ALBANY COUNTY — For local third- through eighth-grade students, the results of the state’s annual math and English testing were mixed to mostly positive.

Statewide, 45.4 percent of students were deemed proficient in English and 46.7 were proficient in math; both numbers were increases over 2018. Sixteen percent of students refused testing. 

Students at suburban Voorheesville and Guilderland schools exceeded — in Voorheesville’s case, greatly exceeded — the statewide average for each of the standardized tests, but both were down in English proficiency compared to last year. Students from rural Berne-Knox-Westerlo were just below the state average in math and just above it in English. 

In Voorheesville, 64 percent of 395 students tested scored proficient in English, which is down 13 percent compared to 2018. And 75 percent of 381 test-takers were proficient in math, up 1 percent over 2018. Nearly a quarter of Voorheesville students refused to participate in English testing, while about one-fifth refused math testing. 

In Guilderland, 1,031 of 1,847, or 56 percent, of students tested were proficient in English, down 5 percent from last year. While 1,047 of 1,737, or 60 percent, were proficient in math, the same as 2018. About 12 percent of Guilderland’s students refused both English and math testing.

At Berne-Knox-Westerlo, 48 percent of students tested were proficient in English, down 2 percent from last year. And 45 percent were proficient in math, up 1 percent over 2018. About 2.5 percent of BKW students refused English testing, and about 3.5 percent refused math testing. 

Demian Singleton, Guilderland’s assistant superintendent for instruction, said that he was “somewhat” pleased with this year’s test scores, and noted that the results weren’t drastically different from last year’s scores.

He also offered an explanation about the drop in English test scores.

“There were a lot of questions about some of the passages that were included in the [English] test.” Singleton said. “From our eyes and from our review of the test,” he said that some passages didn’t appear to be appropriate for certain grade levels — some were perfectly fine, but some were not suited for the grade levels in which they were given. 

He had also hoped to see more improvement with certain subgroups — students with disabilities, economically-disadvantaged students, and black students — which didn’t happen. 

In Guilderland’s math testing, 29 of the total 74 black students — or 39 percent — who were tested scored proficient. In English, the 2019 scores weren’t reported; however, in 2018, twenty-nine of the total 76 black students  — or 38 percent — who were tested scored proficient.

There were 179 students with a disability tested in Guilderland in 2019, and 30 of them — or 17 percent —  scored proficient in math, down 1 percent from last year. 

About 35 percent of students with a disability refused math testing; students with a disability made up about 37 percent of all students who refused math testing in 2019. 

In English, 20 of the total 182 of students with a disability tested — or 11 percent — were proficient, down from 16 percent in 2018. 

About 34 percent of students with a disability refused English testing; students with a disability made up about 36.5 percent of all students who refused English testing in 2019.

There were 369 economically-disadvantaged students tested in Guilderland in 2019, and 142 of them — or 38 percent — scored proficient, down 1 percent from last year. 

Twenty-percent of economically-disadvantaged students refused math testing, which made up about 37 percent of all students who refused math testing in 2019. 

In Guilderland’s English testing, of 372 total economically-disadvantaged students who took the test, 123 of them — or 33 percent — scored proficient, a decrease of 9 percent from 2018. 

About 19.5 percent of economically-disadvantaged students refused English testing, which made up about 36 percent of all students who refused English testing in 2019.

According to 2018-19 school year data from New York State Education Department, in grades three through eight in Guilderland, there were:

— 91 black students (190 district-wide); 

— 279 students with a disability and 1,869 were general-education students (district-wide, there were 617 students with a disability and 4,191 general-education students); and 

— 454 economically-disadvantaged students and 1,694 were not economically disadvantaged (district-wide, 911 students were economically disadvantaged and 3,897 were not).

Singleton said that the school district is currently in the process of “drilling down into the data” to parse out which areas concern need to be prioritized.  

Voorheesville’s Interim Superintendent Mark Doody and its Director of Curriculum Karen Conroy would not discuss state-testing scores until the board of education had first been apprised of the results.

Berne-Knox-Westerlo Superintendent Timothy Mundell did not return calls seeking comment. 

Improving scores

Improving the test scores of students in Guilderland’s subgroups isn’t as simple as pulling them out of class for additional instruction. In fact, Singleton said, that’s something the district tries not to do because, once the student is removed from class, he or she immediately misses new instruction and content, which could potentially widen the student’s achievement gap, he said.

With economically-disadvantaged students, for example, Guilderland wants to make sure those students have adequate access to learning materials, resources, and texts — not just access at school but at home as well, Singleton said. 

Singleton said that several of Guilderland’s five elementary schools have identified the need to better engage the parents of certain subgroups. So improvement is not entirely about what happens in the classroom, he said; it’s also about outreach to those parents, to provide them with additional resources, which they otherwise may not have.

Then, he said, when the student is in school, it’s about having adequate intervention services — making sure those students are monitored closely, and making sure the district is offering access to “culturally responsive texts and materials as well,” which, Singleton said, “has been a big focus for us” over the past year-and-a-half to two years. “There continues to be work ahead in that regard,” he added. 

Guilderland has also worked to provide additional “embedded” resources for teachers, Singleton said. 

The district has focused on transitioning to what is called a “job-embedded professional-development model,” he said, which highlights things like literacy coaching, “which is a big initiative for us,” making sure that teachers have the resources and tools they need to work collaboratively and problem-solve around any issue of student performance and/or need. 

Refusal rates

Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, New York State schools are required to test 95 percent of their third- through eighth-grade students. 

Although its 12-percent refusal rate is a problem forGuilderland, Singleton said that Guilderland isn’t in the same boat as other districts that have much higher refusal rates. He added that, per the Every Student Succeeds Act, Guilderland is now charged with developing an action plan to get more students to participate in testing. 

In Voorheesville, 23.7 percent of students refused English testing in 2019, while 20.5 percent refused required math testing. 

Conroy said that high refusal rates in Voorheesville have tended to follow a cohort of students. Whereas a few years ago, there had been refusal rates as high 30 to 40 percent in the elementary school, today, those numbers have dropped to between 10 and 20 percent. Currently, at the middle-school level, she said, the district is again seeing refusal rates as high as 40 percent. 

The cohort that is refusing testing at higher rates, Conroy also points out, came of age when state testing was an especially hot-button issue a few years ago, when test scores were linked to evaluations for teachers and administrators. So it’s possible that politically-aware parents continue to keep their kids from testing. 

Generally speaking, Doody said, refusal rates tend to get higher as students enter the seventh and eighth grades (the state data does include refusal rates for individual grades). As someone who’s worked in more than a few school districts, he said, as kids get older, they are able to convince their parents that the tests are not necessary to take — at least in other districts, that’s been the case. 

Since students can’t be made to take the tests — like Regents testing at the high-school level, which are currently required for graduation — Doody said that selling students and their parents on taking state tests in elementary and middle school means selling the benefits of test-taking.

One value of testing, he said, is that it may show earlier than otherwise a student’s learning deficiency or disability, which could then addressed by both the parents and the school district. 

Another benefit, he said, is that the tests prepare students for how to take standardized tests for when they can’t opt out at the high-school level. 

Results for Voorheesville

In Voorheesville, no black students were tested in English or math. 

There were a total of 40 students with a disability who were tested in Voorheesville in 2019, and eight of them — or 20 percent —  scored proficient in math, up 3 percent from last year. 

About 36.5 percent of students with a disability refused math testing; students with a disability made up about 21.5 percent of all students who refused math testing in 2019. 

In English, 5 of the total 41 of students with a disability tested — or 12 percent — were proficient, down from 29 percent in 2018. 

About 35 percent of students with a disability refused English testing; students with a disability made up about 18 percent of all students who refused English testing in 2019.

A total of 37 economically-disadvantaged students took the math test in Voorheesville in 2019, and 20 of them — or 54 percent — scored proficient, up 9 percent over 2018. 

About 33 percent of economically-disadvantaged students refused math testing, which made up about 18 percent of all students who refused math testing in 2019. 

In English testing, a total of 37 economically-disadvantaged students took the math test, and 13 of them — or 35 percent — scored proficient, down 7 percent over 2018. 

About 36 percent of economically-disadvantaged students refused English testing, which made up about 17 percent of all students who refused English testing in 2019.

According to 2018-19 school year data from New York State Education Department, in grades three through eight in Voorheesville, there were:

— Two black students (five district-wide); 

— 55 students with a disability and 452 were general-education students)  (district-wide there were 128 students with a disability and 1,031 general-education students); and 

— 50 economically-disadvantaged students and 460 who were not (district-wide, 103 students were economically disadvantaged and 1,056 were not).

Results for BKW 

No black students were tested in English or math at BKW.

There were a total of 45 students with a disability who were tested in BKW in 2019, and one of them — or 2 percent — scored proficient in math, down 3 percent from last year. 

About 4 percent of students with a disability refused math testing; students with a disability made up about 18 percent of all students who refused math testing in 2019. 

In English, five of the total 45 of students with a disability tested — or 11 percent — were proficient, an increase of 1 percent from 2018. About 2.6 percent of students with a disability refused English testing; students with a disability made up about 4 percent of all students who refused English testing in 2019.

A total of 137 total economically-disadvantaged students were tested in math at BKW in 2019, and 41 of them — or 30 percent — scored proficient, a decrease of 3 percent from last year. 

About 3 percent of economically-disadvantaged students refused math testing, which made up about 36 percent of all students who refused math testing in 2019. 

In English testing, 143 total economically-disadvantaged students who took the math test, 50 of them — or 35 percent — scored proficient, an increase of 1 percent from 2018. 

About 2.7 percent of economically-disadvantaged students refused English testing, which made up about 44 percent of all students who refused English testing in 2019.

According to 2018-19 school year data from New York State Education Department, in grades three through eight at BKW, there were:

—  Two black students (six district-wide);

— 39 students with a disability and 299 general-education students  (district-wide there were 101 students with a disability and 654 general-education students); and 

— 139 economically-disadvantaged students and 201 students who were not economically disadvantaged (district-wide, 301 students were economically disadvantaged and 454 were not).