As tougher standardized tests were administered across the state this year, test scores took an expected drop. School administrators were told to expect a thirty percent drop in test scores as only thirty-one percent of New York students in grades three through eight were deemed to be proficient in math and reading on state exams administered this spring. That number is down from about 65 percent in math and 55 percent in English on exams given in 2012. The state Education Department implemented assessments in April based on a new, more challenging curriculum. Schools and teachers warned that the test scores would be significantly lower because of the rushed process, along with the fact that the necessary teaching materials were not widely distributed early in the school year. Union-Endicott schools had test scores that were close to the state average for the new tests, Vestal was above the average, but Binghamton was significantly below. Of all the students that were tested, only 16.7 percent of Binghamton students were considered proficient in English, and only 12.7 percent were proficient in math.
