NYC test scores; small and unreliable gains
Yesterday, the state finally released school test scores; for NYC schools they are posted here. Individual student test scores will only be made available August 17 – through the ARIS system, for which you will need your child’s OSIS number.
Although the city showed gains of a few percentage points, the results were nothing to write home about: only 43.9 percent of city students in grades 3-8 met the standards in reading and 57.3 percent in math.
Though the Mayor predictably claimed the city's gains of 1.5 percentage points in reading and 3.3 points in math showed great progress, actually the results are very mixed. Only 35% of 8th graders were proficient in reading. Moreover, I believe the results overall are still highly unreliable. Why?
- The high stakes attached to test scores in city schools will tend to lead to gains, because of excessive