By Carol P. Bartold

Apr. 20, 2016:  New York public school students in third through eighth grade completed the 2015-2016 round of Common Core testing last week, with school districts in the Hudson Valley reporting opt-out rates as high as 56.73 percent for English language arts and 61.06 percent for mathematics.

Bronxville Free Union School District reported the lowest opt-out rates in the Hudson Valley, with an overall rate of 4.09 percent for English language arts and mathematics combined. The district reports that 33 students of the 807 eligible for the examinations declined to sit for it. Bronxville's opt-out rate for the 2014-2015 school year was 2 percent.

"I have no evidence that suggests our local patterns reflect one particular reason or sentiment," said Superintendent Dr. David Quattrone. "It is not clear to me that the opt-out statistics are gathered with consistency across districts, but it appears that the rate is increasing."

He added that, across the state, parents opt out of state assessments for a variety of reasons, including individual student circumstances, the length of tests, and their perceived validity.

This year students were presented with fewer questions on both the English language arts and mathematics exams to allow more time for reading texts and formulating solutions to mathematics problems. In another change from last year's testing, the examinations were not subject to a time limit and, as long as students were actively engaged with the exams, they could take the time they needed to complete them.

In school districts comparable to Bronxville, Byram Hills Central School District reported the highest opt-out rates, with 23.42 percent of eligible students declining to sit for the English language arts examinations and 24.49 percent of students declining to sit for the mathematics examinations.

The Scarsdale Public School District reported that 9.33 percent of eligible students opted out of the English language arts examinations and 8.13 percent opted not to sit for the mathematics examinations.

Edgemont School District reported that 8.85 percent of eligible students declined to sit for English language arts examinations and 11.18 percent declined to sit for mathematics examinations. In the Rye City School District, 8.99 percent of eligible students opted not to sit for the English language arts examinations and 11.84 percent opted not to sit for the mathematics examinations.

Neither the Briarcliff Manor School District nor the Chappaqua Central School District reported Common Core opt-out data.

Under a plan announced by the New York State Education Department and the Board of Regents, a new timetable for revamping the Common Core learning and assessment standards is under way. Testing of the new standards is scheduled to begin in the 2018-2019 school year. School districts will have two complete academic years to develop curriculum and conduct teacher training to implement the new standards.

"It is my hope and commitment that we use achievement results as one measure, among others, to guide instruction," Dr. Quattrone said. "I believe the soundest approach is to gather a balanced set of multiple measures and monitor levels, patterns, trends, and comparisons."

Pictured here:  Common Core study books at Womrath Bookshop.

Photo by N. Bower