More Students Refuse Common Core Tests
Although initial reports indicated there might be a big drop, on the South Fork, in the number of students refusing to take state tests in English and math for grades three through eight this year, when testing began, on April 5, the numbers corresponded to the moderate increase elsewhere on Long Island.
The tests are used to measure student proficiency and how well they are grasping the Common Core curriculum. Refusals last year were fueled by parent complaints, among them that the tests weren’t age-appropriate and were too long and stressful, and by the fact that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had enacted a law tying 50 percent of teachers’ evaluations to test results. The New York State Board of Regents eventually put a moratorium on its effective date.
As a result of statewide complaints, this year’s exams were shorter and students were given more time to complete them. The number of students opting out in local districts varied widely, with Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor having the highest percentages. Amagansett, where only three students refused the English tests and seven refused the math tests in 2015, and which reported none just five days before the English tests were to begin, eventually saw 14 students opt out. With 59 eligible students, that’s about 23.7 percent. Eleanor Tritt, the Amagansett superintendent, said by email this week that “we do not know at this time how this will impact the growth scores calculated by the state.”
In Springs, Eric Casale, the school principal, reported that refusals came in at about 25 percent of the 460 eligible to take the math tests, or 115 students, and 23.7 percent of the 450 eligible to take the English tests, or 107 students. That’s up from 79 of 465 students opting out last year, or 16.9 percent.
Montauk’s opt-out numbers were also up this year. Five days before English tests were to start, only two students had submitted refusal letters. In the end, however, out of the 205 eligible to take the English tests, 40 opted out, or 19.5 percent. Out of 212 eligible to take the math tests, 51 opted out, or 24 percent. Last year, the overall number was about 17.3 percent.
Out of 80 students in Bridgehampton who were supposed to take the tests, 35 students opted out of English tests and 38 opted out of math. That is about 43.7 percent of students in English and 47.5 percent of students in math. This year, only four of the 17 students in the fourth grade class took the tests, and in fifth grade English, only three out of the 12 students took the test. Last year, it was 15 total out of 67 students, or 22.4 percent.
In East Hampton, Richard Burns, the superintendent, said the district had received just four refusal letters in the days leading up to the tests. Eventually, however, 94 students opted out of the English tests out of 659 eligible, or 14.3 percent, and 101 opted out of math, or 15.3 percent. Last year, the numbers were about 9 percent opting
out of English tests and 15.2 percent opting out of math tests, out of 669 eligible students.
“We’re hoping that the tests created really are authentic assessments of kids’ skill levels. Unfortunately, the implementation is flawed. I think it’s getting better, but I’m truly expecting more from the state,” Mr. Burns said.
In Sag Harbor, where the teachers association had endorsed opting out as a way to demand change, one-third of all students in grades three through eight opted out of the math tests and 34.2 percent opted out of the English tests this year. That translates to 149 out of 447 students in math, and 165 out of 482 students in English. Initially, about a week before the English test was to begin, Katy Graves, the superintendent, reported only 26 students had handed in refusal letters. The final numbers are mostly consistent with last year.
“I do think that why we didn’t see those numbers spike any higher is that some of the calls have been answered, that they have seen incremental changes like the extended time, the shortening of the tests, and starting next year the tests will be teacher-driven rather than big-company-driven, which is a sigh of relief for all of us,” Ms. Graves said yesterday. “I think our teachers unions are still pushing.”
The Sagaponack School declined to say whether any students opted out, because its student population is so small that doing so might inadvertently have identified them. No students at Wainscott, a similarly small school, refused the tests.
Based on its own survey last week of 106 Long Island districts, Newsday reported close to 88,000 students opted out of the math tests. The week before, Newsday surveyed 108 districts and found more than 89,000 students refused to take the English tests. Both of those figures were up from last year, when Newsday reported more than 66,000 students in 99 districts refused the math tests and 72,000 in 110 districts refused the English tests. When comparing districts that responded both last year and this year, Newsday found a rise of about 9 percentage points in English and about 6 percentage points in math.