New York State Testing Program (NYSTP) Assessments in ELA, Mathematics, and Science
Present for Entire Test: Students who are present for all sessions/parts of a test
during an administration period, including the make-up period, and who responded to at least one test item on the assessment will receive a valid score. These students will be counted as tested in verification reports and for accountability calculations. Note that the assessment reported for a graded student must be at the same grade level as the grade reported for the student for the score to be considered valid. The assessment reported for an ungraded student must be appropriate based on the student’s date of birth, as indicated in the “Assessments by Birth Date/Age for Ungraded Students in 2015–16” table in the “Ungraded Students” section of this chapter. For example, a student reported as a third grader must be reported with a Grade 3 ELA assessment to have a valid score. A third grader who is reported with a Grade 5 ELA assessment will receive a final score of “999” and a standard achieved code of “97”, indicating administrative error. An ungraded student whose date of birth indicates she/he should take the Grade 3 ELA assessment but who is reported with a Grade 5 ELA assessment will receive a final score of “999” and a standard achieved code of “97”, indicating administrative error.
Absent: Students who are absent for any session (for ELA or mathematics) or any
parts (written or performance for science) or the entire test must be reported at the local level with a final score of "999" and a standard achieved code of “99”, indicating no valid score, whether or not there are any response records. These students will be counted as not tested in verification reports and for accountability calculations. If a student leaves the test
administration in the middle of a session and is not able to make up that part of the test, school officials must decide whether to consider the student absent (no valid test score) or to
calculate a final test score and performance level by assigning 0 credits for the incomplete parts.
Refusal: Students who refuse to take the entire test must be reported at the local level
will be considered to have "no valid test score" and will be counted as not tested. Students who indicate refusal to take the test but answer at least one question on the test will receive a scale score and performance level based on the questions answered.
Administrative Error: Students for whom errors were made in the administration of the
test (e.g., the student was present but the test was not administered to the student and the school/district was required to administer it, prompts were given to the student, materials that would assist students in taking the test were in view of the students during the administration, etc.) are considered to have “no valid test score.” These students must be reported with a final score of “999” and a standard met code of “97”, indicating administrative error, and will be counted as not tested in verification reports and for accountability calculations. For additional guidance on administrative errors, see the School Administrator’s Manual at
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/assessment/ei/eigen.html.
Medically Excused: Students who are incapacitated by illness or injury during the test
administration and make-up periods and have on file documentation from a medical
practitioner that they were too incapacitated to complete the test at the school, at home, or in a medical setting are considered medically excused, are considered to have no valid test score, and must be reported with a final score of “999” and a standard met code of “93”. These students are excluded from the numerator and the denominator of the participation and performance accountability calculations.
New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT)
Present for All Subtests: Students who are present for all four sessions during an
administration period, including the make-up period, and who received a score for at least one item in each Session will receive a valid score, including Overall Raw Score, Overall Scale Score, Overall Proficiency Level, Overall State Percentile Rank, Raw Score for each modality, Scale Score for each modality, Modality Threshold Scale Score by Grade and modality, and At or Above Threshold by modality.
Determining a Valid Overall Scale Score for Students in Kindergarten: If a student
is absent for any modality, the student does not receive an overall scale score or performance level but will receive scale scores for each modality in which the student received a score for at least one item.
Listening: The student recorded an answer choice for one or more multiple- choice items; and
Speaking: One or more constructed-response scores was recorded. Note: Scores of “A” and “S” are considered valid scores; and
Reading: The student recorded an answer choice for one or more multiple-choice items; and
Writing: One or more constructed-response score was recorded. Note: A score of “A” is considered a valid score.
Determining Valid Scale Scores for Students in Grades 1-12:
If a student is not marked absent for any of the four sessions, the student will receive scale scores for all four modalities and an overall scale score, provided that the student received a score for at least one question in each of the four sessions. Note that an “A” and “S” are considered valid scores.
If a student is marked absent for the Speaking Session but is not marked absent for any of the Listening, Reading, or Writing Sessions, the student will receive valid scores for the Listening, Reading, and Writing modalities, provided that the student received a score for at least one question in each of the three Listening, Reading, and Writing Sessions. Note: A response of an “A” is considered a valid score.
If a student is marked absent for any of the three Listening, Reading, and Writing Sessions, the student receives a valid scale score only for Speaking, provided that the student receives a score for at least one Speaking item. Note that an “A” and “S” are considered valid scores.
If a student is marked as absent for both the Speaking Session and one or more of the Listening, Reading, and Writing Sessions, the student will not receive a valid score for any modality.
New Scoring Rule for Constructed Response “A” No Response Code: When
scoring Speaking and Writing items, the rater darkens the circle “A” to indicate that the student provided no response. When the contractor is scoring, the contractor will treat the “A” as a score of zero.
Skipping Rule:
Applies to Speaking questions 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, and 12. Applies to all grades (same questions for each grade).
Skipped questions will have an “S” darkened-in. When the contractor is scoring, the contractor will treat the “S” as a zero when calculating a Speaking modality score.
For any items that are skipped, pursuant to the Skipping Rules, the letter ‘S’ should be written on the Speaking Score Sheet in the column titled “Write Student Score.”
Note that the assessment reported for a graded student must be at the same grade level as the grade reported for the student for the score to be considered valid. The
assessment reported for an ungraded student must be appropriate based on the student’s date of birth, as indicated in the “Assessments by Birth Date/Age for Ungraded Students in 2015– 16” table in the “Ungraded Students” section of this chapter. For example, a student reported as a first grader must be reported with an assessment within the 1–2 grade band to have a
valid score. A first grader who is reported with an assessment in the 3–4 grade band will receive a final score of “999” and a standard achieved code of “97,” indicating administrative error.
Absent: If a student leaves the test administration in the middle of a session and is not able to make up that part of the session, school officials must decide whether to mark the student as absent for that session. If a student is absent for all four Sessions the student must receive an Overall Raw Score of “999”, an Overall Scale Score of “999”, an Overall
Proficiency Level of “99”, and must receive a Raw Score “99” for all subtests. Unless a student is marked absent for all four sessions, the record will be sent to the contractor for scoring.
Administrative Error: Students for whom errors were made in the administration of the test (e.g., the student was present but the test was not administered to the student and the school/district was required to administer it, prompts were given to the student, materials that would assist students in taking the test were in view of the students during the administration, etc.) are considered to have “no valid test score.” These students must be reported with a final score of “999” and a standard met code of “97”, indicating administrative error, and will be counted as not tested in verification reports and for accountability calculations. For additional guidance on administrative errors, see the School Administrator’s Manual at
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/assessment/nyseslat/home.html.
Medically Excused: Students who are incapacitated by illness or injury during the test
administration and make-up periods and have on file documentation from a medical
practitioner that they were too incapacitated to complete the test at the school, at home, or in a medical setting are considered medically excused, are considered to have no valid test score, and must be reported with a final score of “999” and a standard met code of “93”. These students are excluded from the numerator and the denominator of the participation and performance accountability calculations.
Regents Exams
Present for Entire Test: There is no make-up period for Regents examinations. With
the single exception of Physical Setting/Earth Science, all Regents exams are a single session in duration. For a Regents exam score to be considered valid, the student must be present for the single exam session and do all of the following:
sign the declaration on the answer sheet or answer booklet;
be present prior to the Uniform Statewide Admission Deadline (USAD); and not leave the exam room before the USAD.
Students are not required to answer any questions on the exam for the score to be considered valid. Students may receive a valid score on the Physical Setting/Earth Science Regents exam even if they did not take the performance portion of the test. However, students who complete the performance test but who do not take the written test are considered to have withdrawn from the exam and do not receive a final exam result.
Score of Zero: Students receive an official score of zero if they do all of the following:
1) Arrive at the test room before the USAD;
2) Remain in the testing room until after the USAD;
3) Have before them the exam booklet and an answer sheet for at least part of the time between 1 and 2 above;
4) Put their name on the answer sheet or had before them an answer sheet on which their name is pre-slugged;
5) Sign the declaration;
6) Do not answer any questions at all;
7) Do not in any way indicate in writing on the answer sheet or answer document that they are withdrawing from the exam or refusing to take it.
Absent/Refusal/Illness: Students who are absent for a Regents exam will not receive
a final exam score and may not be assigned a zero as their final exam result. Students who are present at the exam session should be considered as having refused the test only if they refuse to sign the declaration or write something to the effect of “I withdraw” or “I refuse” on the answer sheet or answer paper. Students who refuse to take the exam may not be assigned a zero as their final exam result. Students who meet both the USAD and declaration
requirements but find it necessary to end their test session short of the 3-hour exam period and without completing the exam (such as due to illness) are usually given the choice whether or not the exam should be counted. The school may inform the students what their final exam result would be so they can make an informed choice about having the exam count or not.
Cheating, Communications Device Use, Administrative Error, and Medically Excused: Principals are responsible for reviewing the facts, allowing for due process, and
making the determination if a student has committed fraud on or used a communications
device during a Regents exam. If the principal makes a determination that a student committed fraud or used a communications device during a Regents exam, the exam is nullified and the student is not allowed to receive a score. For all other “administrative errors,” the principal must notify the New York State Education Department’s Office of Assessment Policy,
Development and Administration in writing about the details of what occurred. See the School
Administrator’s Manual, Secondary Level Examinations on the Web at
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/assessment/manuals/home.html for further details regarding reporting administrative errors to the Department. NYSED will then advise the school if the exam results must be nullified. Medically excused is not allowable on Regents exams. Students should be considered not tested.