Superintendent Reassures Students "Will Make Progress" on State Tests

Kings Park school superintendent is taking measures to encourage parents to take their child's state assessment scores in stride.

Superintendent Susan Agruso sent a letter home to district parents on Sept. 27, when spring state assessment scores for students in grades 3 - 8 became available. 

"These scores do not represent the overall achievement of your child.Rather, they indicate what your child learned with respect to the Common Core Standards by the time the tests were given," Agruso wrote in her letter. 

The superintendent stresses the district began only implementing the Common Core curriculum in September 2012. Teachers did not receive sample questions from the new tests until midway through the 2012-13 school year, according to Agruso, unable to incorporate it into their classroom instruction until then. 

Agruso cites a memo from New York State's Commissioner of Education John King. 

"Commissioner of Education John King sent a memo to Superintendents on August 2, 2013, in which he stated, 'Scores are expected to be significantly lower than the 2011-2012 scores…which will effectively create a new baseline measurement of student learning'," Agruso wrote. 

She invites parents to reach out to their child's school principal if they have any further questions. 

Kings Park school district has posted several Q&A on Common Core on it's district website including August 2013 and questions asked by parents at the September roundtable. 

Further information about the Common Core, what steps the Kings Park school district is taking and Q&As can be found on the district's website, here.