By Laura Lane
Starting next September, states will be required to test all students in grades three to eight in English language arts and mathematics to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Merrick and North Merrick students will take the new state ELA tests in January and the mathematics exams in March. For the past six years, they've only had to take such tests in fourth and eighth grades.
The No Child Left Behind Act requires all states that receive federal education funding to test students in reading and math. Schools that meet or exceed the state's learning goals will be considered for achievement awards.
The state ELA and mathematics tests are meant to measure students' progress to see how ready they are for the next grade, though the scores won't decide whether a child should move up. The government says the tests are intended to identify children who need additional academic assistance, as well as measure the effectiveness of each school's academic programs.
The amount of time that will be spent taking the tests will depend on the grade. For example, fourth- and sixth-graders will spend three sessions taking the ELA tests, while third- and fifth-graders will spend two sessions. A session will last 30 to 90 minutes, and never run a whole day.
Many educators believe the additional testing will disrupt student learning. Dr. Ranier Melucci, the Merrick superintendent, said, "The biggest problem with the testing is the time it takes out of classroom time, between administering the tests and grading them. This often takes several days, and while we're doing it, we lose instructional time. The schools don't have any flexibility as to when we can give these tests."
The increase in state testing and the reporting of results in the media are putting increasing pressure on schools to perform well on the exams. Many schools provide extra help classes before the tests. "We will provide all our students with the same support we provided our fourth-graders, but we'll need to provide this support on a much larger scale," said David Feller, the North Merrick superintendent. "More money will need to be spent."
North Merrick business administrator William Nimmo believes the increased testing will cost the district an extra $30,000 a year. Feller said the district is now developing next year's budget with the increase in mind. "We are putting extra dollars in our budget now for the scoring fees, additional support sessions we'll need, additional substitute coverage and additional materials," said Feller. "This is an example of a federal mandate that is significantly under-funded."
Ann Peluso, Merrick's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said the approximate cost to scan the tests, hire substitute-teachers and the team of retired teachers that the district used in the past to grade the tests will cost an extra $55,000, which is being added to the 2005-06 budget.
The state has informed schools that the tests should mirror the instruction that schools currently provide. Officials in both districts believe their curricula will align with the state tests, though many of the new tests' details are still under consideration.
Feller said North Merrick teachers met with administrators to discuss the mathematics curriculum being taught and found that no changes were needed. Peluso said the Merrick district is continuing to work with principals, assistant principals and teachers on curricula to ensure that the schools will prepare students for the new tests.
Tests' new format
The ELA test will include reading, listening and writing. The reading passages will test comprehension. Children will find answers by reading literary selections from short stories and poetry, as well as informational texts like autobiographies and essays.
The listening section will test comprehension by having students answer questions after hearing a story.
The tests' reading and listening sections are similar to what was asked of students on past state exams. But the writing section has changed. Students in third, fifth and seventh grades will have to edit paragraphs that contain errors in capitalization, punctuation, grammar and usage. This replaces the independent writing questions, which on prior state ELA tests had children write stories. But children will still have to write out their answers to questions to exhibit an understanding of the material, and interpret and analyze the text.
Although the state has not finalized the mathematics test and not yet sent samples to administrators, a format has been provided, and will include multiple-choice, short-response and extended-response questions.
Short- and extended-response questions require students to write and answer questions and show their work. In some cases, they are required to explain how they arrived at the answer.
To do well on the state mathematics tests, students will need to know and apply facts and definitions, read and interpret graphs and tables, and explain and justify methods used to solve problems.
Subhed: Getting kids ready
Merrick and North Merrick school officials believe that familiarizing students with the tests' formats from a young age is critical to achieving success.
"We worked very hard to familiarize the teachers, even in kindergarten, of the format of the tests so they can teach the children the language of the testing," said Peluso. "For example, we have kindergartners use graphic organizers, which are on the ELA tests." Peluso said teachers also have children explain how they arrived at answers in all subjects to prepare for future state tests. "It's not test-prepping," said Peluso. "It's embedding quality strategies into all of our area subjects."
Howard Merims, principal of Fayette Elementary School in North Merrick, said teachers target weaknesses in students' work during small-group sessions. Camp Avenue Elementary School Principal Arthur Solnick said teachers work on reading comprehension, writing skills, incorporating multiple sources and adding details. He added that critical-thinking skills, which are required on all tests, are first taught to kindergartners.
Comments? Llane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
