This memorandum provides essential information about the first administration of the new Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra and addresses the procedures that are unique to this examination and the post-operational score collection process to be implemented for standard-setting.

students to be tested

Only students who have prepared for this examination through completion of appropriate coursework should be allowed to take the Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra.

requesting examination materials

All regular, translated, large-type, and braille editions of examinations administered during the June 2008 Regents Examination period must be requested through the Department’s online examination request system.
Initial online requests for the Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra and all other June 2008 secondary-level examinations must be submitted no later than April 15. Within two business days after the school’s June 2008 examination request has been submitted, the principal will be sent a confirmation notice via e-mail indicating the number of examinations to be shipped to the school. Principals must carefully check the confirmation notice for accuracy to ensure that the correct quantities of examination materials will be shipped to the school.
Schools must not request the Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra unless it is being administered during the June 2008 examination period.  Review copies of the examination will be sent to all secondary and intermediate schools after the June examination period has ended whether or not the schools requested the Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra for June 2008 administration.

shipment of examination materials

By late May, all schools that requested the Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra will receive a separate shipment of answer sheets from Pearson, the Department’s contractor for score collection and standard-setting. These are the only answer sheets that may be used by students taking the
June 2008 Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra.
The answer sheets will be packaged and shipped separately from the school’s regular delivery of secure and non-secure examination materials. The Pearson answer sheets will arrive in a white box stamped “Save Box for Return of Materials.” In addition to the answer sheets, the white box will contain a prepaid UPS Next Day Air return label and a colored return label provided by Pearson (see attached copies).
It is the principal’s responsibility to advise all school personnel handling these answer sheets that the white box received from Pearson must be saved for use in returning the students’ completed and scored answer sheets. If either the white box or the labels for return shipping are damaged or missing, please immediately contact the Office of State Assessment by fax (518-474-2021) to obtain replacements.

checking the shipment of answer sheets

The Pearson answer sheets will be delivered to schools by late May and will be addressed to the principal. The answer sheets (sample attached) will be pre-slugged with each school’s BEDS Code and school name. Each school will receive the same quantity of answer sheets as test booklets for this examination.
Detailed directions for administering and scoring the June 2008 Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra will be sent by the Department to all schools that requested this examination. These directions will be included in the shipment of non-secure examination materials each school will receive no later than the first week of June. A copy of the directions must be provided to all high school personnel who will be proctoring and/or scoring this examination.
Schools are required to complete the top portion and all demographic information on the front of the answer sheet for each student prior to the date of the examination. The information to be entered on the answer sheet is as follows:

• student and mathematics teacher (print names)
• local student ID number and date of birth (write numbers and fill in grids)
• student’s grade level (darken circle)
• sex, ethnicity, and all other demographic information (darken circles)

administering the examination

The Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra will be administered on the morning of June 17.
All necessary arrangements for implementing testing accommodations such as extended time should be planned well in advance of the test date.
As with all secondary-level State examinations, the Uniform Statewide Admission Deadline must be strictly observed. Do not permit any students under any circumstances to hand in their test materials and leave the examination room before the Uniform Statewide Admission Deadline of 10:00 a.m. for morning examinations.

Supplies Needed to Administer the Examination:

• Graphing Calculators. Schools must make a graphing calculator available for the exclusive use of each student while that student takes the Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra. The memory of any calculator with programming capability must be cleared, reset, or disabled when students enter the testing room. If the memory of a student’s calculator is password protected and cannot be cleared, the calculator must not be used. During the examination, students may not use calculators that are capable of symbol manipulation or that can communicate with other calculators through infrared sensors, nor may students use operating manuals, instruction or formula cards, or other information concerning the operation of calculators.
• Ruler or other straightedge.
• No. 2 Pencils. For the June 2008 administration, students must record their responses to the multiple-choice questions (Part I) on the separate answer sheet by darkening circles with a No. 2 pencil.
• Blue or Black Pens. Students will write their answers to questions in Parts II, III, and IV in the examination booklet using blue- or black-inked pens. For these questions, students should write all work in pen except for graphs and drawings, which should be done in pencil.
• Scrap Graph Paper. Scrap paper is not permitted. Students may use the blank spaces and the page of graph paper included in the examination booklet as scrap paper. The scrap graph paper will not be graded. However, schools should have a supply of graph paper available for students who request it in the event that they need to change their work on graphs.
• Answer Sheets. Only the Pearson answer sheets can be used for the administration of this
  June 2008 examination. Schools may not substitute any other answer sheets for those provided by Pearson for this examination. Schools are also prohibited from having students complete a second answer sheet for this or any other State examination. For the June 2008 administration, a detachable answer sheet will not be included as part of the examination booklet.

scoring the examination

As with all secondary-level State examinations, the scoring materials may not be opened prior to the Uniform Statewide Admission Deadline of 10:00 a.m. for all morning examinations. Mathematics teachers may begin preparation for scoring the examination earlier on that day solely by reviewing the examination booklet.
As part of the score collection process, schools will be required to score the examination, make a school record of the total raw score earned by each student, make a photocopy of each scored answer sheet for school retention, and have the scored original answer sheets ready to ship to Pearson in the afternoon on Wednesday, June 18. Each school will call UPS at a dedicated toll-free number assigned for this project by UPS to arrange the pick up time. The dedicated toll-free number for UPS will be provided via e-mail from the Office of State Assessment to principals.
Teachers of subjects other than mathematics may score the multiple-choice questions and tabulate students’ total raw scores; this will enable the mathematics teachers to focus on scoring the students’ constructed responses. Schools will receive scoring overlays to help with manual scoring of the multiple-choice questions on this examination. The scoring overlays will be included in the shrink-wrapped package of scoring materials for Tuesday, June 17, 2008, morning examinations.
When scoring the examination:

• use only a number 2 pencil to score
• do not punch holes in the scoring overlay
• do not make any marks on the Pearson answer sheet, other than in the spaces provided for recording scores
• do not machine scan the Pearson answer sheets. Marking up or scanning these answer sheets will interfere with the score collection.

Questions During Scoring. Help will be available to answer scoring questions on the Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on June 17 and 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on June 18; the phone number will be provided in the teacher’s directions and in the rating guide.
With all schools’ cooperation in carefully following the procedures detailed in this memorandum, the conversion chart for this examination will be made available on the Department’s web site no later than Thursday, June 26, which is the Rating Day for the June 2008 examination period. The conversion
chart, which enables teachers to convert the raw score to the scale score, will be posted at: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/concht/home.html. All schools should have made careful record of each student’s raw score, in addition to retaining the photocopy of each student’s answer sheet, in order to convert raw scores to scale scores. It is recommended that once the conversion chart has been posted, all student answer papers that received a scale score of 60-64 be scored a second time to ensure the accuracy of the score.
returning the pearson answer sheets
step-by-step instructions

• Score all of the students’ responses strictly in accordance with the scoring key for the examination provided by the Department. Scorers record the raw scores for each constructed response question (Questions 31 – 39), the students’ total raw score for each of the four parts of the examination, and the total raw score in the designated places on the back of each answer sheet. Use only a number 2 pencil to score. Do not use pen.
• Make a careful record to be retained in the school of the total raw score earned by each student. The Department will provide a recordkeeping form for this purpose as part of the detailed directions for administering and scoring the June 2008 Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra.
• Schools must photocopy both sides of each scored answer sheet to provide a temporary record while the answer sheets are being scanned by Pearson and as a safeguard should the answer sheets become lost in transit. 
• Return only the completed original answer sheets; do not return to Pearson blank answer sheets or any answer sheets on which the student declaration is unsigned.
• Schools must use the white box in which the school’s answer sheets were delivered for their return to Pearson. Affix both labels (UPS and Pearson) to the box. If the box or the shipping label in the box are lost or damaged, contact the Office of State Assessment by fax to 518-474-2021.
• The principal or designee must call UPS no later than 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18, 2008, to arrange for pick up of the white box, which will then occur no later than 5:00 p.m. The dedicated toll-free number for UPS will be provided by e-mail from the Office of State Assessment to principals. Principals must make careful arrangements to ensure that a staff member is available until that time to provide the box to the UPS driver.

All schools will receive future mailings to address procedures specific to this examination. Additional information and the first memorandum regarding the Regents Examination in Integrated Algebra can be found at:
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/new-math.htm

Through our Call for Expertise on the Department’s web site, teachers are encouraged to become involved in test development, standard-setting activities, and curriculum teacher committees. Please download and complete the Call for Expertise application found at:
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/call.htm

online submission of teacher evaluations of examinations

Suggestions and feedback from teachers provide an important contribution to the test development process. The Department provides an online evaluation form for State assessments with space for teachers to respond to specific questions and to make suggestions. To complete the evaluation form:

• Go to http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/exameval.
• Select the examination title.
• Complete the required demographic fields.
• Complete each evaluation question and provide comments in the space provided.
• Click the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the page to submit the completed form.

AUTHORIZED RETURN SERVICE LABEL PROVIDED BY UPS

NOTE: Image is not full size

NOTE: Image is not full size