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SEATTLE (AP) — Preliminary results in Washington state from the new tests based on the Common Core learning standards show students are finding the new exams more challenging than the old state tests.
Fewer Washington students scored proficient on the new exams than did on the tests based on Washington's old education standards.
OSPI spokesman Nate Olson cautions against comparing this year's results to previous test results because the new exams test student understanding of different standards.
"It's an apples-to-oranges comparison," Olson said.
Just over half of the children tested in grades three through eight met the standard on the new English language arts tests this year, according to data released Thursday. And just under half the state's elementary students met the standard in math.
High school students did better than elementary students on the English test, with 62 percent making the grade. They did much worse on the math test, however, with only 29 percent meeting the standard.
Last year's results had about 70 percent of elementary students meeting the state reading standard and more than 60 percent meeting the math standard. More than 90 percent of students in the Class of 2014 met those standards and more than 80 percent of the class of 2015 had already met the standards in both English and math last year.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn called the test results a great beginning, in part because most Washington students did better on the Common Core tests, also known as the Smarter Balanced exams, than they did on a trial run in spring of 2014.
Fewer high school students passed the math exam this year than did during the field test in 2014, but more students were tested this spring.
"These new tests give educators a clearer picture of how the system is doing and where instructional improvements need to be made," Dorn said, in a statement.
The preliminary statewide results released Thursday represent 90 percent of state testing results, according to Dorn's office.
The new Common Core standards were adopted by the state in 2011, but this is the first time statewide test results have been announced for the new exams because this is the first time the exams were given across the state.
OSPI cautioned that the results are preliminary and more test results are coming into the office every week.
Detailed state and district-level results will not be released until August. The state plans to release numbers on how many students refused to take the new tests next week. Dorn said proficiency rates will go down when refusals are included in the results released on Aug. 17.
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