In New Scoring, 85-90% to Pass NY Math Exam

Newsday ^ | February 4, 2004 | John Hildebrand

[sarcasm]

Students who came away from last week's Regents Math A exam convinced it was a snap may well have been ahead of the curve.

Scoring scales issued Wednesday by the state will produce passing rates of 85 to 90 percent statewide, educators familiar with the exam say. In contrast, only 40 percent of teens passed math exams last spring when more stringent scoring standards were used -- a debacle that touched off widespread protests by teachers and parents.

Local reactions to the latest scoring system vary sharply, with some school administrators and teachers convinced it is fairer to students and others just as certain it is watered-down. Experts say this simply demonstrates the difficulty of setting common academic standards in a state as economically and culturally diverse as New York.

< SNIP >

Under the latest grading system, students who earned 28 points out of a possible 84 on the exam will get scaled scores of 55 -- the minimum passing mark for those seeking local diplomas. Students earning 37 points will get grades of 65 -- the minimum mark for those seeking Regents diplomas

[GeronL]

Its government. No accountability. No competition.

Bush should send more money... *yawn*

[BykrBayb]

Under the latest grading system, students who earned 28 points out of a possible 84 on the exam will get scaled scores of 55 -- the minimum passing mark for those seeking local diplomas. Students earning 37 points will get grades of 65 -- the minimum mark for those seeking Regents diplomas

Is that new math?

[sarcasm]

Politically correct math.

[gakrak]

Wait a minute there isn't any correct answer
it's what ever you want it to be. Why didn't
they have this in the 50's when I was in school?

[Cronos]

and you wonder why our kids are dumb? Dumb is good (as potrayed by the media -- Forest Gump)

[InvisibleChurch]

and anyone scoring a 95% or better gets suspended for being a troublemaker

[tcostell]

A perfect example of how the teachers unions continually do more to destroy America than any foreign power. No accountabilty, unlimited taxpayer funding, and the ability to set their own success level to match their performance. If they don't teach anyone any math whatsoever, they can simply set the tests so that Math is no longer a requirement to pass and it's a done deal.

More utterly shameless indefensible behavior from the NEA and it's puppets.

"We have your children so you had better do what we say!"

The NEA.

[wtc911]

The web site for the Communist party ...cpusa.org... links directly to the Teachers' Union site....questions?

[Uncle Sausage]

With the new scoring system, shouldn't at least 150% of the students pass the test?

[mware]

An interesting note. Due to the big snowstorm that hit NYC during the Regent's thousands of kids did not take the exam. They were informed that they do not have to take the exam. Their classroom grades will be used in lieu of the exam

[rockprof]

Experts say this simply demonstrates the difficulty of setting common academic standards in a state as economically and culturally diverse as New York

In other words, if you're poor or black, you're too stupid to learn mathematics and we'll cut you some slack (don't ask about the poor asians who excel, there's something wrong with them).

And liberals accuse conservatives of being racist?

Racist is having lower expectations for people because of their skin color or socioeconomic background. You're doing them no favors at all, just keeping them down on the plantation.

[southernnorthcarolina]

It's all about "the gap."

Down here in NC, and I'm guessing just about everywhere else, every article about end-of-grade test scores, SATs, or graduation rates laments the gap between the performance of white students and that of black and Latino students (the small number of Oriental students in NC tend to score as well or better thgan whites, so ipso facto they don't qualify as being minority students). Overall increases in scores are downplayed, but hands are wrung and teeth gnashed about "the gap."

If on a given test, the passing rates among white students is 90%, and the passing rate of black students is 50%, there's obviously a problem. What to do? Dumb down the test, of course. So the next year, the passing rate among whites is 95%, and the passing rate among blacks is 75%. Just like that, "the gap" has been cut in half, from 40% to 20%. Progress!

[yankeedame]

Experts say this simply demonstrates the difficulty of setting common academic standards in a state as economically and culturally diverse as New York

Oh, I see.... this 1+2=3 stuff is really a "who are we to impose our cultural" thing,right?

[anobjectivist]

Wow, that is truly horrible.

Some things in the future are looking bleak in this doesn't change.

[bobsatwork]

Experts say this simply demonstrates the difficulty of setting common academic standards in a state as economically and culturally diverse as New York. .... WTF? You can (and should) set academic standards without any knowledge of the target population. Fire the experts, set the standards, and enforce them.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Experts say this simply demonstrates the difficulty of setting common academic standards in a state as economically and culturally diverse as New York.

Then these same experts shouldn't complain when employers economically and culturally diversify by sending their jobs to India - where people can still add - leaving no tax money behind to pay the experts' salaries. The educrats are reaping what they are sowing.

[realpatriot71]

Ha! It's in the government's best interest to make sure students in public schools are not too educated, lest they smarten up and challenge the powers that be.