State suspends testing for grades three to eight amid coronavirus outbreak

The New York State Education Department has suspended all grades three to eight exams for the 2019-2020 school year because of the novel coronavirus outbreak. 

The announcement came Friday afternoon. 

Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa and interim State Education Commissioner Shannon Tahoe remarked in a joint statement, "It is most important that during the time of closure, schools are able to continue to focus their efforts toward local school and community needs, as they have been doing, and not be concerned about state assessments. NYSED has applied for federal waivers for testing, accountabilityand reporting requirements."

As previously reported by the Herald, earlier in the week the NYSED had suspended shipping the grades three through eight English Language Arts tests that were scheduled to arrive in schools March 16 to 18. SED officials said this was done because schools are closed amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“The situation is evolving rapidly, and NYSED is currently working on its plans for the state assessment,” Zachary Warner wrote in a March 17 email to district superintendents, school principals and leaders of charter school. He is the director of the Office of State Assessment for SED.

“The Office of State Assessment will continue to communicate with schools and districts as more information becomes available,” he added. “During the time of closure, schools need not focus on state assessments and can devote their efforts toward local school and community needs.”

Hewlett-Woodmere Deputy Superintendent Dr Mark Secaur said in an email: “We have been informed that the state is currently considering a number of options, including seeking a waiver to exempt New York from federally mandated assessments (i.e. 3-8 testing).”To stay current on state decision making, go to the SED’s webpage dedicated to coronavirus: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/sss/schoolhealth/schoolhealthservices/coronavirus.html.

The New York State United Teachers called on U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to waive state testing mandates for the students in grades three through eight for the remainder the school year and the duration of the outbreak with schools down to help stem the spread of the virus.

“This is not the time to create more stress for our kids," NYSUT President Andy Pallotta said in a news release. “It is critical that the federal government step up now and waive mandated state testing for all kids for the rest of this school year and the duration of this crisis.”

NYSUT officials said the organization is working with the SED and state Board of Regents to help ensure that the federal government waives testing mandates and that no school is penalized. The teachers’ union said that even if school should re-open in several weeks, there would be substantially less test preparation time, placing the students at distinct advantage to do well and the results would skewed.

“Even worse, considering the pervasive unease and uncertainty that this global pandemic has created, it simply isn't fair or prudent to create more stress and anxiety for our students,” NYSUT officials said.

Advanced Placement exams are scheduled for May. There also questions surrounding those exams.  The College Board has created a webpage with updates related to schools impacted by coronavirus. Go to, https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/about-ap/news-changes/coronavirus-update

The College Board announced Friday that it would shorten AP exams to 45 minutes and concentrate on material taught before March. It would also give students a choice of test dates.

More to follow.