Education in New York’s public schools has changed in recent years with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards and the property tax cap in 2012. Educators, board members and parents have voiced their disdain with each, but with the first round of state assessments this week, their message has grown louder. more

The “opt-out” movement has gained steam in the past year, with many parents looking to hold their children back from the state tests, which will begin next week with the English Language Arts exams. more

It was clearly a difficult night for New York State Education Commissioner Dr. John King and Chancellor Meryl Tisch. more

By Alex Costello acostello@liherald.com New York state released the results of its new tests last week and, as expected, scores for students all over the state, including Rockville Centre, … more

Two weeks ago, the Herald detailed new English and math standardized tests that New York’s public and charter schools gave to students in grades three to eight last month. In this report, the Herald continues an examination of how “opting out” from the tests could affect the students who did so and their schools. more

With the New York state tests done and gone, Rockville Centre School District administrators were able to get a look at the exams and see, first hand, how difficult they were for students. … more

First of two parts. School officials in the Merrick, North Merrick and Bellmore-Merrick Central High School districts say they do not yet fully know how certain parents’ refusal to allow their children to take new standardized tests will affect the students or their schools. more

After 20 percent of the students scheduled to take the New York state ELA exams “opted out” of the tests, the Rockville Centre Board of Education took an official stance against what it termed … more

Parents taking part in a movement spreading across Long Island have refused to let their children sit for state-mandated testing, protesting academic standards that they say have become unrealistically challenging. more

A handful of parents in Merrick and North Merrick told school administrators that they would refuse to allow their children to sit for new standardized state exams, which began in elementary schools around the state this week. The parents, who believe that the standardized exams lack pedagogical merit and are harmful to students, say they would like to see a grass-roots civil-disobedience movement involving other parents taking the same action that would force the state to cancel the exams. In all, 50 students did not take the exams on Tuesday, the first day they were administered, according to officials in both districts. more