Here come the tests

The first round of state testing begins next week, and thousands of students in Valley Stream will sit for the three-day English Language Arts exam beginning April 1.

The test will be given to students in third through eighth grades, with the state math assessment at the end of the month. This is the second year that the exams will be based on the new Common Core State Standards. Last year, passing rates fell to historic lows following the change.

District 30 Superintendent Dr. Nicholas Stirling cautioned against putting too much emphasis on the tests, explaining that the elementary district has several measures of student progress, including the state assessments. “It’s just one piece of information that we use to determine where a kid is,” Stirling said. “We are concerned, as always, when it comes to these high-stakes tests that take on more value than they are actually being used for.”

Stirling acknowledged that there is some value in having children become familiar with standardized testing in elementary school. He noted that for decades, all students in New York have had to pass statewide exams to graduate from high school — the Regents.

The simple fact that students are being tested has not been the cause of the concern over the past two years. The third- through eighth-grade assessments have been in place for a decade. However, parents and educators have argued that the tests reflected new standards before those standards were being taught in the schools.

“To roll out a curriculum before it’s ready is not fair for teachers or students,” said Central High School District Superintendent Dr. Bill Heidenreich, adding that it is “problematic” to test students on an unproven curriculum and then link teacher evaluations to the results. “There’s a lot of disappointment in terms of how the Board of Regents has implemented the Common Core.”

In the high school district, tests are administered to seventh- and eighth-graders. Heidenreich said that to test middle-school students on standards that were never taught in their elementary schools is not right. Students should build on their skills from the previous year, he said.