Roughly half of Hawaii public school students tested proficient in English language arts while fewer students met or exceeded benchmarks in math on the new more rigorous Smarter Balanced Assessment, according to scores released Tuesday by the state Department of Education. 

Hawaii is one of 23 states and territories that administered some version of the new test aligned to the Common Core standards — nationally crafted academic standards that lay out what students should know and be able to do in reading and math from kindergarten to grade 12. The federal government requires states to annually test students in English and math in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. 

More than 89,300 isle students took the Smarter Balanced test last school year. Overall, 48 percent of Hawaii students met or exceeded the achievement standard for language arts and 41 percent were deemed proficient in math. 

In math, Hawaii’s third-graders performed best, with 50 percent of students testing proficient. On the opposite end, only 30 percent of eleventh-graders met the achievement standard in math. For language arts, the state’s fifth-graders performed best, with 54 percent of students meeting the standard, while 44 percent of seventh-graders tested proficient. 

“These first year results show promise,” schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said in a statement. “Test scores show we’re not where we want to be, but we’re on the right track for all students to be college and career-ready.” 

So far, 10 other states have released preliminary or final Smarter Balanced scores. A multi-state comparison of fourth-grade students testing proficient in math shows Hawaii students outperformed students in seven of those states, including West Virginia, California, Maine and Vermont. In language arts, Hawaii’s fourth-graders performed better than students in four other states that have released scores. 

“We’re not satisfied with these percentages, but at the same time, we’re pleased to see where we stand with regards to other states,” DOE Deputy Superintendent Stephen Schatz said in an interview. 

Tammi Chun, assistant superintendent for the Office of Strategy, Innovation, and Performance, added that, “When we look at this we know that our performance is at a higher standing than we typically see ourselves in comparison with other states.” 

As expected, the number of students testing proficient on the first ever Smarter Balanced test was lower than the number deemed proficient on its predecessor, the Hawaii State Assessment or HSA. But officials have cautioned against comparing the results. The new tests are designed to emphasize critical thinking, problem solving and analytical thinking over rote memorization. Students are required to show how they reached their answers, and if they answer correctly, they get a more difficult question. 

“It’s less about the format. Our expectations are higher under Common Core than they had been under HSA,” Chun said. “The expectations are more challenging, so we view this as the new baseline for whether or not our students are college- and career-ready.”