Dive Summary:

• Educators and parents were taken aback Wednesday as the number of New York students passing reading and math exams saw a sharp drop under the new Common Core standards.
• Only 31 % of students in third through eighth grade passed the exams in reading and math statewide, compared to 55% for reading and 65% for math under last year's easier test; New York City's figures showed 26% passing English exams and 30% passing math, compared to 47% in English last year and 60% in math.
• For the past several months, city and state officials have warned the public of the inevitable decline, saying that it may take several years before students perform well under the more rigorous standards.

From the article:

... “There may be some who try to use today’s results to attack principals and teachers,” said John King, the state education commissioner, at a news conference in Manhattan on Wednesday morning. “That would be wrong.”

He added, “The changes in scores do not mean that schools have taught less or that students have learned less.” ...