State math and reading exams will be harder to pass this year, Chancellor Dennis Walcott warned parents, and more children will likely fail. For the first time the state-mandated tests will be aligned with the new Common Core standards and, Walcott says, "will be more difficult to pass." In a break from the past, however, failing -- scoring a level 1 out of 4 - will not mean automatic holdover for children in grades 3 to 8.

Instead, the chancellor said in a letter to parents, the DOE "will look at students' overall scores-how many questions each student got right. Students with the lowest scores will be recommended for summer school."

Since 2004 when Mayor Bloomberg ended so-called "social promotion," all students who scored a 1 on either the reading or math exam were sent to summer school. This year students who score in the bottom 10 percent will be required to go to summer school and retake the exams in August, NY1 reports.  The city anticipates that the number of students requiring summer classes to be promoted to the next grade will be about the same as last year.

The yearly high-stakes tests also affect admission to selective middle and high schools. Cut-off scores for acceptance may be lower this year, but Walcott said, "students who earn the highest scores-even if those scores are lower than in past years-will still have access to screened middle and high schools."<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal/w:View 0/w:Zoom false/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid false/w:IgnoreMixedContent false/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText EN-US/w:LidThemeOther X-NONE/w:LidThemeAsian X-NONE/w:LidThemeComplexScript /w:Compatibility /m:mathPr/w:WordDocument<![endif]-->

Students this year will have to read and respond to longer and more challenging passages than in previous years. Third graders will be expected to read 500-600 word excerpts from books such as Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach or The Story of Ruby Bridges  by Robert Coles.  Eighth graders will read 900-1,000 word passages from classics such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or Richard Wright’s Native Son. Third and 4th graders will have less time to complete the math exams than on previous years' tests. Test guides for every grade's reading and math exams are posted on the state education department's website.

This year's  ELA (English Language Arts) exams will be given on April 16-18; math tests will be the following week, April 24-26.

 

 

 

 

 

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