NY Panel Recommends Student Testing Shifts

New York education officials on Monday recommended giving students additional time to meet more rigorous graduation requirements and offered a temporary defense for teachers whose jobs may be at risk because of low test scores.

The class of 2022, not the class of 2017, would be the first group required to pass Common Core-aligned English and math exams at what are considered “college- and career-ready levels” to graduate, under a proposal expected to be approved by the Board of Regents Tuesday.

The change is one of several proposed in a report delivered Monday by a Regents work group that was tasked with finding ways to improve the way that New York is implementing the new standards.

The K-12 educational benchmarks have been adopted by 45 states to improve student readiness for college and careers. But a series of statewide public forums last year underscored high anxiety levels among parents, students and teachers who said the rollout has been patchy.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state legislative leaders have since joined in the criticism and Cuomo last week appointed his own panel to recommend changes.

Teachers have said they were not given sufficient materials and guidance to teach to the new standards, and that last spring’s Common Core-aligned grade 3-through-8 state assessments forced them to test students on material they had not yet learned, resulting in a dismal passing rate.

The state’s largest teachers union has been demanding a three-year moratorium on consequences related to the tests.

Also in the report is a proposal  that the state postpone the creation of an online student database until privacy and security concerns are been addressed.

This article appeared in print on page 5 of the February 11th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.