The results are in, less than half of students took the state ELA and math tests last spring

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — If you opted your children out of state tests last spring you are in the vast majority. News10NBC got the numbers on Thursday.

Less than half of students in New York took the ELA test and less than half took the math test.

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) released its report on the state assessments, which are tests for students in third to eighth grade.

Statewide, 41% of third to eighth graders took the ELA test and 39% took the math test.

Normally, the state says the number of test-takers is more than 80%, and a sample of local schools shows test-taking was in the 70% range.

Brean: "When you look at those numbers, what story does that tell you?"

Chris Widmaier, former RCSD teacher: "Well it tells me parents made a decision that there were things more important than the State of New York getting these test score numbers."

Chris Widmaier is a former city school teacher and now he’s an entrepreneur developing environmental education programs.

Widmaier: "People can get an education without having to take these tests and all they really would have measured for a lot of students was their situation at home and how much stress they were under. which is really what these tests often reflect more than they reflect what students are doing."

NYSED says the test results are "not representative" of students in New York and comparisons to previous years "should not be made." But NYSED says the test are still "one valuable piece of data" to show what students know.

Nicole Siwicki is a Greece parent and opted her two eligible children in.

"For us, it’s an easy way to assess where they’re at and where they need to go forward," Siwicki said.

Here is a sample of local school districts:

Greece

ELA – 72% proficiency: 37%
Math – 66% proficiency: 18%

RCSD

ELA – 29% proficiency: 16%
Math – 29% proficiency: 4%

Pal-Mac

ELA – 72% proficiency: 39%
Math – 69% proficiency: 25%

Click here to find your school district, how many students took the tests and how many got a proficient score.