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It’s testing season for New York City’s public school students in grades 3-8, and after computer glitches plagued other parts of the state’s test takers, all eyes will be on what happens in the nation’s largest school system.
Schools are planning to administer the computer-based version of the English Language Arts between Tuesday and May 2. Computer-based math tests will be administered from May 6-16. All students except those in third and seventh grade are required to take the tests digitally this year as the state phases out paper-based exams. City officials estimate about 280,000 students will take digital ELA and math exams this spring.
By next year, all grades will take computer-based exams.
When students in other parts of the state took the ELA exams earlier this month, some schools faced problems for two days with the tests’ computer platform that prevented them from administering the exams. New York state education officials said that NWEA, the testing vendor, addressed the issues, and the company promised to not have a repeat performance.
“To date, across New York State, over 400,000 computer-based testing sessions have been successfully submitted by students,” state Education Department spokesperson JP O’Hare said in a statement. Officials extended the computer-based testing window by one week to offer additional time for affected schools.
Officials from NWEA said they identified and “permanently” fixed the technical issues that caused delayed logins and system times.
“We coordinated with the New York State Department of Education to provide details on the cause and steps we have taken to ensure this does not happen moving forward,” an NWEA spokesperson said in a statement.
New York City education department officials said they did not have concerns about the tech for the tests.
There’s widespread movement toward computer-based testing: The SAT is digital, and most Advanced Placement tests are also going digital this year or will be hybrid (with multiple choice questions online and handwritten free responses). The Specialized High School Admissions Test, or SHSAT, which is the sole basis of admission for eight prestigious high schools, including Stuyvesant and Bronx Science, will be digital next school year. And many students across the city are giving English and math assessments three times a year on computers to help schools target instruction and interventions.
Many educators have raised concerns about equity around computer-based testing. Some students have less access to devices at home and at school, and may be less comfortable with tech and typing than others. Even within schools, some students might have access to laptops while others use tablets — and those experiences could potentially affect test-taking experiences.
The jury is still out on how the move to digital exams will affect student performance. Some studies have found students in general tend to perform worse when taking tests on computers or tablets. But experts have told Chalkbeat that research isn’t definitive.
In March, the city’s Education Department instructed elementary schools to provide extra test prep for students in grades 3-5 who were just on the cusp of passing the state tests based on their mid-year assessments. About 67,000 students were identified for this “sprint,” or roughly 38% of public school students in grades 3-5, Chalkbeat previously reported.
The city spent about $1 million on the push, giving each school $1,290 for the test prep, according to public records.
Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.
