In today’s edition, readers will find a breakdown of how area students in third through eighth grades fared on recent English language arts and mathematics tests.

Between 70 and 80 percent of Chautauqua County students in third through eighth grades aren’t proficient in English language arts. The numbers are worse for math, where between 70 and 82 percent of children aren’t proficient. Jamestown Public Schools students, meanwhile, fared poorly as well. Roughly 70 to 87 percent of city third- through eighth-graders were deemed not proficient in English language arts while between 75 to 86 percent of third- through eighth-graders weren’t proficient in math.

Those poor scores shouldn’t scare parents, nor should they be used to launch an attack on the merits of the Common Core State Standards. One can argue with the implementation of the new education standards, but it is common knowledge that previous methods of judging student achievement were lacking. Too many students have shown themselves unready for college or a career after receiving a high school diploma. It was time to acknowledge the state and federal governments had been setting the wrong targets and to begin aiming at a goal that better serves society.

The low scores, then, are an indication of how far schools have to go under the new standards to properly prepare students for a future in college or in the job market. That is the unfortunate reality – but those depressing test scores come with the possibility of good news in the future.

Instruction under the Common Core State Standards hasn’t been fully implemented. Curriculum is still being finalized, books are still being purchased and there was, before this year, no experience with the type of tests used in Common Core-related testing. Teachers will come to find methods that connect with children and result in both better performance on the state tests and in children better prepared for life after high school.

Parents and interested parties should take this year’s test results with a grain of salt and look instead to next year’s results, which will show the gains made over the course of a year. Parents should also keep an eye toward the Class of 2018, students who will be in eighth grade this school year and are the first students who will have to graduate from high school with Common Core-aligned Regents tests.

It is easy to complain about the circumstances that led to this latest round of discouraging test results. It is more productive to look toward the future and focus our discussion on ways to improve the quality of education our children receive.