New York State Item Development Process
McGraw Hill, a major of vendor to many state education departments, wrote this description of the Item Development Process for New York State.
New York State ELA Test Grade 4
A sample test for the New York State ELA Test for Grade 4.
New York State Math Test Grade 4
A sample test for the New York State Mathematics Test for Grade 4.
Success in Sight: A Comprehensive Approach to School Improvement
Schools across the nation, faced with the challenge of helping all students achieve
high standards for learning, need clear guidance on how to engage in lasting,
effective improvement efforts. But after more than 30 years of education research and
countless improvement efforts, no clear consensus exists for how to get the job done.
New York State Testing: Teacher Strategies for Success
All teachers will need to be able to effectively teach the core curriculum concepts that will appear on standardized tests. This quick guide helps explain how to best do that.
Sample Test Creation Guidelines
This step-by-step guide was created by the New York City Charter School Center to aid in the creation of tests. This guide will help teachers test for the standards that are to be measured and encourages collaboration amongst peers.
Understanding Scale Score
A scale is an arbitrarily established set of numbers used for measurement according to a rate or standard. Learning to understand scale scores is an essential skill for every educator and this one-page summary created by the New York City Charter School Center can help.
Work Smarter, Not Harder: SMART Goals Keep Key Objectives in Focus
Businesses have long used SMART goals—goals that are Strategic and Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-based, and Timebound as a way to cut through the morass of conflicting priorities and focus their energies on goals that would make a difference to their work. Although SMART goals did not seep into the education lexicon until the 1990s, the power that they bring to school improvement work is the same. SMART goals can focus a school’s or district’s work and determine whether the work is making a difference. This report suggests ways to make SMART goals work for educators.
SMART Goals, Smart Schools
Setting goals that connect to the classroom and focus on student learning helps educators see, learn from, and communicate their results. In this abstract from Education Leadership, author Jan O'Neill discusses SMART Goals; setting specific goals that are strategic, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and timebound.
SMART Goals Connect a School
School staff are periodically reminded to revisit their SMART goals—goals that are Strategic and Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-based, and Timebound, in order to better assess the student population across learning disciplines. This article by Jan O'Neill offers useful advice for doing so.