School Meter Makes Sense of State Test Results

Despite the controversy over standardized testing, there is valuable data to be extracted from state test results, provided apples are compared to apples, and oranges to oranges. School Meter, a service offered by Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES, is designed to do just that.

“A district can compare its results to those of the state as a whole, but that’s pretty meaningless, really,” explains Bruce Toll, a former Hendrick Hudson school board member and president of the web-based analysis service School Meter. “Schools need to be comparing their test results to similar schools and similar types of students.”

Offered through PNW BOCES Center for Education Leadership, School Meter can look at different types of districts, different types of schools, and different groups of students. The demographics and financials of a district can be isolated, and student populations identified according to a variety of parameters – ethnicity, economically disadvantaged, and students with disabilities, for example.

 “If a district can compare its test results with schools with similar types of communities, then those test results can be very meaningful,” says Mr. Toll.

James Yap, director of technology at Byram Hills, considers School Meter a very valuable tool. “Using School Meter, you can digest volumes of data in a very short period of time and get meaningful results. What used to take days of clerical support staff time to compile and analyze can now be done in one or two hours.”

Mr. Yap points out that the program gives a district a point of reference when asking “Where are we out of 700 districts in New York State?” This is very useful for district administrators trying to explain fluctuations in state test scores resulting from changes in passing grades.

“So, you may see that while scores went down, the state ranking didn’t change at all. That puts the scores in perspective.” And, as Mr. Toll points out, if your ranking did change, it would immediately raise a red flag to investigate further. 

While a district with challenging populations can take some comfort from a School Meter analysis that compares it to districts with similarly challenging populations, the tool is also useful for high performing districts. “When high performers see how they compare to other top schools, they don’t get complacent: it helps them raise the bar,” says Mr. Toll.

He says school administrators also find the program useful in spotting issues at a particular grade level or school building level. “You can see trends and data details on specific state exams.” And when that data does raise red flags, School Meter “can be a great help in having conversations with teachers because it’s so visual and makes the conversation less personal,” Mr. Toll explains.

 Mr. Toll developed School Meter after serving as school board president in Hendrick Hudson School District. “I saw all this data that wasn’t being used to its potential,” he says. “It’s such a rich set of resources.” School Meter first became available in 2009 and more than half the districts in Westchester, Putnam and Rockland are now using the program.