February 2009

to: Principals of Secondary Schools

from: Thomas J. Schoeck

subject: Procedures for Requesting and Storing the June 2009 Regents Examinations

All regular, large-type, and braille editions of examinations administered during the June 2009 Regents Examination period and all translated editions of Regents Examinations must be requested through the Department’s online examination request system. Directions for using the Department’s online examination request system are included in this memorandum and in the enclosed Instructions for Submitting Your Examination Request Online.

This memorandum provides essential information about requesting and storing the June 2009 examinations. In addition, all persons coordinating the administration of State examinations should be familiar with the publication Regents Examinations, Regents Competency Tests, and Second Language Proficiency Examinations: School Administrator’s Manual, 2008 Edition. You may access this manual on the Department’s web site at: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/sam/secondary/home.html.

Accompanying this memorandum are the School Data Sheet and ― only for schools that do not have a pre‑approved ongoing examination storage location ― the Examination Storage Plan. Also enclosed are the schedules for the June and August 2009 Regents Examination periods; the School Record of Examinations Requested; Instructions for Submitting Your Examination Requests Online; and a memorandum concerning the introduction of the Regents Examination in Geometry.

requesting examination materials

All regular, translated, large-type, and braille editions of examinations administered during the June 2009 Regents Examination period must be requested through the Department’s online examination request system.

Initial online requests for June examination materials must be submitted no later than March 23. 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 may return to the online examination request system until April 6 to revise or add any supplemental quantities needed. Telephone requests will not be accepted. The Department will accept and enter online on the school’s behalf only those requests submitted by fax for examination editions or quantities that cannot, because of Department restrictions, be submitted online by the school (for example, alternative language editions of the Regents Competency Tests).

Check all confirmation notices as soon as you receive them so supplemental requests, if needed, may be placed no later than April 6. 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.

Schools requesting the Regents Comprehensive Examinations in German and Hebrew should note that these will be restricted editions starting with the June 2009 administration. Each copy of the examination booklet, teacher dictation copy, and scoring key is numbered, and all copies of these materials, whether used or unused, must be returned to the Department along with all student answer booklets. Photocopying and/or school retention of copies of the examination booklets and/or notes pertaining to their contents will be strictly prohibited. Schools must not request any more copies of these editions than they require for administration to students in June 2009.

requesting english language examination materials

Request only the quantities of examinations actually needed for administration in June. If you need sample copies of tests for review purposes, fax a request on the school’s letterhead to this office at 518-474-2021; these will be shipped after the June examination period. This procedure will reduce the number of test booklets included in the secure shipments and help to ensure the timely packing of all examination materials.

Guidelines for requesting specific materials:

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

· Restricted editions: The Regents Comprehensive Examinations in German and Hebrew; the regular English editions of the Regents Competency Tests (RCTs) in Mathematics, Science, Global Studies, and United States 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 teacher dictation copies and the rating guides for the Regents Comprehensive Examinations in German and Hebrew, and the rating guides for the RCTs in Global Studies and United States 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 except the Regents Comprehensive Examination in Hebrew. 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).

· Answer sheets:

o Regents Examinations and Second Language Proficiency Examinations: Hand-scorable answer sheets are part of most test booklets. Schools may substitute other types of answer sheets. Separate answer booklets will be provided for the Regents Comprehensive Examinations in French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Essay booklets will be provided for the Regents Examinations in English, Global History and Geography, and United States History and Government. A special machine-scorable answer sheet will be provided for the Regents Examination in Geometry. Please review the accompanying memorandum for complete information about its use.

o Regents Competency Tests: All schools will be sent answer booklets for the RCT in Writing. Separate answer sheets, which may be machine scored or hand scored using scoring overlays provided by the Department, are provided for the other RCTs. Schools may substitute other types of answer sheets. 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 performance test materials will be included in the nonsecure shipment, based on the number of test booklets requested.

· Part One of the Second Language Proficiency Examinations and Regents Comprehensive Examinations in Languages Other than English: Sufficient quantities of Part One: Speaking for the modern languages and of the Oral Skills Test for Latin will be sent to each school based on the number of test booklets requested.

· Regents-endorsed diplomas: These may be requested online along with the school’s request for Regents Examinations and will be shipped with the nonsecure materials for the June 2009 examination period.

· 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 a written request from the principal is received via fax to 518-474-2021 no later than March 20.

requesting materials for current and eligible former limited-english-proficient (lep) students

On September 15, 2008, the Board of Regents approved a policy that permits schools to provide testing accommodations on New York State examinations to former LEP students for up to two years after they achieve proficiency on the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT). Beginning this school year, the testing accommodations that may be provided to LEP students may also be provided to former LEP students who achieved the proficient level on either of the two most recent administrations of the NYSESLAT. Therefore, during the 2008-09 school year, schools may provide these accommodations to those former LEP students who achieved the proficient level on the NYSESLAT that was administered in either spring 2007 or spring 2008. Schools may not provide testing accommodations to former LEP students who achieved the proficient level prior to the spring 2007 NYSESLAT administration.

Current and eligible former 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 Regents Examinations in Integrated Algebra, Global History and Geography, United States History and Government, Living Environment, and Physical Setting/Earth Science are available in five languages other than English: Chinese (Traditional), Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, and Spanish. Only English-language editions are provided for other Regents Examinations. All translated editions of Regents Examinations must be requested via the online request system.

The alternative-language editions of the RCTs cannot be requested 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.

The RCTs in Science and Global Studies are offered in six languages other than English: Chinese (Traditional), French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The RCT in United States History and Government is offered in four languages other than English: Chinese (Traditional), Haitian Creole,

Korean, and Spanish. The alternative-language editions of the RCT in Mathematics are available in the 29 languages listed below:

Albanian

Amharic

Arabic

Burmese

Chinese (Traditional)

Farsi

French

German

Greek

Haitian Creole

Hebrew

Hindi

Italian

Japanese

Khmer

Korean

Lao

Malay

Polish

Portuguese

Romanian

Russian

Serbo-Croatian

Spanish

Tagalog

Thai

Turkish

Urdu

Vietnamese

The translated editions of Regents Examinations offered in June 2009 are direct translations of the English editions, so current and former eligible LEP students may be permitted to use both editions simultaneously. Because the alternative-language editions of the RCTs in Mathematics, Science, Global Studies, and United States History and Government are not direct translations of the English-language editions, students may not be given both.

change in the procedures for students retaking the regents examination in earth science

Beginning in June 2008, schools have been administering a new version of the Earth Science Performance Test (Part D) as a component of the Regents Examination in Physical Setting/Earth Science. All students taking the
June 2009 Regents Examination in Physical Setting/Earth Science, including those retaking the written examination, must re-take the performance test. Scores earned on the Earth Science Performance Test in conjunction with prior administrations of this written examination may no longer be carried forward and applied to the student’s final examination score for this Regents Examination.

All students taking future administrations ― August, January, and June ― of the Regents Examination in Physical Setting/Earth Science must take the performance test each time they take the written examination. Only the performance test score earned by the student in the weeks immediately preceding the written examination may be used to determine the student’s final examination score for this Regents Examination. This change in procedure with respect to students retaking this examination ensures that every student’s examination score is based on the full composite of the student’s demonstration of knowledge, skills, and abilities at the time the written test is taken.

Consequently, all schools planning to administer the Regents Examination in Physical Setting/Earth Science must make arrangements for all students who will be taking the written examination to take the new performance test as well. The performance test must be administered during the last two weeks of the Earth Science course and no later than the day before the written examination. This requirement applies both to students enrolled in the course of study and to students who plan only to retake the examination. All schools administering this examination must notify students of the date and time to appear for the performance test.

shipping of examination materials

Examination materials may be delivered in up to five separate shipments; approximate delivery dates are indicated on the following list. These delivery dates are contingent upon submission of your school’s online request prior to the actual shipping date.

· Early April: Materials for Part One of the Second Language Proficiency Examinations. Materials for Part One of Comprehensive Regents Examinations in Languages Other Than English.

· Early May: As described in the accompanying memorandum, schools requesting the Regents Examination in Geometry will receive a separate shipment from Pearson providing the answer sheets that must be used with that examination.

· Late May: Nonsecure test materials, including the Regents-endorsed diplomas, the 2009 edition of the Earth Science performance test, and teacher’s directions for the examinations requested for your school.

· Just prior to the examination dates: Locked Regents boxes containing the secure examination materials.

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 that 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 below. 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")

The principal of a school building that does not have a Department-approved safe or vault must arrange to store Regents boxes containing secure examination materials in an approved safe or vault in another school, school district building, or BOCES building. Principals experiencing difficulty making arrangements for secure storage of examination materials should notify this office at 518-474-8220.

Principals must inform all school building personnel permitted to accept delivery of Regents boxes, either during or after school hours, of the procedures for safeguarding secure examination shipments. Access to any safe or vault where locked Regents boxes are stored must be restricted so as to prohibit entry by students and other unauthorized persons. The locked Regents boxes must be visually inspected daily by the person in charge of the examinations to ensure that they have remained secure.

The vast majority of schools administering secondary examinations have found it convenient to establish, with only a single round of correspondence, an “ongoing” storage plan. Such a plan continues from one academic year to the next, unless and until a school’s principal notifies us of the need for change. Please review the examination storage information for your school provided on the enclosed School Data Sheet. Schools that do not have pre-approved ongoing storage arrangements will have received an Examination Storage Plan. This form must be completed and signed by the principal and submitted by fax to 518-474-2021. If a storage plan is required, please help us simplify your paper flow and ours by initiating an ongoing storage plan. To amend pre-approved storage information for your school, you must send a fax to 518-474-2021 with the school name and address where you have arranged for the examinations to be securely stored. This office will then request written verification of the storage arrangements from the person in charge of your proposed “host” storage location before secure examination materials can be shipped to that address.

Enclosures

---

[1] Answer sheets for New York City public schools: New York City public schools will be sent answer booklets for the RCT in Writing, but will not be sent machine-scorable answer sheets for the other RCTs. Special machine-scorable answer sheets for these tests will be provided to New York City public schools by the New York City Division of Assessment and Accountability.