From NY1:Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration has pointed to improvements in previous state test results as a sign that its school reforms are working.
However, the most recent national math test for fourth and eighth graders indicate progress for students in city schools appears to have stalled since 2007, after showing gains in previous years.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is known as the nation's report card and the one true check on state test results. Unlike the state test, which every student takes, only a sample of students takes the NAEP, so while raw scores for city students went up slightly this year, the bumps were so small, they are not considered statistically significant.
The national test found that only 35 percent of city fourth graders and 26 percent of eighth graders are considered proficient in math. In comparison, state test results that show 84.9 percent of city fourth graders and 71.3 percent of eighth graders are proficient.
6 comments:
I'm surprised the numbers are that high on the national test. The kids in Queens, and most of their parents, sound like like morons. Check out Long Island or Brooklyn and you immediately hear a difference. My nephew was raised by PR grandparents - 17 and can't make change for a dollar and doesn't care! Hey - he's not in jail! And hey - he hasn't knocked up a girl! Who cares about education?
It's horrifying to see how far the bar has been lowered.
It goes to show you what a fraud the state exams are.
These results prove what we all have known for a long, long time, and better get used to: The Commissar wants morons, and is determined to get them.
He believes that the only useful trait of a young person in NYC is the ability to handle tools or to wait on wealthy cronies.
Since many parents have no greater hopes for their own children, why should the Commissar exert himself to manage the DOE?
And, during this illegal third term, we can only blame ourselves. We put him there.
"He believes that the only useful trait of a young person in NYC is the ability to handle tools..."
In one fell swoop you've managed to denigrate and belittle multiple classes of artisan and craftsmen. Is the worth of an individual and his stake in society only predicated on academic excellence?
Kind of elitist, don't you think?
Further proof that the 500,000 transplanted trust fund yuppies to NYC that voted Bloomberg in again against the wishes of the long term residents of this city were
WRONG!
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.
Project-oriented math engages kids. It is fun. They have a reason to learn the math they may have ignored in the standard lecture format of a class room.
Alan Cook
info@thenumberyard.com
www.thenumberyard.com
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