From the NY Times:Three years ago, the threshold for passing was 60 percent. In fact, students in every grade this year could slide by with fewer correct answers on the math test than in 2006.
In math this year, 86 percent of students statewide passed the test, scoring at least a Level 3 (of 4), and 82 percent passed in English, the highest percentages in many years. But the lower passing scores, especially for math, have provided fodder for skeptics who believe the state has made it easier for struggling students to pass.
In New York City, which saw some of the largest gains, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has used the scores as evidence of his successful leadership of the schools. The jump in passing rates also helped 97 percent of the city’s schools earn A’s or B’s on their Department of Education report cards this year.
The mayor also has repeatedly pledged to hold back students who fail the test and do not meet even Level 2, a minimal standard. But the number of right answers needed to reach Level 2 has also dropped, to the point that on some tests, a student could randomly guess and still stand a good chance of moving on to the next grade.
10 comments:
I VILL vin ze election. Do ze math, dummkopfs!!!
What have I been saying?
me no get it.
What a horrible injustice for these kids how will they ever get jobs one day?
Hey Mayor Bloomtard, how many NYC students need remedial courses when they arrive at institutes of higher learning? I wonder how much money he will spend to cover up that truth before he is recoronated.
Ladies and Gents - You are witnessing the dumbing down of America. What a sad state of affairs.
Bloomturd looks like "Beavis" in that picture...now who's "Butthead"?
Christine Quinn is ButtHead. Her head is usually up Bloomberg's Butt.
i have taken that test last year (since now I'm in junior high)and almost everybody got 4's (including me)and we were preparing 4 months for those tests and when we got it, we were surprised it was that easy.
Bloomberg, all i have to say is, give us a challenge won't ya!
National math test scores continue to be disappointing. This poor trend persists in spite of new texts, standardized tests with attached implied threats, or laptops in the class. At some point, maybe we should admit that math, as it is taught currently and in the recent past, seems irrelevant to a large percentage of grade school kids.
Why blame a sixth grade student or teacher trapped by meaningless lessons? Teachers are frustrated. Students check out.
The missing element is reality. Instead of insisting that students learn another sixteen formulae, we need to involve them in tangible life projects. And the task must be interesting.
Alan Cook
info@thenumberyard.com
www.thenumberyard.com
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