Dear Parents, 
We are entering a stressful time in the public school system. In a few days, your children in grades 3 - 5, will be taking the NY State ELA and math exams. 4th grade will continue on and take the NY State science exams in May.

I have never been a great test-taker, so I tend to be sensitive around exams. Many students feel test anxiety, but high stakes testing brings high stakes test anxiety for students, staff and the principal. As you may or may not know, the exams this year will be tied to the Common Core State Standards, as well as teacher and administrator evaluation.

The NY State Education Department has warned, "New York State, for the first time, will be reporting student grade-level expectations against a trajectory of college- and career-readiness as measured by tests fully reflective of the Common Core and, as a result, the number of students who score at or above grade level expectations will likely decrease."However, they are trying to reassure us that the percentages of teachers and administrators who fall in the Effective and Highly Effective range will not change from what it was last year.

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