For eighth-graders, the pressure's really on

Educators wonder if five assessment tests in 1 year has students saturated

Pity the New York state eighth-grader: when spring comes around each year, the testing begins. And though testing is a reality throughout the school career, there are five statewide assessment tests now in the eighth-grade lineup, turning that school year into the real performance pressure cooker.

"I'm really concerned that there is too much testing in the eighth grade,'' said Nancy Andress, an administrator for instructional programs at the Guilderland school system, in a recent interview. Like other educators and observers, she is beginning to wonder if students are spending too much time preparing and taking standardized tests.

"Eighth grade is becoming a very interesting year,'' added Al Aldi, assistant superintendent for instruction in the South Colonie district.

This year, "Intermediate Assessment in Technology'' has been added to the eighth-grade testing roster, joining English, math, social studies and science.

While social studies and science tests were previously given throughout the lower grades, this year will be the first time any student has ever been given the technology exam. The test is for all eighth-graders, regardless of whether they're heading for vocational, college-prep or other academic tracks in high school.

And though the latest test covers technology skills, rest assured: this isn't your father's shop class. No metal tool boxes, no wooden card holders. Students will now have to be familiar with concepts such as hydraulics, flow charts and ergonomics in addition to the literary elements like genre and point of view, or math functions like multiplication and ratios, they already are quizzed on in the eighth grade.

Middle school students have had technology courses since the late 1980s, so the material isn't altogether new. The classes combine elements of science, math and history in an attempt to give students an understanding of the objects used in their daily lives -- sort of a classroom version of David Macauley's celebrated book, "The Way Things Work.''

"They learn about anything from rockets to autos to computer design,'' said Ernie Fletcher, a technology teacher in the Lake Placid school system where students this week were using computer software to design imaginary kitchens.

Mostly though, it's the test, not the course, that has people worried. In what may be a tacit acknowledgment that eighth-graders are close to the saturation point for tests, teachers and administrators say the state has been downplaying the importance of the new technology assessment, at least for this year.

"They are telling us to try and be relaxed about this one,'' remarked Sandra Simpson, a BOCES superintendent in Herkimer County and recent past president of the state's School Administrators Association.

"I don't think people have been teaching too much about the tech piece,'' added Bob Loretan, director of the state Council of School Superintendents. "People are going to focus on the English and the math.''

Certainly, the English and math assessments for fourth- and eighth-graders have drawn the lion's share of attention among the media and public during the last several years, and it hasn't always been positive attention.

Earlier this month, the state Education Department released what was widely described as poor results on last year's math and English tests.

Statewide, only 45 percent of eighth-graders met the standards for English with 40 percent hitting the math target.

The numbers lead to discussions about how to improve the way kids are taught English and math. But they also lead educators away from the question of how to test better, and back to the long-simmering issue: are eighth-graders, and others, being subjected to too many tests in the name of higher academic standards?

"That's the feedback I get,'' said Loretan. "Are all of them absolutely necessary?''

8th-grade math scores troubling
By MATT SMITH
Ottaway News Service

ALBANY — "Sobering" and "unacceptable" is the way State Education Department Commissioner Richard Mills Thursday described New York’s latest standardized test results, which show most middle-school students are still failing to make the grade in English and math.

Meanwhile, though the majority of elementary-school students throughout the state are meeting the required standards in math, that percentage dropped slightly from 67 to 65 percent over the past year.

Elementary students statewide are also performing well in English, with 59 percent meeting state standards — an improvement over 1999 by 11 points.

"I’m very concerned about results at the middle-school level," Mills said. "The focus is just not there. We can do better than this."

Administered in May, the tests were taken by nearly 500,000 students statewide in fourth and eighth grades.

Though most middle-school students continue to do poorly in math, the results released Thursday showed a small improvement over last year, with 40 percent of the students meeting the state’s requirements, compared to 38 percent in 1999.

Scores in English, however, dropped in the middle grades, with only 45 percent meeting standards. That’s worse than last year’s 48 percent.

The commissioner said he’s particularly concerned about the "achievement gap" between the more-wealthy school districts and those in large cities.

For instance, while 67 percent of the middle-school students met the required standards in math in "low-needs" districts, the rate dropped dramatically to 17 percent in large upstate cities and 23 percent in the Big Apple.

Forty-one percent of the middle-school students in rural districts, meanwhile, met requirements in math.

The middle-school results were much the same in English, with 67 percent scoring high in low-needs schools, compared to 24 and 33 percent in large upstate cities and New York City, respectively.

In rural middle schools, 42 percent of the students met the required English standards.

"I’m very disturbed by what I see in the details there," Mills said. "There’s a significant gap in achievement for the poorest children."

Despite the disappointing results, state education officials said the tests are not about passing or failing, but rather provide a "benchmark" for where improvements need to be made. And Mills said the test results need to be considered in the context of what’s happening at all levels of education throughout the state.

"There’s been success in both the elementary grades in English and in high-school Regents-level performances the past several years," the commissioner said. "I just don’t agree that these problems (in the middle schools) can’t be solved."

Still, Mills made it clear there are no plans to back off the state’s tougher education requirements, which include mandating that high-school students pass five Regents exams in order to graduate.

In reacting to the test results Wednesday, the New York State United Teachers union said the state must provide better guidance to teachers on what eighth-graders need to know.

And starting in the early grades, the union said, the state Regents should lay out a better blueprint of what students are expected to learn in each grade and each subject.

The union also said professional teacher development must be linked to school curriculum.

Mills agreed that both the Regents and Education Department bears responsibility, but said communities must band together as well to improve their local schools.

"Every community ought to be having a discussion about these results, and it ought not be a finger-pointing session," he said.

"There are a lot of questions people need to ask. ... Is it curriculum? Is it the way we teach? Is it leadership?

"But communities that want to find a single person to blame are on the wrong track."

NYSUT statement on Regents' release of 4th and 8th grade test scores

Scores cause closer look at middle school curriculum; Eighth-graders will need more help to meet the standards

Guide to the new state standards

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