New Test Results Show Most High Schoolers Not Ready for College

By MARISSA HORN
Capital News Service

A majority of Maryland high school students failed to hit grade-level targets for college readiness, including alarmingly few black and Hispanic students, according to new statewide exam scores released Tuesday by the state Board of Education.

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test (PARCC) given to high school, middle and elementary students, has drawn controversy nationwide and across the state. Some critics say it detracts from classroom learning time.

Teachers administered the PARCC exam for the first time last spring in Maryland, the District of Columbia and 10 other states as part of the Common Core Standards Initiative, a nationally controversial teaching and testing method.

State officials on Tuesday released the results for high school students, who took three exams: English 10, Algebra I and Algebra II.

The results alarmed members of the state Board of Education, with less than one-third of students meeting or exceeding the grade-level standard in Algebra I; nearly 40 percent meeting grade-level expectations for English; and only 20 percent passing the Algebra II exam.

To see a breakdown of those scores, click here.

Board members had discussed the likelihood of statewide PARCC scores that would be lower than other standardized test scores in previous years. But most expressed shock during the presentation of those scores.

“It still looks pretty horrific on paper … we didn’t expect them to be this low, either,” said Michele Jenkins Guyton, a first-year member of the state school board. “We need to look at whether, indeed, as an educational system in Maryland, we are under-educating 70 percent of our students, and I don’t believe that is really the case.”

The scores’ release came shortly after Gov. Larry Hogan announced early Tuesday his appointments to a new 19-member task force that is charged with reviewing statewide public school assessments.

The Commission to Review Maryland’s Use of Assessments and Testing in Public Schools, which Hogan created in May, will be headed by Christopher Berry, a Frederick County resident and principal of James Hubert Blake High School in Montgomery County.

“When schools and teachers are forced to overemphasize standardized tests in the classroom, they deprive students of the kind of quality education they deserve,” Hogan said in a news release. “It is clear to most Marylanders that we are over-testing our students and the process needs to be greatly improved.”

Scores indicate racial disparities among high school students’ results - click here.

Teachers administered the statewide PARCC exams for the first time in the spring at all but seven Maryland schools, according to a Maryland Department of Education staff report.

Though high school students, as a whole, fared poorly on all three sections, the initial reports indicated high percentages of Hispanic and African-American students did not meet grade-level standards.

“My other concerns are the minorities and how poorly they scored,” said state school board member Stephanie Iszard. “That aggrieves me.”

Just 12.8 percent of African-American students and 16.8 percent of Hispanic students scored on or above grade level for Algebra I, while 62.4 percent of Asian students and 45.2 percent of Caucasian students scored on or above grade level.

The racial disparities were similar on the English 10 and Algebra II PARCC exams, according to reports.

On the English 10 exam, 25.2 percent of African American students, 62.4 percent of Asian students, 27.5 percent of Hispanic students and 49.8 percent of Caucasian students scored at grade level.

On the Algebra II exam, 5.7 percent of African-American students, 45.9 percent of Asian students, 11.4 percent of Hispanic students and 26.6 percent of Caucasian students scored on or above grade level.

The five-tiered scoring system lists Level 5 and Level 4 as meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations, and indicates college and career readiness. The lower three tiers, 1-3, mean the student is below grade-level expectations.

On the Algebra I exam, only 5.9 percent of special education students scored at a Level 4 or Level 5, and just 13.2 percent of students receiving free or reduced-price meals scored at grade level. On the English 10 exam, 7.1 percent of special ed students and 22.7 percent of low-income students scored at grade level. On the Algebra II exam, 5.7 percent of special ed students and 6.7 percent of low-income students scored on grade level.

Individual high school results will be released Nov. 5, according to a news release.

State board members suggested the exam’s baseline could be lower this year because students did not have an incentive to pass in order to graduate.

Whether the exams will be required for high school graduation will be decided at a future board meeting, according to board members. But the scores will not be used as a requirement this year or in teacher evaluations.

Interim State Superintendent of Schools Jack R. Smith also pointed to the not-so-seamless transition between standardized tests, citing Maryland’s shift to the standardized High School Assessments in 2003.

In 2003, fewer than 40 percent of high school students passed the HSA, but four years later, more than 70 percent passed the exam.

The PARCC exams are expected to replace High School Assessments in English, government, biology and Algebra I.

“Obviously, this is a cold shower, and combining it with the NAEP scores that come out [Wednesday] ... it will be an even colder shower,” said state board member Chester E. Finn Jr.

THE NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) is a national report card that breaks down student achievement in the core subjects of mathematics, reading, science and writing.

However, most of Finn’s concern with the PARCC test remains with how parents will interpret their children’s scores when they receive the paper take-home reports next week.

Finn said the take-home report’s description of the Levels 1-5 tiered system will not clearly explain the difference between who is on grade level and who is not.

“The score report to parents, as shown this morning, does not tell them an honest statement.” he said. “It is in fact misleading, unless you have a Ph.D.”

Individual reports are expected to be sent home to high school students on Nov. 3.

Elementary and middle school students are expected to receive individual scores on Nov. 30. The board plans to release statewide results for elementary and middle school PARCC exams at its next meeting on Dec. 8.

First PARCC Test Is Benchmark

Teachers administered the PARCC exam for the first time last spring in 11 states and the District of Columbia. The states began releasing preliminary PARCC results in early September from the first round of tests, with New Jersey and Massachusetts releasing scores last week.

In many other states, a majority of students’ PARCC scores missed the target grade-level benchmark. New Mexico and New Jersey also saw more than half of high school students fail to meet PARCC’s grade-level proficiency target in both English and math.

Though fewer Maryland students appear to have met grade-level standards on the PARCC than on previous statewide standardized exams, like the HSA, they aren’t directly comparable. Scores released this year cannot be lower, or higher, than the previous year’s exams because the PARCC test has never been given here, state education officials said.

“This is a challenging assessment, and the data reflects that,” said Smith, the interim state superintendent, in a statement. “But it is important to recognize that this data is only a snapshot; it’s one additional measure to use when viewing the progress of our students, along with many other factors.”

Maryland teacher’s union officials agree that the exams need to arrive earlier to allow individualized scores to be useful for teachers.

Scores in later years are expected to be released in the summer before the school year begins, helping teachers better prepare for incoming students, according to the state board.

“It’s making sure that the assessments that are given are not redundant, they’re useful for instruction and they come back to the teachers in a timely manner so that they can change instruction,” said Cheryl Bost, vice president of the Maryland State Education Association and an elementary school teacher in Baltimore County. “Getting a test result for students who are already out of your classroom becomes meaningless.”