This week, New Yorkers are likely to suffer a mix of disappointment and frustration when the state releases the results of the rigorous new testing regime that New York State has adopted as it joins the national Common Core movement to raise standards of American education.
Kentucky, the first state to adopt Common Core-aligned testing, saw its initial scores drop by as much as 33 points, or nearly 50%. State and city leaders have said repeatedly that they expect a similar result in New York. We should resist knee-jerk reactions and focus on the potential to improve economic prospects for the next generation.
With the harsh reality of test results, there is a tendency to blame educational failures on teachers (or their unions), administrators, elected officials, economic deprivation or even the tests themselves. In fact, we all share responsibility for the failures of public education and it is time to face up to how far our country has fallen behind those societies around the world where education is the top priority. Our state was right to adopt the higher standards of the Common Core as the first step in restoring American education to its former greatness.
Poor test results will come as no surprise to employers in New York City. For several decades, they have complained that most graduates of New York’s high schools are unprepared for even entry level jobs in such key industries as banking, energy, technology, retail and health care. Employers know that it is not just the students who are losing out. Our entire local economy bears the cost of a mediocre workforce that is unprepared for jobs that require more competitive skills than ever before.
Nationally, only 30% of public high school graduates are prepared for college and careers. In New York City, employers like IBM, Con Ed and National Grid are co-sponsoring new high schools that will tap employers to fill technical knowledge gaps in school curriculum and give students the work experience and mentoring that have proven so valuable in other countries.
Employer support complements the Common Core curriculum, which focuses on helping students gain problem-solving and team-building skills that are so necessary in the modern workplace. In New York, the business community and large nonprofit employers are willing to engage with the school system and institutions of higher education to ensure that the Common Core translates into expanded opportunities for the city’s students to both learn relevant skills and secure the education required for a production and successful future.
This is all by design. Common Core has the power and potential to move American education into the 21st century. According to the Partnership for New York City’s NYC Jobs Blueprint, in the next decade, there will be a 21% increase in the number of jobs in New York City that require associates degrees or higher. By laying a solid groundwork with Common Core, students are better prepared to go on to complete the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degrees that are critical for obtaining jobs in high-growth fields like technology and healthcare.
The timing of the Common Core test results becoming public could not be worse. There is no doubt that candidates competing in the city’s primary and general elections will be tempted to use this as a reason to advance the interests of groups that have been critical of mayoral control and other reforms that have positioned the schools system to make real progress.
Candidates and pundits should think long and hard before jumping on the scores as proof of anything other than our state’s commitment to face the hard reality that we cannot any longer tolerate educational mediocrity. New York City has seen significant advances in graduation rates and closing the racial achievement gaps in the past decade. As schools implement the Common Core, there will be continued progress.
To turn away from the Common Core now would be the wrong reaction. In order to succeed in the current economy, students need to receive a first-rate education. New York’s leaders understand that the transition to the Common Core is an extended journey, not an overnight trip.
Wylde is president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City.
