West Hempstead Union Free School District

During the summer, teachers from the West Hempstead School District attended a statewide conference to learn about optimal testing standards for students. 

Ms. Barbara Silkes, a third grade ICT teacher at Cornwell Avenue School, and Ms. Catherine Klein, a seventh grade math teacher at West Hempstead Secondary School, attended the New York State Grades 3-8 ELA and Math Standards Setting Meeting in Albany. During the conference, Ms. Silkes trained in the best practices for the process of the standard setting procedure. Following the training, Ms. Silkes joined roughly 75 educators from throughout New York State in conducting the standard setting practices and activities.  

“The conference was representational of the entire state,” Ms. Silkes said. “They really valued our opinions, and we all felt like our voices were heard. It was also wonderful because it was so collaborative and inspirational to sit down with other educators and view the tests through the lens of a child.” 

Educators closely reviewed the four performance levels to determine how well students answer test questions. “It’s one thing to administer the tests, but it’s another thing to see the real background development of the test questions, how they’re being answered, and how they’re scored,” Ms. Silkes said. “It gives the educator much more insight when we’re administering the tests.” 

Ms. Klein attended the Grades 3-8 Educator Item Review where she reviewed the state testing questions at the seventh grade math level. As a committee, they approved and rejected questions using guidelines as to whether the questions met the standards, reviewing how many answers were correct, and seeing if there were any stereotypes or biases in the questions. 

“I definitely thought it was a very positive experience in terms of my understanding of the state testing questions and how they’re written, and it improved our understanding of the Next Generation Learning Standards,” Ms. Klein said. “Overall, I felt like it was a very eye-opening experience.” 

Ms. Klein added that educators discussed the commonalties among students throughout the state regarding algebraic thinking, proportional reasoning, and their fluency with number operations. “I’m encouraging other teachers to look into this conference as well,” Ms. Klein said. “I think it really helps to improve our practice, and it just adds an extra layer to helping our students become successful.” 

All of the contributions that the educators made during the conference will be shared with NYSED Commissioner Dr. Betty Rosa. Dr. Rosa will then implement the recommendations during testing in the spring.  

“I’m looking forward to having more opportunities for educators in the classroom to be a part of the state testing construction,” Ms. Silkes said. “I think that has already happened, but I’m looking forward to seeing it unfold on a deeper level for the benefit of our students.”