1. February PTA Meeting Welcome to NY State Testing Overview and Awareness for Parents

2. Lets try a 4 th Grade NY State Test Sample Math Question A High School basketball team scored a total of 108 points in their final game. Joanne scored exactly 1/3 of all of the points the team scored, and Renee scored 23 points. How many points were scored by the rest of the team? How many steps are in this problem?

3. What is the NY State Testing Program and Who Takes It?  The purpose of the NY State Tests are to assess student learning and mastery of the Common Core Curriculum Standards.  The NY State Test is administered to students in Grades 3-8 in ELA (English Language Arts) and Math as well as Science in grades 4.

4. Why do students take the NY State Tests?  The NY State Tests are given to measure achievement: what students know and are able to do in reading, writing, math and science.  The best understanding of a student’s academic achievement comes from looking at multiple pieces of evidence (including State Test scores) collected over time.

5. Why are the NY State Tests important?  The tests are designed to measure how well students have mastered necessary skills and to monitor the effectiveness of instructional programs. They help assess both student achievement and the progress of our schools.  The results also guide the course of your child’s education from year to year.

6. When do students take the NY State Tests?  ELA: April 16 th -18 th (3 days)  Math: April 24 th - 26 th (3 days)  Science: End of May & June 3 rd (2 days)  Testing starts at the beginning of the school day and testing periods are 50-70 minutes long.

7. Where do students take the NY State Test?  Students take the NY State Test in their regular classroom setting unless they have a 504 Plan, special IEP or ELL accommodations. The classroom teacher and a proctor if needed are present at all times during testing.

8.  Items are grade-level appropriate in terms of item difficulty, cognitive demands, and reading level.  Items are multiple choice, short and extended response questions What are the items like?

9. ELA (English Language Arts)

10. What is on the ELA State Assessment?  Reading, Writing and Language Standards based on deep reading of informational and literary texts 3 rd Grade: 4 – 7 grade level literary and informational passages that are 500-600 words 4 th Grade: 4 – 7 grade level literary and informational passages that are 600-700 words 5 th Grade: 5 – 9 grade level literary and informational passages that are 700-800 words

11.  Poems, fables and plays make up only a small portion of the texts used.

12. Sample ELA Passages http://engageny.org/resource/new-york-state- common-core-sample-questions Let’s look at a 4 th Grade ELA Sample

13. Math

14. What is on the NYS MATH Test ? GradeOperations & Algebraic Thinking GeometryNumber and Operations- Fractions Measurement & Data Number and Operations in Base Tens 3 rd 40-50%5-15%15-25% 5-15% 4 th 15-25%5-15%20-30%15-25%20-30% 5 th 5-15% 30-40%20-30%

15. What is on the NYS MATH Test ?  Common Core Standards specific to the grade level 3 rd Grade: Understanding of Multiplication and Division using strategies within 100, Developing an Understanding of Fractions (numerator 1), Understanding of Rectangular Arrays and of Area, Describing and Analyzing Two Dimensional Shapes 4 th Grade: Fluency with multi-digit multiplication and division, Understanding of fraction equivalence (addition, subtraction and multiplication of fractions), Properties and analyzing of geometric figures 5 th Grade: Fluency with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of fractions, Two digit divisors, decimals to the hundredths, understanding of volume

16. How is NYS Test Scored?

17. What are the NYS ELA and Math Test levels? 4 performance levels in Reading & Math  –Level 4 – Exceeding State Learning Levels  –Level 3 – Meeting State Learning Standards  –Level 2 – Partially Meeting State Learning Standards  –Level 1 – Not Meeting State Learning Standards

18. What is considered a passing score on the NYS Test?  If a child scores a level 3 or above, he/she is considered to be meeting grade level standards  If a child scores a level 2 or below, he/she will receive RTI/AIS Services

19. How can parents help? To support reading growth:  Turn off the screens! READ, READ, READ…ALL Different Types of Text! *talk about the text *talk about new vocabulary words  Help your child build stamina for reading.  Review some practice tests and stress the importance of the test!

20. Other ways parents can help  Testing preparation begins early, so please be sure that all students arrive on time.  In the weeks before testing, please be sure your child comes to school and stays in school all day – we reinforce skills every single day.  Please help your child remember that the testing is very important, but don’t focus on it so much that he/she is frightened or anxious.

21. Other ways parents can help On testing days:  Nothing beats a good night’s sleep. Children aged 10-12 need about 9 hours of sleep per night. (source: http://kidshealth.org/) Studies have shown that sleep deprivation can affect students’ academic results. (source: http://www.news-medical.net/) http://kidshealth.org/http://www.news-medical.net/  Good nutrition is vital, too. Students should eat a protein-rich breakfast on testing days: eggs, bacon, ham and oatmeal are good choices. (source: http://www.desotoschools.com/cline%2009-04-01.htm) Remember, breakfast is available at school, too! http://www.desotoschools.com/cline%2009-04-01.htm

22. Questions?