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the state education department the university of the state of new york albany ny 12234 barbara m wallis bureau chief test administration and communications office of state assessment may 2010 to from subject principals of public nonpublic and charter schools barbara m wallis spring 2010 grade 4 elementary-level science test general information this memorandum provides information concerning the shipping storing administration and returning of materials for the grade 4 elementary-level science test additional information on this test is available at http www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa if you have any questions about the information in this memorandum you may call 518-474-8220 dates for the spring 2010 grade 4 elementary-level science test test grade 4 elementary-level science performance test grade 4 elementary-level science written test administration dates monday may 24thursday june 3 monday june 7 makeup dates tuesday may 25thursday june 3 tuesday june 8wednesday june 9 the supply of test materials for your school will be sent in two shipments the shipment containing the performance test will arrive by ups between the hours of 8:00 a.m and 5:00 p.m between wednesday may 19 and friday may 21 the shipment containing the written test will be delivered by ups and may arrive at any time between the hours of 8:00 a.m and 5:00 p.m between wednesday june 2 and friday june 4 please be sure that someone is available in your school or approved storage location during those hours to accept the shipment should any problems occur in connection with the delivery of test materials please call this office at 518-474-8220 or 518-474-5902 immediately schools that do not receive their shipment of secure test materials by 12:00 p.m on may 21 for the performance test and june 4 for the written test should track the shipment of test materials on the internet 1 go to http www.ups.com/tracking/tracking.html 2 click track by reference 3 in the shipment reference field type the beds code of the school where you indicated you wanted your tests to be shipped 4 enter the ship date range the initial ship date is may 18 for the performance test and june 1 for the written test 5 if you are unable to track your shipment or notice some other irregularity contact the office of state assessment via fax at 518-474-2021 det 1717 4-10­3,600 10-13761

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2 test grade 4 elementary-level science performance test grade 4 elementary-level science written test obtaining test materials from regional centers delivery dates may 19­21 june 2­4 school administrators needing to obtain grade 4 elementary-level science written tests that were not originally requested should contact the department s operations group by calling 518-474-8220 under the direction of the operations group school administrators should contact the official in charge of their regional center to arrange pickup of test materials information on regional centers is available at http www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/elintgen.html the person sent to pick up an emergency supply of test materials from a regional center must present authorization written on school letterhead and signed by the principal that lists the materials to be picked up and authorizes the person to pick up those materials the person obtaining test materials must provide picture identification and must countersign the authorization letter and leave it with the official in charge of the regional center test materials may be picked up from the regional centers only on the scheduled date for the administration of the test please note that performance test materials will not be sent to regional centers only to schools security of test materials as soon as the shipment of test materials arrives at the school or other approved location it should be checked by the principal to verify that all materials indicated on the shipping notice have been received school officials who determine that some materials are missing from their shipments of grade 4 elementary-level science test materials must contact the office of state assessment via fax to 518-474-2021 to obtain these materials shrink-wrapped secure test materials must not be opened until the day that part of the test is scheduled to be administered except for taking inventory of your test shipment you must keep all test materials in a secure location the principal of each school requesting tests is responsible for making the necessary arrangements for safeguarding the materials received by the school the secure location where test materials are being stored should be checked daily to ensure that the test materials have not been tampered with and remain secure the combination or key to the secure location must be maintained under strict security conditions to preclude access to the test materials by students and other unauthorized persons following the scoring of the grade 4 elementary-level science performance test schools are required to return to the department all unused performance test answer booklets including large-type braille and alternative language editions and all used and unused performance test rating guides schools must follow the complete instructions for the return of test materials found on page 14 of the test manual these materials must be returned to test distribution unit new york state education department cultural education center empire state plaza albany new york 12230

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3 all teachers who assist in the administration and scoring of the grade 4 elementary-level science test are expected to sign the deputy and proctor certificate and the examination scoring certificate contained within the new york state grade 4 elementary-level science test manual for administrators and teachers similarly principals are required to complete and sign the examination storage certificate also found within the test manual these three certificates as well as student answer papers must be retained on file in the school for one year students to be tested except as noted below all public school students in grade 4 must take the state assessments administered for their grade level this includes students who have been retained in grade 4 nonpublic schools are strongly encouraged to administer these tests to their students in accordance with these same provisions the birthdates of ungraded students should be used to determine who must be tested refer to appendix vi of the test manual for more information when determining which students will be participating in these tests be sure to consider students who attend programs operated by the board of cooperative educational services boces as well as any other programs located outside the school students with disabilities each student with a disability must participate in the grade 4 elementary-level science test unless the student s individualized education program iep as developed by the committee on special education cse specifically indicates that the student should take the new york state alternate assessment nysaa a small percentage of students are recommended by their cses to participate in the nysaa for students with severe cognitive disabilities the criteria that the cse must use to determine eligibility for the nysaa are available on the department s web site at http www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/publications/policy/alterassess.htm english language learners all english language learners are required to participate in the grade 4 elementary-level science test they may take the tests in either an alternative language or in english whichever would be better for the student alternative language editions of the grade 4 elementary-level science test are provided in chinese traditional haitian creole and spanish these tests may be translated orally into other languages for english language learners whose first language is one for which a written translation is not available from the department schools are permitted to offer english language learners specific testing accommodations when taking these tests see pages 4 and 5 testing accommodations students who incur disabilities shortly before test administration principals may provide accommodations when testing general education students who incur an injury e.g a broken arm or experience the onset of a short or long-term disability acquired or diagnosed within 30 days prior to the administration of state assessments in such cases when sufficient time is not available for the development of an iep or a section 504 accommodation plan 504 plan principals may authorize certain accommodations that will not significantly change the skills being tested these accommodations are limited to · · · · extending the time limit for a test administering the test in a special location recording the student s answers in any manner and reading the test to the student only for students whose vision is impaired eligibility for these accommodations is based on the principal s professional discretion but the principal may confer with members of the cse or with other school personnel in making this determination prior

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4 permission need not be obtained from the department to authorize testing accommodations for general education students however a full written report concerning each authorization must be sent to the office of state assessment via fax to 518-474-1989 the report must be on school letterhead must be signed by the principal and must include the following information · the name of the student · the title of the test · a brief description of the student s injury or disability and · a listing of the accommodations that were authorized by the principal if the student is expected to continue to need testing accommodations the principal must immediately make the appropriate referral for the consideration of an iep or 504 plan students with disabilities students with disabilities must be provided with the testing accommodations specified in their iep or 504 plans when taking these tests it is the principal s responsibility to ensure that this occurs and that all staff members who will be providing these testing accommodations are appropriately trained students who have been declassified may continue to be provided testing accommodations if recommended by the local cse at the time of declassification and it is written in the student s declassification iep plan all necessary arrangements for implementing testing accommodations well in advance of the test date the department s office of vocational and educational services for individuals with disabilities vesid provides more information on test access and accommodations for students with disabilities on its web site http www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/publications/policy/testaccess/policyguide.htm you may contact that office via e-mail to vesidspe@mail.nysed.gov if you have questions on this topic for which you are unable to find answers on the web site english language learners schools may provide the following testing accommodations to english language learners · time extension schools may extend the test time for english language learners principals may use any reasonable extensions such as time and a half the required testing time plus one-half of that amount of time in accordance with their best judgment about the needs of the english language learners principals should consult with each student s classroom teacher in making these determinations separate location schools are encouraged to provide optimal testing environments and facilities for all students they may administer state tests to english language learners individually or in small groups in a separate location bilingual dictionaries and glossaries english language learners may use bilingual dictionaries and glossaries when taking state examinations the bilingual dictionaries and glossaries may provide only direct translations of words bilingual dictionaries or glossaries that provide definitions or explanations are not permitted simultaneous use of english and alternative language editions for state examinations in science english language learners may use both an english and an alternative language edition of the test simultaneously however they should be instructed to record all of their responses in only one of the two editions the alternative language edition used by the student should be so indicated on the student s answer sheet oral translation for lower incidence languages schools may provide english language learners with an oral translation of a state examination in science when there is no translated edition provided by the department all translations must be oral direct translations of the english editions written translations are not allowed no clarifications or explanations may be provided the translator should receive a copy of the english edition of the test one hour prior to administration the department s office of bilingual education and foreign language studies telephone 518-474-8775 and the bilingual/esl technical · · · ·

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5 assistance centers betacs can assist schools in locating suitable translators a list of betacs is available at http www.emsc.nysed.gov/biling/bilinged writing responses in the native language english language learners may write their responses to the open-ended questions on science tests in their native language scoring the tests is the responsibility of the school however the department s office of bilingual education and foreign language studies and the betacs can assist schools in locating persons who can translate the students responses into english to facilitate scoring of the answer papers · former english language learners schools also may provide the testing accommodations listed above under the heading english language learners to former english language learners but only those who were identified as english language proficient based on their scores on one of the two most recent administrations of the new york state english as a second language achievement test nyseslat either spring 2008 or spring 2009 these accommodations may not be provided to former english language learners who were identified as english language proficient prior to the 2008 nyseslat administration for each english language learner or eligible former english language learner darken the circles on the answer sheet in the box labeled ell accommodations to indicate the testing accommodations provided reporting administration and scoring irregularities to the department the building principal is responsible for all aspects of the school s administration of state examinations and must take appropriate measures both to prevent as much as possible and to investigate all irregularities associated with administration and scoring of the grade 4 elementary-level science test in addition the principal must report the following events in writing to the office of state assessment · any instance occurring prior to during or after testing where it has been determined that students teachers administrators or paraprofessionals have had access to the specific contents of a test prior to the administration of the test all suspected or confirmed cases of teachers administrators or paraprofessionals giving aid or impromptu lessons on specific test content to students immediately before or during the test all instances of teachers administrators or paraprofessionals altering student responses to test questions all instances of teachers administrators or paraprofessionals providing students with unauthorized/inappropriate testing accommodations or tools all instances of teachers administrators or paraprofessionals not providing students with the accommodations specified in their iep or 504 plans all instances of teachers administrators or paraprofessionals providing students with other nonstandard test administrations unrelated to cheating all cases in which a school official does not adhere to the department policy concerning the finality of examination scores as determined by the teacher scoring committees see finality of teacher scoring committee s scores on page 39 of the grade 4 elementary-level science test manual for administrators and teachers all student use of cell phones and other communications devices during the test all confirmed cases of student cheating all interruptions of testing sessions including those caused by power outages or fire alarms · · · · · · · · ·

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6 · · · all instances in which the test was administered without department authorization on a day outside the published statewide administration or makeup schedule all instances in which scorers do not score the test in accordance with the scoring materials provided by the department all cases in which student test books or answer sheets are lost prior to either the scoring of the tests or submission of the answer sheets to the ric or large-city scanning center principals must report all such events in writing by fax to 518-474-1989 or via e-mail to emscassessinfo@mail.nysed.gov online submission of teacher evaluations of the test to the department suggestions and feedback from teachers are an important contribution to the test development process the department provides an online evaluation form for state assessments where teachers may respond to several specific questions and may make suggestions go to www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/exameval to complete and submit your evaluation of the grade 4 elementary-level science test.

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