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Ogdensburg performs below state average on Common Core tests, but curriculum director says scores don’t paint accurate picture

Posted 8/28/16

By TOM LUCKIE III OGDENSBURG -- Ogdensburg students in grades 3-8 performed slightly below the level of students across the state during 2016 New York State Assessments for English Language Arts and …

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Ogdensburg performs below state average on Common Core tests, but curriculum director says scores don’t paint accurate picture

Posted

By TOM LUCKIE III

OGDENSBURG -- Ogdensburg students in grades 3-8 performed slightly below the level of students across the state during 2016 New York State Assessments for English Language Arts and Math, but Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and Technology Kevin Kendall says the scores don't always paint an accurate picture.

Last school year 13.7 percent of eligible students opted not to take the ELA exam, which represents a marginal increase over the 13.4 percent of students who opted out in 2015.

The number of students opting out of the math exam decreased from 19.9 percent in 2015 to 16.2 percent.

The exams, like many of the Common Core State Standards implemented at the beginning of the 2012-13 school year, have been heavily criticized by parents, students and teachers.

Kendall pointed out that district students significantly improved in most areas of the ELA exam compared to the previous school year.

The percentage of district students in grades 3-8 receiving proficient scores (Level 3 or 4) on the ELA exam increased from 23.5 percent in 2015 to 29.3 percent in 2016.

Partially proficient scores (Level 2) increased from 32.8 percent to 38 percent, while below proficient scores (Level 1) significantly decreased from 43.7 percent to 32.7 percent.

New York State data indicates that 38 percent of students statewide received proficient scores on last school year's ELA exam.

Math exam scores saw little movement away from the previous year's data on both a district and statewide level. An average of 39.1 percent of students across the state achieved proficiency, compared to 31.2 percent of students in the Ogdensburg district.

Both averages represent marginal increases over results from the prior year's assessments.

Kendall noted that eighth graders enrolled in advanced math do not take the math exams, which affects district averages.