Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dr. Kevin J. Maser on March 29, 2008 at 9:52am

Hello Mr. Brennan,

Grade 8 advanced students (taking Earth Science) do not have to take the Grade 8 Assessment test.

Kevin

Permalink Reply by William Brennan, Ed.D. on March 29, 2008 at 9:56am

Hi Kevin,
Thanks. Do you know if this applies to 8th Grade Math students taking a regents in 8th grade?
Thanks.
Bill

Permalink Reply by Dr. Kevin J. Maser on March 30, 2008 at 9:14am

Bill,

To my knowledge, if a student is taking a regents exam then they are exempt from the assessment test. I light of your new position (congrats), contact the state to make sure.

Your assistant super would know as well.

Talk to you soon and have fun with the new position.

Kevin

Permalink Reply by Rich Hoffmann on August 25, 2008 at 8:14am

Hi Bill,

I know this is a bit late, but here is the rule as I understand it:

Science- students taking the Earth Science Regents are exempt from the NYS Science Exam.

Math- VERY DIFFERENT STORY! Due to NCLB, all 8th graders must take the NYS exam, even if they are taking the Algebra 1 Regents. This does create some problems in the 8th grade accelerated curriculum, especially with some of the 8th grade geometry concepts that would not be covered in Algebra 1.

Rich Hoffmann

Permalink Reply by William Brennan, Ed.D. on August 25, 2008 at 9:15pm

Hi Rich,
Thanks for your help. Perhaps, this will be considered in the future.
Bill

Permalink Reply by Timothy Eagen on February 13, 2009 at 9:02am

Hi everyone.

In science NYSED does allow students to demonstrate proficiency through either a Regents exam or the 8th Grade Assessment. Students that take either LE Biology or Earth Science in 8th grade do not have to also sit for the assessment.

From the 2008 Grade 8 Science Admins Manual: Schools are required to administer this assessment to those Grade 8 students who did not take this
assessment last school year as Grade 7 students, unless such students will be taking a Regents
Examination in science at the end of this school year. School principals have the discretion to either
require or waive the Grade 8 Intermediate-Level Science Test for those accelerated Grade 8 students
who did not take this examination during the last school year but who will be taking a Regents
Examination in science at the end of this school year. For those accelerated students for whom the
school waives the Grade 8 Intermediate-Level Science Test, the student’s achievement in science will
be measured by the student’s performance on the Regents Examination in science.

Math and ELA are different. All students must sit for their grade level exam. This also includes all students that take Integrated Algebra in grade 8.

From page 2 of the 2009 3-8 Math SAM:
Students to Be Tested
Except as noted below, all public school students in Grades 3 through 8 must take all State assessments administered for their grade level. This includes students who have been retained in these grades. The birth dates of ungraded students with disabilities should be used to determine who must be tested and which grade-level test they will take (see Appendix N). Nonpublic schools are to follow the same guidelines for each grade-level test they are administering. When determining which students will participate in these tests, be sure to consider students who attend programs operated by the BOCES as well as any other programs located outside the school.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Poggioli on April 6, 2009 at 1:42pm

Unlike Science, the Math and ELA Assessments are federal mandates and therefore 8th Grade Int. Alg. students have to take both the Math 8 Assessment and the Integrated Algebra Regents.