Double whammy on DCS Math/ELA results

Dansville Math/ELA scores came back with bad news in part due to student performance and in part due to changes in state scoring methods.

Ellis B. Hyde Elementary School Principal Jeremy Palotti said that student’s individual scores are due to be released Sept. 24; which means parents are expected to receive their children’s scores in the mail early October.

But overall district scores for state Math and English Language Arts (ELA) tests have come in, which shows sharp drops from last year.

That’s because the state raised the bar for the proficiency mark after the tests had already been taken.

Although all grade level scores would have seen a decrease with the exception of grades 3-5 math, they would have gone down by one to three points in each category if scoring methods had stayed the same.

But because the state bumped the failing mark higher, Dansville’s scores for this year look more like this:

If the old scoring system was used, 74 percent of students would have met or exceeded standards for 3-5 ELA. But instead, student scores came in 45 percent meeting or exceeding proficiency. If the 3-5 math scoring system would have remained the same, 93 percent of students would have passed or exceeded standards. Instead, that rate came in at 55 percent.

For grades 6-8 ELA scores, if state passing standards had been the same, 75 percent of Dansville students would have met or exceeded proficiency standards. However, with the new scoring system, 52 percent met that mark.

For 6-8 math scores, 92 percent would have been proficient or exceeded standards. With the new scoring system, 68 percent met or exceeded standards.

When asked why the state changed their scoring criteria, Dansville Superintendent Paul Alioto said the State Education Department Commissioner David Steiner wanted to make state tests more congruent with national learning standards as measured by National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

According to Alioto, Steiner believes raising the bar for state test scores would give a better indication of how students would perform on national tests.

But as Palotti explained, comparing national tests and state tests are like comparing apples to oranges. Alioto agreed, and said the state tests didn’t change to meet national standards, and that the scoring methods changed after the tests had already been taken.
“It defies reason for the state to predict how students would perform on tests that do not even exist,” Alioto said.

He believes the change was done to “create a crisis that permits state leadership to push their reform agenda and secure Race to the Top” funds.

Alioto went on to say that “kids and parents are now confused over where they stand academically,” and that likely, hundreds of thousands of students across the state who believed they were academically adequate, may now think the opposite.

He further stated that the way in which the scores were changed “makes you question the leadership” at the state education department.

But that doesn’t explain the poor placement for Dansville students compared to other schools in the Genesee Valley Education Partnership (GVEP) region.

Among the 26 third through fourth grade classrooms in the GVEP region, Dansville third- and fourth-graders placed as follows:

• Third-grade math and ELA scores both came in 21st. Fourth-grade ELA came in dead last and math scores came in next to last.

• Out of 24 fifth-grade classes, ELA scores came in dead center, while math scores came in 14th place.

• Among 22 sixth- through eighth-grade classes in the GVEP region, Dansville scores came in as follows:

• Sixth-grade ELA came in 14th place, but math students placed high in fifth place.

• Seventh-graders placed 19th in ELA and at dead center with 11th place in math.

• Eighth-graders placed 17th in ELA and 10th in math.

Despite these placements, student scores have shown marked improvement over the past five years.

Palotti said it shows “students are learning, however, we’re not satisfied at the rate in which they are learning.”

Alioto said that the district put together some new initiatives and programs last year to take effect this coming year. But the biggest challenge is poverty, he said. For example, about half of the students are eligible for free and reduced meals.

According to statistics, “kids who experience economic hardship are disadvantaged,” he said.

Although that is not a universal rule and there are exceptions, Alioto added, “Dansville’s going to be an exception.”

Alioto came to the district after having turned Clifton-Fine Central School District around. There, the student poverty rate is close to 60 percent. Under his leadership, the district went from being an underperforming school to becoming a National Blue Ribbon nominee based on test scores.

“And if they can do that at Clifton-Fine, we can certainly do that in Dansville.”

The district is about to launch a broad community needs assessment to develop a picture of the district as a whole in order to set new long-term goals and action plans.

Alioto opined that in order to follow through, consistency in leadership is a key, which means district administrators “need to stick around for a while.”