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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. June 18, 2007: White Plains Eighth Grade Math Students passed at a rate of 71% on the 8th Grade State Math Assessment, but they only needed to earn 55% of the 69 points on the exam to pass the 8th grade test. ( To pass the 8th grader had to achieve a raw score of 38 of 69 points).
Raw Score to get a 650 Scale Score (Passing) on the 8th Grade 2007 Math Assessment is 38 points out of 69 points.
The average math Scale Score of White Plains Eighth Graders has also declined though from 726 for 2005 Eighth Graders to 664 for 2007 Eighth Graders. A Mean Score of 650 is passing. This drop raises the question of whether more White Plains students are passing by a narrower margin.
A total of 71% of WP Eight Graders passed the tests given in March 2007. But, 60% of the those were in the critical Level 3 bracket, and 11.4% achieved the Level 4 category, (about even with years past).
A 13% improvement in test scores, would indicate the district has a preponderance of eighth graders entering high school next year with what may be a borderline passing knowledge of math.
The Rest of the story
Examining the test scoring grids on the New York State Education Department website, show that the Department’s news release this week reporting that “improvement is notable in middle school, from grades 5-8. This year 73 percent of students across grades 3-8 achieved the math standards, compared to 66 percent last year,” does not tell the whole story. The release does not make clear students to “pass” had to answer only enough questions correctly to earn 55% of the total point value on the tests.
The State Education Department assigns a Scale Score of 650 for the magic 38 point level (38 points earned by answering enough multiple choice questions correctly to earn 38 out of 69 points).
More revealing of just how many White Plains students entering high school are performing at the C minus, D and D minus levels of passing is the mean score: 664 for the entire eighth grade. The Passing Mean Score is 650. Tom Dunn of the State Education Department Media Relations Department said the Mean score on the assessment scores is the average score, not the median. The SED explains that Level 3 students could be expected to score between 65 and 85 on the Regents exams.
If you went to school in the 1950s and you scored 38 points out of 69 points on a test, (the 650 Passing Score) you got a 55 – a D-minus – or an F.
The 2007 breakdown.
The White Plains breakdown of students (by score) scoring above 38 points on the 2007 8th grade state math test show of 517 Eighth Graders taking the test, 306 scored in Level 3, and 59 scored in Level 4. Level 2 (below 38 points of 69 points) showed 117 students at that level; and in Level 1, 35. The breakdown of scores on those students at various levels and the distribution of students by actual score has never been made public by the State Education Department or been presented by the White Plains schools.
The 55% standard is constant through the 2007 testing levels by grade.
A total of 71% of White Plains seventh graders “passed” the 7th Grade 2007 Math Test. To “pass” a seventh grader had to answer enough questions to score 28 points out of a possible 50 points—55% .
White Plains sixth graders passed at a rate of 66%. Sixth graders, to “pass” needed to rack up 27 of 49 points (55%) on their test.
In fifth grade, 73% of White Plains students passed. They needed to score 26 of 46 points on their test to pass (56%).
In 4th Grade, where 75% of White Plains students “passed,” the youngsters needed to total 39 points of 70 points to reach the Level 3 Passing plateau – 56%.
In 3rd grade, 24 points out of 39 points, or 60% was required for passing.
The test score grids are available for viewing at http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/ela-math/home.shtml
Percentages for Passing Slightly Higher in 2006
In 2006, when tests were administered in similar format, but passing percentages slightly higher (producing more borderline failures), the standards were as follows:
8th Graders to Pass: Needed 38 of 68 points (56%) (58% of White Plains Students Passed)
7th Graders to Pass: 28 of 47 points (60%) (59% of White Plains Students Passed)
6th Graders to Pass: 28 of 49 points (57%) (53% of White Plains Students passed)
5th Graders to Pass: 27 of 46 points (59%) (61% of White Plains Students Passed)
4th Graders to Pass: 40 of 70 points (57%) (75% of White Plains Students Passed)
3rd Graders to Pass: 25 of 39 points (64%) (83% of White Plains Students Passed)
Slightly Different Year to Year at Some Levels
In looking at these differing passing levels from 2006 to 2007 you see some differences that could help scores:
The passing grade difference is almost 5% points higher in third grade in 2006 than it was this year – accounting for virtually all the White Plains third grade improvement (77% to 83%)
In 4th grade in 2006, you needed 57% of points compared to 56% in 2007 to pass, and White Plains held its own.
In 5th grade in 2006, a student needed 59% of the points to pass. In 2007, this standard was dropped to 56% — a 4% drop – accounting for 4% of White Plains 12% increase, so there is definitely improvement in performance there – or perhaps, just perhaps, more students were bumped up from borderline failing to borderline passing. Without a breakdown of where the scores fall within a bracket, you cannot tell.
In 6th grade in 2006, 57% of the points were needed to pass, and this year 55% was needed. The White Plains improvement was up, 66% to 53%, which could mean there are more borderline passing students than you’d like to see.
In the 2006 7th grade, 59% of points were needed to pass, and 59% of White Plains students passed This year 57% was needed and 70% of White Plains students passed, but by lowering the percentage needed to pass by 2%– this could also mean there are a lot of borderline passers in that percentage of increase.
Those seventh graders in 2006 were eighth graders taking the 2007 tests, and 71% of them passed. In eighth grade last year the passing percentage of points was 56%. This year’s passing percentage was 55%. The whopping increase could be due to the efforts of the White Plains faculty, which we would love to think, or a very significant number of borderline passers at the 55% rate, or a combination of both slightly lower passing and better teaching.
What does it mean?
To read the state’s assessment news release, the state teachers and school districts are turning the corner. Telling us about 73% passing is impressive. But it is how and where you set the passing mark that is a big part of that story.
The 71% figure of eighth grade math passing students is sobering. Though improving, this means that 29% of students entering high school are failing math. They know slightly less than half the knowledge.
Is there a highly significant percentage of the 71% who passed, possessing math skills at the C-D and F levels since they are allowed to pass by getting only 55% of the possible points? The Level Four cut score is about 85%, (or 58 points of 69) equivalent to a B. What is not revealed in the 2006 Report Card (the 2007 is not out yet), is the distribution of scores within the two passing levels three and four.
Mean Score down since 2005
In 2005, White Plains middle schools had only 12% scoring in the Level 4 category, and 52% scoring in the Level 3 (55% or more points). The figures are not broken down so you cannot tell how many scored in the higher end of the Level 3 category or where the preponderance of students scored which would be revealing. The mean score among White Plains Eighth Graders on the Math Test in 2005 was 726
In 2007, two years later, the mean score has plunged to 664. Does this mean what it appears to mean: that we are passing more students into high school with a half-knowledge of math? Are more students passing because we are passing more students by borderline margin? Is the state marking on a curve that produces a false positive that makes for good statistics and press releases but students who are numbers challenged?
Tom Dunn of the State Education Department media relations told WPCNR that the 2007 test was deemed rigorous and not “dumbed down” at all by math analysts who reviewed the tests.
Asked if the State Education Department breaks down the spread of how many students scored in 10 point spreads or other incremental score spreads, across the Level 3 and 4 levels, Dunn said the State did not show that on their website, but that school districts could provide that information.
White Plains schools do not.
Statistics made public by the school district since WPCNR has been covering the assessments (2000) have always been based on the percentage of students passing on grade levels on the assessments, not by how much students are passing by. The district does not break down for the public how many students scored at specific raw score levels and mean score levels. Such statistics would indicate whether the district was passing going away, or just passing.
A way to tell this would be if White Plains would release the numbers of students passing by raw score.
The district has never provided that breakdown.
The State Education Department does not so either. Mr. Dunn of the State Education Department, said that kind of breakdown is not made available on the School Report Cards. He did say that individual school districts could do that. WPCNR is not advocating names of students be used, just the number of students scoring 38 points, 39 points, 45 points, etc., that would be an interesting snapshot.
