Except as indicated below, all public and nonpublic schools administering the Grade 4 or 8 Mathematics Tests are required to administer the respective Mini Field Test. Schools that participated in the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and schools that administered the constructed-response field test associated with the Grades 4 and 8 English Language Arts Tests are not expected to administer the Mini Field Test. These schools will not be receiving Mini Field Test materials.

This memorandum supplements the information concerning the administration of the May 2003 Grades 4 and 8 Mathematics Tests included in the enclosed School Administrator’s Manual. If you have questions about the information in this memorandum or the manual, please call 518-474-8220. The opening pages of the School Administrator's Manual contain the Examination Storage Certificate and the Deputy and Proctor Certificate, both of which must be completed by each school administering these tests and retained in the school's files.

The Grades 4 and 8 Mathematics Tests must be administered to all public school students enrolled in grades 4 and 8. This includes students who have been retained in these grades. Nonpublic schools are strongly encouraged to administer these tests. When determining which students will be participating in these tests, be sure to consider those students who attend programs operated by the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) as well as any other programs located outside the school. The exceptions noted below apply to all students in public schools and to all students in those nonpublic schools that are participating in these tests.

The chronological ages of students in ungraded classes should be used to determine when such students take these tests. Students should be tested on the Grade 4 Mathematics Test no later than the school year (July 1–June 30) in which they reach their 11^th birthday and on the Grade 8 Mathematics Test no later than the school year in which they reach their 15^th birthday.

All LEP students are required to participate in these tests. LEP students may take the tests either in an alternative language or in English, whichever would be better for the student. LEP students may also use both an English and an alternative language edition of the test simultaneously. Alternative language editions of the Grades 4 and 8 Mathematics Tests are provided in Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, and Spanish. These tests may be translated orally into other languages for those LEP students whose first language is one for which a written translation is not available from the Department. Schools are permitted to offer LEP students specific testing accommodations when taking these tests (see page 6 of the School Administrator's Manual).

The Committee on Special Education (CSE) must decide for each student on a case-by-case basis and document on the student's Individualized Education Program whether the student will participate in the general State assessment, in a locally selected assessment, or in the New York State Alternative Assessment for Students with Severe Disabilities (NYSAA). The criteria that the CSE must use to determine eligibility for a locally selected assessment is available in a memorandum mailed to school principals in the spring of 2002 entitled "Supplemental Guidelines for Participation of Students with Disabilities in the State Assessments: Locally Selected Assessments." It is also available at the web site: http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/special ed/publications/policy/participate.htm. The criteria to determine eligibility for the NYSAA is available at the web site: http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/alterassessment/alterassess.htm.

The Grade 8 Mathematics Test should be administered to students in the grade in which they will have completed all the materials in the Intermediate-Level Mathematics Core Curriculum (5-8). While this is typically 8^th grade, the test may be administered to students in 7^th grade who will have completed all the material in the Intermediate-Level Mathematics Core Curriculum (5-8) and are being considered for placement in an accelerated high school-level mathematics course when they are in 8^th grade. The school may not use this assessment to retest any students who participated in this assessment last year as 7^th graders. This spring, schools are expected to administer this test to those accelerated 8^th graders who did not take this test last school year as 7^th graders. The participation of such students in the Grade 8 Mathematics Test may not be waived.

* Students who are absent on the single day on which the Mini Field Test is administered in the school should not be asked to make up the Mini Field Test.

United Parcel Service will deliver all field test materials sent to schools by CTB/McGraw-Hill as well as all test materials sent to schools by the Department. (UPS Deliveries may occur at any time between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.) Schools that do not receive their shipments of test materials from the Department by 12:00 noon on the last date indicated above should track the shipments of test materials on the Internet:

1. Go to: http://www.ups.com/tracking/tracking.html.
2. Click the Reference Number tab.
3. In the Reference Number field, type the BEDS code of the school where you indicated you wanted your tests to be shipped.
4. If you are unable to track your shipment or notice some other irregularity, contact the Office of State Assessment via fax at 518-474-1989.

Schools that do not receive the answer sheets by 12:00 noon on May 1, 2003, should contact, as appropriate, their Regional Information Center/Large-City School District Office or the Office of Information and Reporting Services at 518-474-7965.

As soon as each shipment of test and scoring materials arrives at your school or other approved location, check it to verify that you have received all materials indicated on the shipping notice. Count the secure test books through their sealed packages without opening them. Report all discrepancies in the shipment of secure field test materials to CTB/McGraw Hill via fax at 1-888-282-1106. If the sealed package has not been opened but a discrepancy of more than five exists in the number of Book 1s or 2s, write the exact number received on the shipping notice and contact the Department via fax at 518-474-1989. (It is not necessary to contact the Department about discrepancies of less than five as long as the sealed package has not been opened.) Do not open shrink-wrapped secure test materials until the day that the test is scheduled to be administered. You must store the test and scoring materials in a safe or vault, except while they are being inventoried.

If your school determines that tests are missing from shipments from the Department, you may obtain copies of the regular editions of the test materials, except field tests, from the nearest regional center on the day of the test. Alternative language, braille and large-type editions of these tests are not ordinarily available at most regional centers, nor are scoring materials. For additional supplies of these materials, contact the Office of State Assessment via fax at 518-474-1989. Schools that will be asking the regional center to supply 25 or more copies of any one test book must complete the Grade 4 or 8 Mathematics Test Materials Fax Form in Appendix I of the enclosed School Administrator’s Manual and fax it to the Department at 518-474-1989. (This is to ensure that the regional centers will have adequate supplies to accommodate all schools.)

Appendix C of the School Administrator’s Manual contains a list of the regional centers. You may pick up test materials from the regional centers only on the scheduled date for the administration of that part of the test. Contact the official in charge of the regional center before sending a representative to pick up test materials. Please give the regional center as much advance notice of your school’s need as possible. The person sent to pick up an emergency supply of test materials from a regional center must present authorization written on school letterhead stationery and signed by the principal that lists the materials to be picked up and authorizes the person to pick up those materials. The person obtaining test materials must provide picture identification and must countersign the authorization letter and leave it with the official in charge of the regional center.

Additional field test books will not be available from CTB/McGraw-Hill or the Department. The quantities of these sent to your school are based upon the numbers of test booklets you originally ordered from the Department this fall. If you do not have a sufficient quantity of field test materials for all classes of students, include in the field test as many classes of students as your supply of materials permits. If you have any questions about the delivery status of field tests, shortages of nonsecure field test materials, or administering the field tests, contact CTB/McGraw-Hill using the Field Test Fax Form in Appendix O of the School Administrator's Manual.

Measurement Inc. will ship scorer training videotapes by Federal Express for delivery between May 9-13, 2003, for Grade 4 and between May 8-9, 2003, for Grade 8. Videotapes will be shipped only to public school district offices, BOCES, charter, and nonpublic schools. Videotapes will not be available at any of the regional centers. Public school district offices, BOCES, charter, and nonpublic schools that have not received their videotapes by May 9, 2003, for Grade 8 and May 13, 2003, for Grade 4 should contact Measurement Inc. at 877-516-2403. If you have difficulty getting through, you may fax them at 919-425-7733, attention Roxanna Terz. You must keep videotapes in a secure location until after the makeup testing period is over.

The principal of each school ordering tests is responsible for making the necessary arrangements to safeguard all test materials, including field tests, by taking the following actions:

• Place all test and scoring materials in a safe or vault as soon as they arrive at the storage location. Only the Teacher's Directions may be distributed to teachers as soon as the shipment arrives.
• See that no one opens the sealed packages of secure test materials prior to the day each test is scheduled to be administered.
• Open the packages of test books just early enough to permit distribution of materials for each session.
• Check the safe or vault daily to insure that the test and scoring materials stored there are secure and have not been tampered with.
• Safeguard the combination or key to the safe or vault to preclude access to the test materials by unauthorized persons.
• Keep all scoring materials, including videotapes, in a secure location (except when being used for scoring) until May 27, 2003, the date by which students' answer sheets must be sent to the scanning centers.

All field test materials including all used and unused field test books and Teacher's Directions must be returned directly to CTB/McGraw-Hill by May 12, 2003, for Grade 8 and May 14, 2003, for Grade 4. No copies, notes, or information of any kind pertaining to the field tests may be kept. Schools should use the Prepaid UPS Authorized Return Service labels provided with the shipment of field test materials and should follow the instructions in the School Administrator's Manual for return of these materials

All field test materials must be returned to:

CTB/McGraw-Hill
Firestone Business Park
340 El Camino Real South
Salinas, CA 93901