New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Runs Ad Promising That "Common Core Scores" Won't Be Implemented For At Least Five Years

He's up for reelection. He'll say anything.

But this is a remarkable about-face on Common Core.

Among [Cuomo's] education pledges is a solemn one "not to use Common Core scores for at least five years, and then only if our children are ready."

This isn't a repeal of Common Core. Rather, it's Cuomo struggling to reassure parents that the scores from Common Core won't be used for any purpose, such as deciding which schools to shut down, or which students are deemed "proficient" in subject areas.

There's been some controversy about those scores.

State officials touted increases in scores on tough Common Core exams this year but failed to reveal that they had lowered the number of right answers needed to pass half the exams.

The state Education Department dropped the number of raw points needed to hit proficiency levels in six of the 12 English and math exams given to students in grades 3 to 8, officials acknowledged.

"The reason that occurs is because the tests are slightly harder," Deputy Education Commissioner Ken Wagner told The Post.

Student scores plunged on last year’s statewide 3-8 tests -- the first based on the new Common Core standards. Before the 2013 exams, a panel of 95 educators decided how many points, or correct answers, students had to get to demonstrate proficiency.

But the point cutoffs were tweaked after this year's tests....

Score manipulation has erupted in scandal before. Between 2006 and 2009, the state reduced the number of raw points students needed to pass. Then-state Education Commissioner Richard Mills insisted the questions got harder, justifying the lower passing scores. But experts found the test items got easier, inflating scores hailed by then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg, among others, as proof of great progress.

More: Of the four candidates running for Governor, only Cuomo supported Common Core (mentioned near the end of the article), at least before he walked back this support.

It also notes that New Yorkers want Common Core suspended -- by 49% to 38%.

posted by Ace at 03:55 PM

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