Some school districts to only give standardized tests to students whose parents request it

The state is still waiting to hear back from the federal government on whether Regents exams for high schoolers can be waived this year.

News 12 Staff

Mar 29, 2021, 9:47 PM

Updated 1,351 days ago

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If your children attend school in Ossining, Rye, or other areas, they may not have to take standardized tests at all this year.
The state voted to eliminate standardized tests all together this year, but the federal government is still requiring the exams for kids in grades 3-8.
Some local school districts - like Ossining - are creatively abiding by this law by only giving the tests to students whose parents request it.
"We'll assume that families that choose not to let us know do not want their child to take the assessment -- families would have to opt in," says Ossining School District Superintendent Dr. Ray Sanchez.
Sanchez believes most parents won't be opting in.
All tests will be in-person, so fully remote kids won't be eligible anyway.
Sen. Shelley Mayer, who heads the state Senate's Education Committee, says districts taking this approach on standardized tests will not be penalized in terms of funding or rank.
"There used to be consequences that were threatened against districts, but I think we're in a whole different day… It's not a time to penalize schools, and I don't believe it would happen," she says.
Sanchez says there's no high-level of accountability that's associated with the assessments.
In fact, the Senate Education Committee just passed a bill to say these tests cannot be used for any teacher evaluations this year.
"It should not be that these tests are used to rank a school. They certainly won't be used to rank a teacher…this is not the year to pretend it's business as usual. It's not," says Mayer.
Ossining parents have until next Wednesday, April 7, to opt in - otherwise, their kids will not be given the exams.
The state is still waiting to hear back from the federal government on whether Regents exams for high schoolers can be waived this year.