Parent or Guardian,
This spring, students in grades 3-8 will once again be required to take state assessments. You may recall that last year, these assessments were cancelled due to the pandemic. The New York State Education Department requested a waiver from the federal government which would have allowed them to cancel these assessments again this year. However, the federal government has indicated that waivers will not be approved so the state is encouraging schools to begin making plans to administer these assessments in April and May. It is important to note that the state has waived using these exams for accountability purposes and encouraged school districts to use this as another opportunity to gather data and see where our students currently are with their academic achievement to help us plan for the future.
While students will have to take the state assessment tests, there will be some changes this year. Only the first session of the Grades 3-8 Math and ELA exams will be administered instead of two sessions. In June, only the written portion of the Grades 4 and 8 Science exams will be administered while the performance tests will not be given.
The current schedule for these assessments is below:
Please be aware that the New York State Education Department has stated that it will not be possible to administer any state assessments remotely this year. All exams will be administered in-person. Students who have opted to learn in a fully remote environment will not be expected to participate, though they will have the option of attending in-person to complete the assessments. A separate communication to our virtual families will be distributed to help us determine interest in these assessments.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s principal if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Matthew Hladun
Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning