THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

89 Washington Avenue

Room 775 EBA

Albany, NY 12234

Office of Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing Education

                                                                                   

Thomas J. Schoeck, Ed.D., Bureau Chief

Elementary and Secondary Testing Programs

Office of State Assessment

518-474-8220                  518-474-1989 (fax)            tschoeck@mail.nysed.gov

 

 

June 2007

to:                   Principals of Public and Nonpublic Secondary Schools

from:              Thomas J. Schoeck

subject:         Procedures for Requesting and Storing the August 2007 Regents Examinations

This memorandum provides essential information about the administration of the August examinations. In addition, all persons coordinating the administration of State examinations should be familiar with the publication Regents Examinations, Regents Competency Tests, and Proficiency Examinations: School Administrator’s Manual, 2001 Edition. You may access this manual on the Department’s web site at: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/hsinfogen/hsinfogenarch/sam2001.pdf.

Enclosed with this memorandum are the School Data Sheet, the August examination schedule, the School Record of Examinations Requested, and Instructions for Submitting Your Examination Request Online.

Requesting Examination Materials

All regular, large-type, and braille editions of examinations administered during the August 2007 Regents Examination period must be requested through the Department’s online request system.

A username and password will be required for access into the online examination request system; please follow the steps provided in the attached instructions in order to submit your school’s request. 

Online requests for August examination materials must be submitted no later than July 20. Specific directions for using the online request system are enclosed with this memorandum. Within two business days after your request has been processed, you will be sent a confirmation notice via e-mail indicating the number of examinations to be shipped to the school. It is of utmost importance that you carefully check the confirmation notice for accuracy to ensure that the correct quantities of examination materials will be shipped to your school.

Principals who find they need additional materials after the July 20 submission deadline may return to the online examination request system to revise or add any supplemental quantities needed. Telephone requests will not be accepted. The only faxed requests that will be accepted are for those examinations that cannot be obtained online due to Department policies (see “Requesting Materials for Students with Limited English Proficiency” on the next page). Check all confirmation notices as soon as you receive them so supplemental requests, if needed, may be placed no later than July 24. Administrators determining they need additional examination materials after that date will likely have to obtain them from a nearby regional center on the day of the examination.

 

 

Guidelines for requesting specific materials:

·       Regular test booklets: Request the exact quantity needed, plus no more than 5% for unanticipated increases.

·       Restricted editions: The regular English editions of the Regents Competency Tests (RCTs) in Global Studies, Mathematics, Reading, Science, and U.S. History and Government, and the alternative language editions of all RCTs are available only in restricted form. Each copy of a restricted test is numbered and sealed in its own individual envelope and must be returned, whether used or unused, to the Department. The rating guides for the RCTs in Global Studies and U.S. History and Government are also restricted and must be returned to the Department. Therefore, request only the exact number of restricted editions required. Do not request sample copies or extra copies. Administrators are responsible for returning to the Department all restricted examination materials shipped to their school.

·        Large-type and braille test booklets: Large-type and braille test booklets are available for all examinations. Request the exact number of booklets needed for students whose Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 Accommodation Plan (504 Plan) specifically requires either of these accommodations. Sample copies of past examinations in large type and braille may be obtained from the New York State Resource Center for the Visually Impaired, 2-A Richmond Avenue,
Batavia, NY 14020 (585-343-5384 ext. 418). The Department may be unable to fill any requests for braille editions submitted after July 20 because of the time required for their preparation.

·       Answer sheets:

Regents Examinations: Hand-scorable answer sheets are printed as part of the test booklets for all August Regents Examinations. Schools may substitute other types of answer sheets. Separate answer booklets will be provided for the Regents Examinations in English, Global History and Geography, and U.S. History and Government.

Regents Competency Tests: All schools will be sent answer pads and student identification sheets for the RCT in Writing. Separate answer sheets are provided upon request for the other RCTs. The answer sheets may be machine scored, or hand scored using scoring overlays provided by the Department. When submitting your online request, indicate on the RCT request page whether you want the Department to send the machine-scorable answer sheets for those examinations.[1]

·       Teacher dictation copies, scoring keys, and teacher directions: Sufficient quantities of these materials will be included in the examination shipment based on the number of test booklets requested.

·       Performance Test for the Regents Examination in Physical Setting/Earth Science: Sufficient quantities of the written materials for the performance test will be sent to each school requesting the Regents Examination in Physical Setting/Earth Science.

·       Braille or large-type auxiliary test materials: Teacher directions, teacher dictation copies, scoring keys, etc., for English editions of State examinations may be requested for use by teachers with visual disabilities. These materials will be prepared only when written requests from principals are received via fax to 518-474-2021 no later than July 20.

Requesting Materials For Students With Limited English Proficiency

The Spanish editions of Regents Examinations and the alternative language editions of the RCTs cannot be obtained via the online request system. These editions must be requested in a separate letter, signed by the principal and faxed to the Department at 518-474-2021. The letter must specify the exact quantity of each test needed in each language.

 

Spanish editions are available for the Regents Examinations in Global History and Geography,
Mathematics A, Living Environment, Physical Setting/Earth Science, and U.S. History and Government. The RCTs in Global Studies, Science, and U.S. History and Government are offered in six languages other than English: Chinese (Traditional), French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The RCT in Mathematics is available in the 29 languages listed below:

Albanian	Farsi	Hebrew	Korean	Romanian	Thai
Amharic	French	Hindi	Lao	Russian	Turkish
Arabic	German	Italian	Malay	Serbo-Croatian	Urdu
Burmese	Greek	Japanese	Polish	Spanish	Vietnamese
Chinese	Haitian Creole	Khmer	Portuguese	Tagalog

Limited-English-proficient (LEP) students may take State examinations either in an alternative language edition or in English, whichever is more appropriate to the student’s reading skills. The Spanish editions of Regents Examinations offered in August 2007 are direct translations of the English editions, so students identified as LEP may be permitted to use both editions simultaneously. Because the alternative language editions of the RCTs in Global Studies, Mathematics, Science, and United States History and Government may not be direct translations of the English language editions, students may not be given both.

Admission Of Students To Examinations

Students not enrolled in your summer school program and those from other districts must provide you with written permission from their home school principal to be admitted to an August examination. Public school districts may not charge resident students a fee for admission to the August examinations. Nonresident students may be charged a reasonable fee to cover administrative and scoring costs.

student identification and recordkeeping

Plans should be made well before August 16 to verify the identity of each student entering the examination room. This precaution is especially important in the case of students who are not enrolled in the summer school program, but who are taking the August examinations at your school. Accurate attendance records must be kept for each examination. A summer school principal should be able to use the attendance records to verify the presence or absence of a student for any August examination.

examination storage requirements

Every principal requesting State examinations must provide any information or affirmations required on the online request system. Your agreement to the security pledge on the first screen indicates that you understand and agree to comply with the examination security requirements described in this memorandum and in the School Administrator’s Manual.

Secure examination materials must be stored in locked Regents boxes, which must in turn be stored in a Department-approved safe or walk-in vault, which meets all of the specifications listed below. Newly constructed vaults, existing vaults that have been modified, or newly purchased safes must be inspected by a Department representative and approved by the Department before secure materials may be stored in any such facility. Approval of such a storage facility is contingent upon its having met all of the criteria outlined on the following page.

 

If your school’s safe or vault has not been approved (that is, with a secure status code other than “1” indicated on the School Data Sheet), but you believe it meets the criteria outlined below, please contact the Office of State Assessment by fax (518-474-1989) to arrange for an inspection.

walk-in vaults must have all of the following:

·       poured concrete floor

·       no windows or access panels

·       walls of reinforced cement block or concrete, sealed to a poured concrete floor below and structural floor or roof deck above

·       metal door in a metal frame with interior or welded-pin hinges

·       built-in dead-latch (deadbolt) combination or key lock that allows exiting at all times

safes must meet or exceed Underwriters Labora­tories (ul) trtl-30 performance standards for burglary resistance, and must have:

·       steel door at least 1½" thick

·       steel walls at least 1" thick

·       750 lbs. minimum weight

·       built-in combination lock

·       sufficient capacity to store the Regents boxes for the school’s typical examination request (minimum acceptable unobstructed inside dimensions: 11"×20"×27")