The State Test

What is going on with the State Test this year? What are some students’ views onit after they took the test?

Firstly, what’s new and what’s the same?

Well, it’s safe to say that we are definitely taking both the Math and ELA NYS State Test

this year. The bell schedule remains the same, with the kids who are opting out and the older

kids coming in at 10:15 and each period shortened to 20 minutes. But what’s different? Well,

since we have hybrids and COVID, everything slightly changed. On Tuesday April 20 and

Wednesday April 21, students in 7 th and 8 th grade will be taking the ELA State Test. On Tuesday

Hybrid A and Full Remote students with the last name A-M will be taking the test. The rest of

the students will log on at 10:15. The same will happen on Wednesday, but with the Hybrid B

and Full Remote students with the last name M-Z taking the test and the rest signing on at

10:15.

What did students reveal about the test when interviewed?

When you take the State Test, you come into school at 8, where you will be escorted to

a room organized in alphabetical order depending on your last name. Then when you get

settled, your phones, apple watches, iPads, etc will be confiscated. The instructor will read

aloud the rules and allow you to start. The ELA test is on paper. After you finish the test, you sit

in the room until everyone is done, and that’s where some students get mad. When asked,

what did you not like about the State Test, a surprising number of students said they did not

like the fact that they had to sit in the room with nothing to do until everyone finishes. But then

again, there was a handful of people that did sys they had no problem with the way things were

set up. Another question I prepared for the interview was, “Did you feel prepared?”. One

student said, “Yes. In my English class, my teacher well prepared us for what we would expect

and gave us helpful strategies that made the test so much easier.” Good to hear. For the last

question, “What did you like?”, I got a lot of great responses. One was, “I liked that I was able

to take as long as I like to finish it. I also liked that it gave me the opportunity to go into school

and experience what its going to be like next year”. Just remember that things are getting

better and soon it will be back to normal.