x
Breaking News
More () »

NY opt outs grow to 21 percent

The number of students refusing to take New York's standardized exams grew again this year, with 21 percent of eligible test takers not participating.

ALBANY -- The number of students refusing to take New York's standardized exams grew again this year, with 21 percent of eligible test takers not participating.

The state Education Department released its latest testing data for grades 3-8 late Friday afternoon, finding more than 220,000 students opted out of the mandated exams for the second year in a row.

About 900,000 students, or 78 percent of those eligible, took the tests, according to the state data. Twenty-one percent refused to take them, and 1 percent had no known, valid excuse for not participating. In 2015, 20 percent of eligible students did not take the test.

This year marked the third year of a testing opt-out movement organized by parent groups angered over the high-stakes nature of the exams and the Common Core standards they are based on.

Each year, the boycott has grown: From 5 percent of eligible students to 21 percent this year.

State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said in a conference call with reporters on Friday said she was encouraged that the opt-out numbers grew by only one percent, adding that she believes it reflects the success of her statewide listening tour last spring.

While touring several districts, including some in Western New York, Elia assured parents the state had made changes to the standardized tests. Those changes included shortening the tests, making the tests un-timed, unlinking the test results from teacher evaluations for at least four years, and adding more teacher input on the questions.

"I think as parents realized those changes had been made, they felt they'd been listened to and that we're being reflective of what they wanted," Elia said.

Chris Cerrone, the Western New York representative for New York State Allies for Public Education, interprets the one-percent increase in opt-outs in a much different way.

"If you look at the significant public relations blitz that Commissioner Elia did across the state and all the visitations she did with the media... to have the numbers go up is actually a surprise to a lot of people," said Cerrone, a vocal voice in the opt-out movement. "We thought they would trump them down, but obviously, parents around the state are still really concerned about the direction of education."

Of the students who did take the tests, 39.1 percent were rated proficient on their math exam, an increase of a percentage point from the previous year.

On the English language arts exams, 37.9 percent were proficient, up 6.6 percentage points from the 31.3 percent proficiency rate in 2015.

The tests are administered to New York students in grades 3-8 each spring.

Before You Leave, Check This Out