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Students Opting Out of State Tests Goes Up 64 Percent in 2016

By Ben Fractenberg | August 1, 2016 4:41pm
 There was a spike in students opting out of state proficiency exams in 2016.
There was a spike in students opting out of state proficiency exams in 2016.
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MIDTOWN — The number of elementary and middle school students opting out of state exams spiked by more than 60 percent in 2016, according to numbers released by the mayor’s office on Monday.

Of the 400,000 students in grades three through eight, 12,999 opted out this year, up from 7,904 last year. That's about 3 percent of students during a year when the test results showed big gains in English Language Arts (ELA) and math proficiency.

“Our public schools are a cornerstone of New York City,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. “These results represent important progress and outline real improvements across each borough of our city.”

Proficiency in ELA increased 7.6 percent this year, jumping from 30.4 percent in 2015 to 38 percent in 2016.

Math scores also improved. There was a 1.2 percent increase in the number of students demonstrating proficiency in math, moving from 35.2 percent in 2015 to 36.4 percent in 2016.

While this year saw an increase in scores, the test had fewer questions and did not have a time limit for students as long as they were working productively, according to officials.