FARMINGDALE
SCHOOL DISTRICT
PARENT
INFORMATION BULLETIN:
New York Assessments
Introduction
In each school district, many forms of assessment
measure students’ progress each year.
Teacher-made tests provide valuable achievement information for students,
teachers, administrators, and parents.
Standardized tests as well as publisher-developed tests assist in
assessing students’ progress. In New
York State, the New York State Education Department’s assessments provide the
most significant measure regarding students’ attainment of the New York State
Learning Standards.
What Do the
New York State Assessments Measure?
In 1995, the New York State Board of Regents, which
governs the schools of New York, adopted the New York State Learning
Standards. These Learning Standards
list and describe what the children of New York State must know and be able to
do.
The Learning Standards are divided into what is
required in kindergarten through the end of fourth grade, from the beginning of
fifth grade until the end of eighth grade, and what is required in high school
for graduation. New York State has
developed tests to evaluate to what degree these Learning Standards are being
achieved by students of New York.
The New York State tests are developed from the
Learning Standards. The knowledge and
skills required by the test questions can be traced directly back to the
Learning Standards.
It should be noted that the State assessments in the
elementary and intermediate grades (Grades 4, 5, and 8) are considered
benchmark assessments. How well
students do on these tests provides teachers, parents, and the students
themselves with valuable information regarding children’s potential for success
on the Regents examinations required at the commencement level. Achievement scores on the benchmark
assessments are not considered pass/fail scores, but rather indicators of what
else needs to be accomplished before students take the required Regents
examinations in their secondary school years.
What Are
the Purposes of the State Tests?
The New York State Education Department (SED)
requires that students take a series of tests in Grade 4 or at the beginning of
Grade 5 and also in Grade 8. The tests
are designed to measure how well the students in New York State have achieved the
important skills and knowledge required for kindergarten through fourth grade
and for fifth grade through eighth grade.
Testing provides parents, children, teachers and school administrators
with information about the achievement and progress of students, schools,
school districts, and the State as a whole.
During their secondary years, students are required
to pass five Regents examinations in order to earn a high school diploma. Youngsters must succeed on the following
Regents examinations: English, Global History and Geography, United States
History and Government, Mathematics, and Science. To earn a high school diploma with distinction, students must
pass the five assessments plus Regents examinations in one additional science
and one additional mathematics course as well as a language other than English.
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There are many possible sources of information about
performance, but the State testing program provides an important source because
it is the one measure that all students have in common. Farmingdale School District students along
with youngsters across New York State participate in a uniform system of
assessment related to the State Learning Standards.
Which
Subjects Are Tested and When?
In Grades 4 and 8, students are assessed in the
following subjects: English language arts, mathematics and science. In Grades 5 and 8, students are assessed in
social studies. Eighth grade students
are also assessed in technology. Most
tests will be spread out between January and the end of June in order to
provide the best opportunities for the students to perform. The elementary school social studies
examination will be given in the Fall of fifth grade.
As indicated above, during their secondary years,
students must complete Regents examinations in English language arts, social
studies, mathematics, and science.
Depending upon a student’s course of study and progress, Regents
examinations may be taken at a variety of grade levels.
What Types
of Test Questions Are Included on the State Tests?
New York State uses three types of test
questions. The first is multiple
choice. Students are asked a question,
sometimes about something they must read or a table or chart and they are asked
to select the correct answer from a choice of four answers.
The second type of question is called either
open-ended or constructed responses. In
this type of question, there are no answers from which to choose. Students must show how they solved a problem
or must write an essay.
The third type of question is only used on the
fourth grade science test. It is called
performance assessment. In this type of
question, student s are judged on how well they perform a small activity.
How Are New
York State Tests Scored?
New York State tests are scored in two different
ways. Either the total number of
correct multiple choice and other types of questions are added together and
that total is converted to what is known as a scale score, or the tests are
scored by the pattern of correct and incorrect answers a student has, which is
then also converted to a scale score.
The patterns of correct and incorrect answers are used to score the
Grades 4 and 8 mathematics and English language arts examinations.
Each test has its own scale with the lowest and
highest possible scores. The scale
scores for the mathematics and English language arts assessments in Grades 4
and 8 are divided into four levels.
Level 1 is the lowest level and indicates that students are in serious
need of extra help in order to achieve the Learning Standards. Level 2 students need extra help to
strengthen their knowledge and skills to meet the State Standards.
Level 3 indicates that students are making
satisfactory progress in achieving the State Learning Standards. Level 4 is the
highest level and indicates that students have a very high level of skills and
knowledge.
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How Are the
Score Levels Determined?
Committees of teachers who are experts in the
subject area tests on the State examinations carefully review all of the test
questions. They decide which ones must
be answered correctly to score in Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4. The questions all have some contribution to
the scale scores, so once the questions are divided according to which ones
must be answered correctly in each level, scores can be assigned that divide
Level 1 from Level 2, Level 2 from Level 3, and Level 3 from Level 4. For the Grade 4 science examination, the
score that indicates adequate progress was determined by study of the test
questions and judgments by experts of how well passing students would perform
on each question.
Are the New
York State Tests Fair?
New York State puts all test questions through two
procedures: sensitivity review and bias analysis. Sensitivity review is an evaluation of the questions by experts
who are trained in New York State’s Sensitivity Guidelines. The purpose of this review is to guarantee
that the questions do not present people in a negative fashion and that the
questions can be answered equally well by boys and girls and by students of
different cultures. Bias review is a
statistical analysis of test questions before they appear on the tests. All test questions are field-tested, first
using hundreds of New York State children.
The bias analysis reviews the results of the field testing and evaluates
whether children from different cultural backgrounds, who are matched in their
overall ability, have the same opportunity to answer questions correctly.
What
Accommodations and Modifications Are Available to Support Students with Special
Needs?
Children who are receiving special education
services with either an Individual Educational Program or a 504 plan are
eligible for certain testing modifications as they are described in these
documents. Children who are English
Language Learners/Limited English Proficient, as well, are eligible to take the
examinations with certain modifications and accommodations. Parents of children with special needs
should consult their schools to discuss what modifications or accommodations
are the most appropriate and available to their children.
What Can
Parents Do to Help Their Children?
Children should be prepared to take the tests. That means that they should try to do as
well as they can. Parents may help
children every day by reading with them at home, asking them about their work
in school, going over their homework and providing a time and a place for them
to study. Children should be encouraged to develop good study habits and to
enjoy reading and talking about their schoolwork. It is especially important that children are well rested for the
day of the examination and that they have had a good breakfast.
What Are
the Expected Outcomes for Students?
It is expected that all students will succeed and
attain the New York State Learning Standards.
With excellent teaching and alignment between and among instruction,
curriculum, and assessment, all students will be able to succeed on the State
assessments and earn a high school diploma.
We would like
to acknowledge and thank the Ossining School District for allowing us to use
this material.