT and CAPT scores the city score worst in the state

  • gawdland1
  • gawdland1
  • guest

    Pandora’s box is open, and we can see the results.  http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-mastery-tests-0720-20120719,0,5415280.story
    Note that Ricards is almost one of the first people quoted–maybe Kathleen Megan has him on speed-dial.  We also have the slippery Cirasuolo, who seems to be suggesting cyber-learning and K!2-type patented systems of Learner Centered Instruction (have I missed something?  Where’s the teacher???).  At the very end is the lone quote cautioning against so much high-stakes testing and pleading for instruction that brings excitement and challenge to students–oh, that’s just the union rep!
    One of the numbers Pryor is clearly massaging is the edifying tale of poor students plugging along through homelessness, economic devastation, and other tragedies unrelated to student performance (remember, poverty is not an excuse for the achievement gap)–children receiving free and reduced price lunches improved their test scores!
    I suspect something like Adamowski’s and other reformers’ tricks here.  Remember R. Cotto’s research that showed how special ed. and other low-achievers were removed from the testing ranks and viola, a jump in scores, since the lowest 10% was no longer being tested.  Well, if you INCREASE the number of free and reduced price lunch recipients without actually increasing poverty, then you can “close the gap”.  Here’s how it works:  Adamowski is proposing to offer free lunch to all Windham school children next year.  Currently, over 70% receive free or reduced lunch, but the paperwork is so onerous, it is “cheaper” (pink slime, where are you?) to dispense with lengthy applications and just give everyone free lunch (where are those recalled meatballs?).  We know that children who have economic security, no chronic toothaches, the correct eyeglass perscription, etc. are going to do better in school (meaning, income is a factor)–so, the students who are currently better off are also the ones probably getting the higher scores on tests, even in Windham.  If they suddenly get free lunch, then it looks like poverty doesn’t matter and we are closing the achievement gap between rich and poor.
    Watch for that big gap-closing coup to be announced next year, when Adamowski’s free lunch program goes into effect.

  • guest

    Pandora’s box is open, and we can see the results. http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-mastery-tests-0720-20120719,0,5415280.story
    Note that Ricards is almost one of the first people quoted–maybe Kathleen Megan has him on speed-dial. We also have the slippery Cirasuolo, who seems to be suggesting cyber-learning and K!2-type patented systems of Learner Centered Instruction (have I missed something? Where’s the teacher?). At the very end is the lone quote cautioning against so much high-stakes testing and pleading for instruction that brings excitement and challenge to students–oh, that’s just the union rep!
    One of the numbers Pryor is clearly massaging is the edifying tale of poor students plugging along through homelessness, economic devastation, and other tragedies unrelated to student performance (remember, poverty is not anexcuse for the achievement gap)–children receiving free and reduced price lunches improved their test scores!.
    I suspect something like Adamowski’s and other reformers’ tricks here. Remember R. Cotto’s research that showed how special ed. and other low-achievers were removed from the testing ranks and viola, a jump in scores, since the lowest 10% was no longer being tested. Well, if you INCREASE the number of free and reduced price lunch recipients without actually increasing poverty, then you can get higher scores. Here’s how it works: Adamowski is proposing to offer free lunch to all Windham school children next year. Currently, over 70% receive free or reduced lunch, but the paperwork is so onerous, it is “cheaper” (pink slime, where are you?) to dispense with lengthy applications and just give everyone free lunch (where are those recalled meatballs?). We know that children who have economic security, no chronic toothaches, the correct eyeglass perscription, etc. are going to do better (meaning, income is a factor)–so, the students who are currently better off are also the ones probably getting the higher scores on tests. If they suddenly get free lunch, then it looks like poverty doesn’t matter and we are closing the achievement gap between rich and poor.
    Watch for that big gap-closing coup to be announced next year, when Adamowski’s free lunch program goes into effect.  Meanwhile, Stefan Pryor should think about what it means to live in poverty–and stop focusing on bubblesheets.

    • Msavage51

      You beat me to the punch. Kathleen Megan is certainly providing a mouthpiece for the reformers, isn’t she? Pryor, Riccards, Cirasuolo–all allowed to spew their crap via her column. I found this quote by Pryor especially chilling:

      “I think the conclusion is that we are making progress but not enough,” Pryor
      said. “The gap remains too large. … We need to redouble our efforts.”

      • Linda174

        I also took offense to this headline and wrote to the reporter this morning.

        http://www.courant.com/community/hartford/hc-hartford-test-scores-0720-20120719,0,3091559.story

        Full headline: Hartford Test Scores Show Progress In Reform Effort

        The tests were being taken during the reform fight. How exactly did the “reform effort” improve this year’s results? They don’t even understand the issue to be able to write an informed article that isn’t filled with spin and sound bites from Pryor and the rest of his sychophants.

      • Guest

        K Megan does little to no research for her stories.  She does not bother to present or seek out alternative view points.  Do not expect anything  more than a regurgitation of what she is told.

    • Linda174

      We really need to expose this ploy NOW. Jon, we need your help again.

      They are always scheming and inventing ways to game the system. This will be another ploy to make it look like they are successful. Their tactics and deceit are never ending.

      How can we get this one exposed before they get to manipulate the newspapers?