CNY Central.com just reported that the state of New York just announced, less than a month before it starts this year’s Common Core State Standards aligned testing, that it is making significant changes to those tests to try to encourage better participation.

New York's tests will now have fewer questions and students won’t face time limits.

CNY Central says these changes come after “thousands of parents across the state had their children opt out of the Math and English tests last year.”

But, this opens up a new can of worms for Empire State testing credibility and usefulness.

• There is no mention of any validation studies for the new test formats.

• Will New York try to claim the results from these rather heavily altered tests are comparable to earlier testing? Will anyone believe that?

• Does this actually severe the existing trend lines from New York’s past Common Core testing?

One thing is certain: with New York making major changes to its Common Core tests, which never were “common” to any other state’s Common Core tests, is the myth of “Common” in “Common Core” really starting to unravel?