Data Driving Under The Influence
In his State of the City address last month, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made some brief comments about the upcoming adoption of new assessments aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), including the following statement:
The first thing to note is the reference to the definition of proficiency – i.e., the choice of cut score above which students are deemed “proficient” – as “arbitrary.” On the one hand, Mayor Bloomberg is absolutely correct. The
But no matter where the definition of proficiency is arbitrarily set on the new tests, I expect that our students’ progress will continue outpacing the rest of the State’s[,] the only meaningful measurement of progress we have.On the surface, this may seem like just a little bit of healthy bravado. But there are a few things about this single sentence that struck me, and it also helps to illustrate an important point about the relationship between standards and testing results.
The first thing to note is the reference to the definition of proficiency – i.e., the choice of cut score above which students are deemed “proficient” – as “arbitrary.” On the one hand, Mayor Bloomberg is absolutely correct. The