State assessment scores released

The state math and English Language Arts assessment scores for grades three through eight were released last week, and while some gains were made in the second year of testing under the Common Core State Standards, the scores are still not as high as educators would like.

Statewide gains were made in math, while ELA scores stayed level or fell. Long Beach scores trended with the county and state, with improvements in math but decreases across the board in English. Superintendent of Schools David Weiss said that changes are being made to instruction and curriculum, and that students are improving with the new standards, but that is not yet evident in their test scores. He said that the district would use the results to find weak spots in instruction or test prep, but added that he believes there are many issues with the tests themselves.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work on improving instruction that would align with the Common Core, and we believe our teaching has gotten a lot better in preparing students for these assessments … and that our kids are actually performing at a higher level,” Weiss said. “But the score results didn’t necessarily reflect that.”

Students in grades three to eight are assessed annually in math and English, but this is the second year they have been tested on the Common Core curriculum, whose higher standards measure “college readiness.” The program aims to ensure that all students are being prepared for success beyond high school.

The only exception to the modest across-the-board increases in math scores was in the eighth grade. But the disparity may be explained by the fact that advanced students who took Regents algebra were not required to take the state exam. The top two-thirds of Long Beach eighth-graders were not included in the state data, which skewed the numbers lower, Weiss said.