Student test scores and future proficiency

The New York State Education Department – together with testing experts Daniel Koretz and Howard Everson (both are members of the State’s Technical Advisory Group) and CTB/McGraw-Hill, the state’s assessment contractor – conducted a series of studies and surveys concerning student scores and student proficiency. Among their findings were the following:
• Nearly a quarter of students in all New York State two and four-year institutions of higher education take remedial coursework;
• Students taking more remedial courses in their first year of college are less likely to persist in higher education;
• Students who score below an 80 on their math Regents exam have a much greater likelihood of being placed in a remedial college course;
• Students who score above an 80 on their math Regents exam have a good chance of earning at least a C in college-level math;
• Students who score at least a 75 on their English Regents exam have a good chance of earning at least a C in Freshman Composition;
• Institutions of higher education around the state consider a score of 75-85 on Regents exams to be the bare minimum for college readiness;
• Students at the current Level 3 proficiency standard on their 8th grade math exam have less than a 1 in 3 chance of earning an 80 on their math Regents;
• Students in high need districts at the current Level 3 proficiency standard on their 8th grade ELA exam have about a 50-50 chance of earning a 75 on the English Regents;
• Students scoring below 80 on their math regents and below 75 on their English Regents exams have a high likelihood of scoring below 500 on the SAT.