January 2004

FROM: Gerald E. DeMauro

The Grade 4 ELA Test must be administered between Monday, February 2 and Friday, February 6. Schedule Sessions One through Three in that sequence on separate days. Schedule makeup tests for any days that remain in the week of February 2-6 and during the week of February 9-13. If adjusting the schedule for school closures due to inclement weather and in administering makeup tests, maintain the testing sequence, i.e., administer Session One first, followed by Session Two, whenever possible.

DET900-4ELA (12/03-3,200)

All test materials sent to schools by the Department will be delivered by United Parcel Service (UPS Deliveries may occur at any time between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Schools that do not receive their shipments of test materials by 12:00 p.m. on the last dates indicated above should track the shipments of test materials on the Internet:

Public schools that do not receive the answer sheets by 12:00 noon on January 23, 2004 should contact, as appropriate, their Regional Information Center or Large-City School District office. Nonpublic schools that do not receive their answer sheets should contact the Office of Information and Reporting Services at 518-474-7965.

As soon as each shipment of test and scoring materials arrives at your school or other approved location, check it to verify that you have received all materials indicated on the shipping notice. Do not open shrink-wrapped secure test materials until the day that the test is scheduled to be administered. You must store the test and scoring materials in a safe or vault, except while they are being inventoried.

If your school determines that tests are missing from shipments from the Department, you may obtain copies of the regular editions of the test materials from the nearest regional center on the day of the test. Braille and large-type editions of these tests are not ordinarily available at most regional centers, nor are scoring materials. For additional supplies of these materials, contact the Office of State Assessment via fax at 518-474-2021. Schools that will be asking the regional center to supply 25 or more copies of any one test book must complete the Grade 4 ELA Test Materials Fax Form in Appendix I of the enclosed School Administrator’s Manual and fax it to the Department at 518-474-2021. (This is to ensure that the regional centers will have adequate supplies to accommodate all schools.)

Appendix C of the School Administrator’s Manual contains a list of the regional centers. You may pick up test materials from the regional centers only on the scheduled date for the administration of that part of the test. Contact the official in charge of the regional center before sending a representative to pick up test materials. Please give the regional center as much advance notice of your school’s need as possible. The person sent to pick up an emergency supply of test materials from a regional center must present authorization written on school letterhead stationery and signed by the principal that lists the materials to be picked up and authorizes the person to pick up those materials. The person obtaining test materials must provide picture identification and must countersign the authorization letter and leave it with the official in charge of the regional center.

Measurement, Inc. will ship scoring videotapes by Federal Express for delivery on February 12-13. Videotapes will be shipped only to public school district offices, BOCES, charter and nonpublic schools. Videotapes will not be available at any of the regional centers. Schools that have not received their videotapes by noon on February 13 should contact Measurement, Inc. by phone at 877-516-2403, by fax at 919-425-7733, or by email to Roxanna Terz at rterz@measinc.com. You must store the videotapes in a secure location until the makeup testing period is over.

The principal of each school ordering tests is responsible for making the necessary arrangements to safeguard all test materials by taking the following actions:

 

• Place all test and scoring materials in a safe or vault as soon as they arrive at the storage location. Only the Teacher's Directions may be distributed to teachers as soon as the shipment arrives.

   

   

• See that no one opens the sealed packages of secure test materials prior to the day each test is scheduled to be administered.

   

   

• Open the packages of test books just early enough to permit distribution of materials for each session. The listening selections for Session Two may be distributed to the teachers up to one hour before test time to give them the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the passage.

   

   

• Check the safe or vault daily to insure that the test and scoring materials stored there are secure and have not been tampered with.

   

   

• Safeguard the combination or key to the safe or vault to preclude access to the test materials by unauthorized persons.

   

Keep all scoring materials, including videotapes, in a secure location (except when being used for scoring) until March 10, the date by which students' answer sheets must be returned to the scanning centers.