Sharon L. Contreras is superintendent of the Syracuse City School District. Corliss Kaiser is superintendent of the Fayetteville-Manlius School District.
By Sharon L. Contreras and Corliss Kaiser
The release of the 2013 test scores for math and English language arts signals a change in the way students in New York state are being educated. In choosing to adopt the Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS), New York has joined 46 other states in supporting more rigorous standards that ensure college and career readiness. This simply means that we want our students to enter college or the work force prepared to succeed without the need for remediation.
Educators across the state have spent countless hours writing and learning curricula, crafting new lesson plans and participating in professional development focused on the CCLS. New York state has shared a wealth of information with educational professionals through in-person and online resources, helping teachers and administrators adapt to the enormous changes they are now facing.
Due to these efforts, our students are learning new skills and concepts and are being taught to approach problem-solving in entirely different ways. They are learning to think more critically as they read challenging texts and analyze complex problems.
For literacy, they are having text-based discussions, analyzing authors' perspectives and developing vocabulary. For mathematics, they are learning facts but also developing deep understanding of concepts, explaining their reasoning and solving real-world and multi-step problems.
As we review the results from the 2013 English language arts and mathematics state tests that were released this week, we need to keep in mind that a drop in assessment scores was to be expected this year because of the implementation of the more rigorous CCLS and the incorporation of CCLS concepts into the content of these tests. Across the state, schools now have a more accurate sense of how much progress is needed to truly prepare our students for success in the future.
It is important not to compare the test results from 2013 to past years. With the tests our students took this year bearing little resemblance to the tests they took in the past, this apples-to-oranges comparison does not make sense. Rather, the 2013 assessments serve as a new baseline, allowing us to recalculate our benchmarks to accurately reflect the progress our students are making toward mastery of more challenging content and skills.
The results will also help us target our professional development so we can make certain our instruction is closely aligned with the new performance standards, how our students learn as well as the concepts they are expected to master and build upon from grade to grade.
A thorough analysis of the data will help schools make informed decisions about interventions, provide direction for the allocation of resources and support to meet students' instructional needs and drive decisions for revising curricular and professional development opportunities based on needs and strengths.
The achievement results of urban districts are especially sobering. Urban districts typically enroll disproportionately high percentages of students grappling with the deleterious impact of poverty, students learning English and students with disabilities. While we are completely committed to ensuring all students are given the supports they need to be successful, this work takes time and resources, particularly in schools that have historically underperformed.
The launch of the new Innovation Zone in Syracuse, made up of seven schools that have been given more flexibility to make decisions and drive instruction at the school level, is one example of work that is already underway to change the trajectory of student performance. In these schools, principals are able to select staff who choose specifically to work at their schools, teachers receive extra professional development, and instructional time for students is increased by nearly 20 percent. We have no doubt that given the will to educate all children, a focus on instructional improvement and the serious commitment to adopt and implement a fair funding system in New York State, we can produce high achievement by all students.
While change can sometimes be difficult, the movement to embrace the Common Core Learning Standards is vital and necessary to the success of our students. They are graduating into a world that will require critical thinking and problem-solving skills to address new challenges most of us could never imagine. Learning continues to evolve at a rapid pace and we have an obligation to prepare our students for success in the 21st Century.