March 2023
Dear Parents/Guardians,
It is the time of the school year to organize for New York State testing and I would like to share my thoughts with you regarding the NYS assessments in English Language Arts and mathematics. We can use these assessments to better meet the learning needs of our students. The test is NOT about rating teachers or ranking students. Instead, it helps us understand what we are teaching and what students actually know and can communicate. I believe that these assessments provide the school district, teachers and especially the parents, with an objective measure of how well your child is progressing in the key areas of ELA and mathematics.
I encourage you to take advantage of these objective assessments that reveal how well your child is progressing. It is a fact that once your child is in high school, he or she will have to take Regents examinations. We believe that these assessments provide valuable information to the standing of our students in relations to the state standards. The assessments provide valuable information to the standing of our schools in relation to other schools. Lastly, these assessments provide an important layer of data as we make program decisions that directly impact our students, along with evaluating and setting building and district goals for our student population.
The tests are not perfect. No test is. One could argue that the assessments are too long, spread out over multiple days for many hours. That used to be true but today’s tests are two hours long on two different days. Just like in the past, we are going take the assessments online. (I have attached the 2022-2023 NYS assessment schedule to this letter.)
Please contact the building administrator of your child’s school if you have any questions, including opting your student out of any exams. I encourage all students to participate in the assessment process. Your child’s scores on the state tests will not affect their grades and it is one more opportunity to understand student learning and plan for the future for your children, our students.
I thank you for your continued support of our amazing school district.
Sincerely yours,
Traci Ferreira, Superintendent of Schools