Unfortunately, Schools Chancellor David Banks and his press office receive a failing grade in critical thinking and truth in advertising for their portrayal of the results of last spring’s English language arts and mathematics exams as “extremely encouraging.”
In addition, they claim that in their first year in office, “We’re seeing more of our students on grade level.”
However, their own researchers are more transparent. Every page in the accompanying PowerPoint clearly states: “2023 Math and ELA tests are aligned to new standards. Therefore, results from 2022 and 2023 are not comparable. Any comparisons shown are for informational purposes only.”
So, are the results not comparable due to new standards and new “passing” scores, or should we be encouraged by more students being on grade level? This is an either-or question — “both” is an unacceptable answer.
Passing it off
It is always frustrating for chancellors, their supporters, and critics when the state changes its standards.
Everyone wants clear information on whether the test scores are up or down. However, a re-scaling of the test and its proficiency levels makes that impossible without a rigorous comparison between the old and new tests. Unfortunately, this is rarely done.
The situation this year is even more confusing due to the Board of Regents’ delay in releasing the statewide tests and explaining how the proficiency levels on the 2023 exams were set.
While the results may be released shortly, it will still be unclear if the observed “gains” in the city are greater than those in the rest of the state. Additionally, it will not be certain if the city’s achievement levels have actually improved, considering the demographic shifts caused by the loss of students.
There is a slight glimmer of hope for the chancellor in the English Language Arts results in two districts that implemented his new phonics approach last year. However, the scores in other individual districts show changes similar to those in the two districts. Therefore, these scores cannot be considered evidence of meaningful improvement.
Achievement gap
On a more positive note, the scores of black and Hispanic students increased by a greater percentage compared to white and Asian students. However, there are still many unknown factors, and the achievement “gap” between races is only marginally decreasing.
For example, in ELA, the gap between Asian and black students was 34.7 percentage points in 2022 and 32.1 points in 2023. Similarly, the gap between white and Hispanic students was 30.5 points in 2022 and 30.1 in 2023.
Missing mayor
Finally, the timing of this release undermines the claims being made.
Mayor Adams has recently faced criticism for his handling of the rainstorms and his critics are growing bolder. However, this supposedly fantastic news is released when he is out of town in Mexico?
We have not heard a statement from the mayor on these scores, which leads to the possibility that he may have a clearer understanding of the situation than the Department of Education and wisely chose to remain silent.
Having studied these things for over 40 years and managed similar data and its release in the past, I am confident that if the scores on comparable tests increase next year, I will be the first to commend the chancellor and the teachers responsible. However, until that happens, when asked if achievement is improving in New York City’s public schools, my answer will be, “We simply do not know.”
Ray Domanico is the director of education policy at the Manhattan Institute.
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