ELA scores are out – but what?

September

Take a look at the results from “our local schools.”:http://www.lohud.com/assets/htm/BH42355921.HTM

Leah Rae is talking to a lot of folks about what these test scores mean for an article tomorrow in The Journal News and LoHud.com.

Meanwhile I am struck by one thing—the (unintended?) result of the federal mandate under No Child Left Behind to test students in every grade, three through eight.

The decline in performance as students age just leaps off the page. No matter whether the school is in a wealthy suburban community or an urban neighborhood full of transients and immigrants, the trend is the same. The only difference is how drastic the drop.

Ever since the state began standardized testing, districts have been struggling to come up with ways to stop the decline in performance from fourth grade to eighth grade. Heck, everyone’s struggled to figure out WHY there’s a decline.

One year, Education Commissioner Richard Mills played the blame game, urging parents to rise up against the middle schools which were clearly failing to do their jobs adequately. He has stopped being so pointed. But he still rails against the decline.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“The problem is literacy in the middle grades,” Mills said in a press release this morning. “These results demand improvement in curriculum, instruction, and professional development.Ã¢â‚¬?

So how come sixth, seventh and eighth-graders are struggling with literacy in middle school, yet the region’s high schoolers manage to pass the English Regents exam in much higher proportions? Take a look at any district’s Regent results in our “interactive database.”:http://www.nyjnews.com/school_report/2006/

Is there that much remediation going on in high school? Are the tests the problem? Are the kids just refusing to work hard in middle school?

Inquiring minds want to know.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 21st, 2006 at 1:51 pm by Lanning Taliaferro.
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2 Responses to “ELA scores are out – but what?”

Liz Healy September 22nd, 2006 at 12:22 am
I wish I had the answer, having two middle schoolers myself. My father used to say about 12 & 13, “its a terrible age,” I think he was right. There are so many changing variables at that age. Bodies change, hormones kick in, kids try to assert their independence, the school atmosphere changes you have many teachers and many subjects. In the elementary schools, at least in ours, there is a huge emphasis on reading and ELA in the younger grades, but as you get older the content ares begin to become more important, because now they have their own special test as well.

I gues the biggest question for me is, “Does all this testing give us good information, or does it make us worry about something that will work itself out?” I wish I knew.
Steve C. September 25th, 2006 at 9:31 am
Liz,

I wonder if even the TESTERS know. SO I just try to be there for my kids and say , do your best. some of the worlds greatest personages , were NOT rocket scientists, yet were reveered by the same.

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