The State of the Schools

The results of the New York State Testing Program were released recently. The tests are based on the controversial Common Core Learning Standards. Here's how things look for the Hudson City School District. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

What you need to know to interpret the numbers is that students performing at Level 4 excel in the standards for their grade: their knowledge and skills are considered more than sufficient; students performing at Level 3 are proficient: their knowledge and skills are considered sufficient; students performing at Level 2 are partially proficient: their knowledge and skills are insufficient to meet expectations for their grade, but they are still on track to meet current New York high school graduation requirements; students performing at Level 1 are well below proficient in the standards for their grade. 

Levels 3 and 4 is where you want students to be; Level 1 is where you don't want them to be. Sadly, in every test at every grade level, the percentage of HCSD students performing at Level 1 was greater--in some cases significantly greater--than the percentage of students performing at Levels 3 and 4 combined.

Even if you rail against Common Core Standards and don't believe in standardized testing, you have to admit that these figures are not without significance.
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