Twenty percent of New York State students, in grades three through eight, opted out of taking the 2015 state tests, education officials said on Wednesday. Those who did take the test showed modest improvement in both math and English.

The results show 30 percent of New York City students scored as proficient in English, 2 percentage points above the previous year. Math proficiency improved by one percent, from 34.2 percent to 35.2 percent.

In New York State overall, 31.3 percent were proficient in English and 38.1 percent were proficient in math.

This was the third year the state tests were aligned to tougher learning standards known as Common Core. It was also a moment for the growing opposition to both the standards and testing to make its voice heard.

About 20 percent of the 1.1 million eligible students statewide did not take the test this year. The bulk of the no-shows opted out in protest against the number, efficacy and use of standardized tests.

Loy Gross, a parent organizer from East Bethany, a hamlet between Buffalo and Rochester, said the numbers represented a new chapter in the opt-out movement.

"One in five families risked a negative consequence from the school districts by pulling their kids out of the state tests. That's pretty significant," she said. "That's no longer a fringe element. That's a significant portion of New York State families and NYSED really needs to sit up and take notice."

(Alan Palazzolo / WNYC)

Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said the opt-out numbers affected the results but there were enough data points to help educators.

"If you want to have a plan on how to get better it’s important to have the data so you can plan to move forward. Nine hundred thousand students participated and we have information across state on how to get better. I think that’s powerful thing," she said.

The top five school districts for opting out of the English tests were Greenburgh-North Castle in Westchester (100 percent), Chateaugay CSD in the North Country (89 percent), Dolgeville CSD near Albany (89 percent), Comsewogue District on Long Island (79 percent), and Plainedge UFSD also on Long Island (75 percent).

(Alan Palazzolo / WNYC)

New York City's opt out rate was 1.4 percent in English, tiny in comparison to other districts but still about three times more than the previous year. With so few children opting out in New York City compared to the rest of the state, Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested city parents opted in because they agree with his administration's message.

"None of us believe in high stakes testing as the only way to measure students or teachers or schools," he said, drawing a contrast with his predecessor.

But he also said he supported higher standards, which he called "tough love," and so does Chancellor Carmen Fariña. She pointed to signs of progress with higher than average proficiency rates among the middle grades, which is when scores typically drop.

Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch counseled patience with the rollout of both new learning standards and new tests. 

"The standards are vastly different, vastly improved from what they were," she said. "I would encourage everyone to stay the course here, stay with it, understand this is going to be a 12- to 15-year roll-out." 

But she acknowledged that the state was paying the price for poor implementation of the Common Core standards.

"It was sobering to see in some schools you had numbers as high as 70 percent staying out," she said. "I think it's really important to have conversations in those districts, to find out what we can do to get people back into part of statewide testing program."

Although proficiency rates went up for all groups of students, the achievement gap didn't budge. Black and Latino students continued performing below white and Asian students.

In New York City, Asian and white students saw their proficiency rates on the English tests go up by 3 and 2 percentage points, respectively, to more than half proficient overall. The gains were smaller for black and Hispanic students whose proficiency rates on the English test were still below 20 percent.

Students with disabilities and those still learning English continued to have the lowest scores, with fewer than percent proficient in English and between 11 and 14 percent proficient in math. 

New York City charter schools overall performed better than district schools in math, with 44.2 percent proficiency. In English, 29.3 percent of charter school students were proficient, a slight increase from the previous year but still behind district schools.