Seven states have reported the results of their Common Core-aligned state test scores and most have seen increases in student performance, said THE Journal.

"States that have reported results so far include Arizona, Idaho, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Washington and West Virginia. Of those, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and West Virginia were part of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, while Arizona, Missouri and New York used their own state-administered assessments (AzMERIT, MAP and EngageNY)," the article said.

In several of the seven states that have thus far reported scores, students have performed "better than expected." That is the case in both Idaho and Oregon, where students out-performed expectations set by Smarter Balance.

A majority of students did better on this year's exams than last years, as well.

In New York, where this was the third year students took EngageNY, preliminary results show that students made slight gains in all subjects. "Missouri students in grades three through eight took the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) tests after taking the Smarter Balanced field tests the year before. On average, students performed better on this year's MAP tests, which included SBAC items, than they did on the Smarter Balanced field tests last year," the article said.

But not all states reported gains. In Arizona, for example, preliminary results showed that students performed neither proficient in reading or math. Education experts expected as much since the new tests imposed much more rigorous standards.

Overall, experts are optimistic that these preliminary results indicate that students are prepared for the challenge that Common Core-aligned exams with higher standards impose.

"Karen Nussle, executive director of the Collaborative for Student Success, is similarly optimistic. 'As we’ve seen in states like Washington, Oregon, Missouri, West Virginia and now New York, when states raise the bar, students are prepared to meet the academic challenge — and have shown that they are on track to becoming better prepared academically for life after high school,' she told Politico," according to the article.

More information on the impact of Common Core-aligned exams on student achievement will be available when states release more than preliminary reports and when the results from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment are available as well.

Read the full article here and comment with your thoughts below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor