City test scores for reading and math released today show student proficiency nose-dived after state education officials made the statewide exams harder.
Only 42 percent of third-through-eighth graders passed this year’s reading exams compared to 69 percent the previous year – a 39 percent decline.
In math, the decline in students passing was even greater with just 54 percent of students passing this year’s test compared to 82 percent last year, a 34 percent drop.
The dramatic decline comes after the state Board of Regents last week opted to overhaul the way the state defines academic proficiency for public-school students. This was in response to a disturbing study that found even though more students are passing state exams than in years past, many are still unprepared for high school and college.
The decision to revise the testing system has all but erased significant gains in scores made by city students in the past few years.
“We are doing a disservice when we say a child is proficient when a child is not,” said state Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch.
Statewide, 53 percent of students passed in reading and 61 percent in math. By contrast, in 2009, 77 passed the reading tests and 86 percent did so in math.