NY State Testing- How high should they set the bar?

One of Diane Ravitch’s recent blog posts, Suburban New York Parents Don’t Believe Common Core Tests, really got me thinking so I checked out the original article that Ravitch references.  The article begins by rattling off some test scores of the most recent New York state tests and then moves into parental commentary about the scores.  Students performed lower on the new test than they had in years past. 

Parent comments range from anger, to confusion, to denial.  Some parents claim that the tests lack validity.  Others argue that the lower scores are going to hurt the self-esteem of young children.  Not one person says that perhaps the tests were accurate, and the New York Public Schools have some work to do.

I was frustrated by the lack of accountability that all commentators (mostly parents) were taking.  Perhaps some of the teachers in the schools were not providing a rigorous curriculum for their students.  Just because a student earns a high mark from their teacher, does not mean that they have acquired comparable knowledge to students from another school.  To help justify this point, I share with you my tragedy of AP Calculus. 

When I was a senior in high school I enrolled in AP Calculus.  The teacher of the course was someone had taught me both Geometry my freshman year and Pre-Calculus my junior year.  During the first three quarters I earned a B, and two A’s.  I thought I was going to ace the AP test.  However, on the day of the test I was completely taken aback by the test and felt entirely under prepared.  There were concepts on the test that I had never even seen- let alone learned!  A few weeks later, I found out that I earned a 1... the lowest score possible..

I didn’t blame the AP test or College Board for making an inaccurate, too difficult test.  I didn't think they were trying to trick me.  I was, however, incredibly frustrated with my high school.  I felt that I had been mislead throughout the course.  By earning A’s, I viewed myself as highly competent in Calculus.  Little did I know that my teacher’s standards were far off from the average AP Calculus classroom.

Jonathan Burman, who commented on behalf of the state Education Department in the article, seems to agree with my point.  Burman claims, “...the empirical evidence is clear: Right now far too many of our students are leaving high school unprepared for college and careers."  I think it is safe to say that the new test in New York is more difficult than the one in the past.  Should people run from it or face it head on?  What ever happened to high standards?