Schools

State Testing Begins at Nanuet Schools

Grades 3-8 will have ELA testing April 17-19 and Math testing April 25-27

 

Break out the No. 2 pencils and make sure your kids have breakfast and a full night’s rest. ELA and Math state tests have begun.

“Starting today, we are in the midst of state testing,” said Miller Elementary Principal Betsy Smith.

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In Miller Elementary (K-2), the children are not affected as state testing starts with third grade, however, Miller staff is involved.

“This is a group effort. The kids are tested in grades 3-8 and my personnel are involved in both the administration of the test and the scoring.”

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Smith reminded parents at Tuesday morning’s Elementary PTA meeting to prepare students at home.

“We want the kids to feel well rested, be well nourished, this weather is rather warm … make sure that they’re well hydrated,” she said. When they get home, let them get some fresh air and run it off, especially in this great weather. Some of these tests are quite lengthy.”

Back in January, parents shared their at a PTA meeting. The longest stretch of time a third and fourth grader will sit for a test is 70 minutes in the ELA section. At Barr Middle School, some tests will go up to 90 minutes.

“This year the exams have been moved from May to April. Each test will now be administered over three days,” said Roger Guccione, Barr Middle School principal in a letter to parents. “Please help your child perform at their optimal level by ensuring that they get a good night’s sleep the night before each test and a healthy breakfast the morning of each test.”

Testing will run for a few weeks until May, when scoring will then begin.

“They will be back on track in May, like all other districts,” said Smith.

At that January meeting, Highview Elementary Principal Barbara Auriemma explained the reasons behind the test changes

“This year, they’re embedding (field testing) questions into the test so it’s elongated the test (times),” said Auriemma. Normally, the field testing questions are not during the exam, but were the following day or week. “(Also, The NYS Ed Dept.) felt they wanted more questions to determine the level of the students’ expertise. Both of those things increased the number of days for the test and the number of questions on the test.”


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