New York lowering minimum test scores for student proficiency in math, English: the 'new normal'

New York state is preparing to lower its minimum test scores for student proficiency in math and English following what an official described as a "learning loss" during the coronavirus pandemic. 

The changes come after the scores for third through eighth grade tests slumped in 2022 compared to 2019, with no eighth grader in Schenectady – which has a population of nearly 70,000 – achieving proficiency in math, according to the Times Union. 

"Yes, there’s learning loss between 2019 and 2022, but in some ways we don’t want to keep going backwards," Marianne Perie, the co-chair of an advisory committee that reports to New York’s Board of Regents, told the newspaper.