New York test results highlight gaps among students from different backgrounds

While about 67% of Asian students and 52% of white students passed state tests in the English language arts, about 35% of Black and Hispanic students were proficient. Similar differences appeared in mathematics for children in public schools in grades three to eight, as they have done for years.

Only 34% of low-income students were proficient in mathematics, compared to 62% of wealthier peers, according to the data. These results occur despite many years of efforts to fill the gaps by combining measures, including allocating more public funding to schools serving many children at risk, by developing pre-school adding social services and making programs more attractive. Many defenders of struggling students say that such movements have not gone far enough.

"These results reinforce the central equity challenge of focusing our attention, urgency and resources to support historically under-served student groups in our education system," said Ian Rosenblum, Executive Director of The Education Trust New York. equal opportunities.

MaryEllen Elia, Member of the Commission, cited the efforts made to solve the problem through rigorous courses, teacher training, programs to improve the school climate and services to meet the social and emotional needs of students.

State tests have changed several times since 2012, making it difficult to judge long-term trends. This year's results can not be compared to last year's results as tests were reduced by three days for each subject to two.

"You can not do it, it's not valid, and I'm not doing it," said the commissioner, adding that the results of the next two years will be comparable before the tests change again in the spring 2021.

Other tests show little progress in some areas. For example, an exam known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (National Assessment of Educational Progress) found that the average scores of Grade 4 students in New York and at the state level have little

The high rates of disengagement in New York continue to confuse the situation during state testing. Last spring, about 18% of eligible candidates refused the tests, a decrease of 1 percentage point compared to the previous year.

Few students from New York City have skipped the tests this year. Most boycotters came from middle-income or wealthier districts, thanks to state data. Many claim that the tests restrict the program, waste time, and do not accurately reflect actual learning.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said he welcomed the test results as a new baseline and one of the measures taken to judge schools under his mandate.

This year, 47% of students in the city were fluent in English and 43% in mathematics. Across the state, about 45% of students are successful in each subject.

Blasio's chancellor, Richard Carranza, said he would be "Scrooge in the conversation" and pointed out that the gap in opportunity was still too great, as the level of education was too often predictable for students . He promised to pursue the Mayor's goals of early education, literacy, computer classes and other initiatives.

Charter schools in New York City have outperformed traditional district schools as well as charters elsewhere in the state.

In the city's charters, 60% of the students mastered mathematics and 57% passed in English. Advocates of the Charter have called for a ceiling on charters that will soon limit their expansion. Critics say charters siphon money from public schools and some dissuade hard-to-serve students.

Write to Leslie Brody at [email protected]