Syracuse City School District students show improved test scores, but still lag behind statewide scores

Students in third through eighth grades in the Syracuse City School District (SCSD) have improved their standardized test scores in both math and English.

SCSD students improved by 2.8 percent in English and 1 percent in math, according to the results of the 2016 New York state math and English tests, which were released to the public at the end of July.

New York state made many changes to the 2016 tests. The state went with a new test vendor, Questar Assessment, Inc., that required greater teacher involvement, reduced the number of questions on both exams, increased the number of questions released to teachers before testing and allowed students who were “productively working” to continue testing without time restriction, according to the New York State Education Department website.

But Chief Academic Officer of SCSD Linda Mulvey said she would not directly attribute the improvements that Syracuse schools made to the state’s changes to their tests.

Clare Ramirez | Presentation Director

“It would be inaccurate to say that because they changed the test, scores are improving,” Mulvey said. “Certainly we want to see a fair test for students that is developmentally appropriate, and I think the state is working on that, but it’s not our main focus. Our teachers are focused on making sure students are demonstrating growth in key literacy and math skills.”

Mulvey said SCSD is focused upon making sure its curriculum and instruction materials are aligned with the Common Core standards. Part of this initiative is a new personalized learning model that focuses upon helping students at whatever level they may be at, which means accelerating advanced students and also helping those who are struggling to be proficient. These are just some of the many changes, she said, that have led to overall student improvement.

SCSD students scored 10.9 percent in English and 10.4 in math. Comparatively, the state averages were 37.9 and 39.1, respectively, according to the New York State Education Department. These scores demonstrate that despite the improvements, the SCSD scores still fall behind the state average by more than 25 percentage points in both subjects.

“We are very pleased with these test results. Our students and teachers have worked hard to earn these improvements and we are proud of their efforts. At the same time, we recognize that there is still room for improvement,” said Interim Superintendent Jaime Alicea in a press release on SCSD website.

Clare Ramirez | Presentation Director

Mulvey said some common trends regarding urban districts, such as the funding disparity between urban or rural school districts and suburban school districts and the increased needs of students who come from high poverty areas, may be the cause of this gap in performance between SCSD and the state average.

She pointed to these issues as being the district’s main focus, rather than testing, which she regarded as more of a political issue.

“We’ve seen bright spots that we are proud of. Some of our schools went up by as much as eight percentage points,” Mulvay said. “We are celebrating these successes but, at the same time, there is still this recognition that our scores are not where we want them to be.”

She added that the scores are moving in the right direction, but SCSD is not satisfied yet.

“We still want to see students reach proficiency levels that are more commensurate with state levels and the other Big Five urban districts,” Mulvey said.