It appears that the test has gotten tougher this year -- this is a GOOD thing!  And it's good to see Bloomberg and Klein sticking to their no-social-promotion policy.

Students who fail to make the cut on the annual exams are urged to attend summer school. They must retake the exams in August, and if they fail again, they must repeat the grade.

While the results were mixed, it was the fifth grade numbers that drew attention because the most stellar increases on city exams last year were in that grade.

In interviews, city education officials offered many explanations for the poorer fifth grade results, which saw the number failing to earn promotion rise to 8,921, or 15.2 percent of students subject to the mayor's promotion rules, from 5,450 students, or 8.6 percent last year.

The officials said that new state tests were used this year in place of citywide exams and that the tests were given in the winter instead of the spring.

----------------------------

June 17, 2006

More at Risk of Repeating Fifth Grade

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/17/nyregion/17schools.html?hp&ex=1150603200&en=a9e51bd6d8250e44&ei=5094&partner=homepage

More than 8,900 New York City fifth graders are in danger of being held back because of failing scores on annual reading and math tests, city education officials said yesterday. That contrasts sharply with last year when a big rise in scores led Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to say that his effort to end social promotion had improved student achievement.

City third graders posted better results with the number in danger of repeating the grade declining for a third year in a row. And there were gains among seventh graders, who were subject to the mayor's promotion policies for the first time this year...