Noting that eighth grade students will begin state testing on May 8 and won't finish until June 20, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Robert Davis reported to the Levittown Board of Education, at the January meeting, that the administration and personnel had concerns about how these state-mandated tests would affect the implementation of the district's own final examinations.

While, in some cases, according to Davis, the state tests can replace the local exams, in other subjects they can't replace any of the finals, and in still others the state tests will only be able to replace part of the final. "We are going to have some state exams where we may not use them as finals at all so that means we have the problem of duplication- a state exam and a local final or we are going to have to forego the local final," said Davis.

The problem of having a local final is enhanced, according to Davis, because the actual state testing begins so early in May and the students will most likely be preparing for those tests during the month of April. This raises the question of when the local exams will be administered in cases where the state test cannot be used as a final. "This is an intrusion into the normal teaching process," Davis commented. "Our biggest concern is the disequilibrium, the upsetting of the eighth grade program."

In some instances, such as the state math assessment, though the test may be similar to what the district would offer as a final they can't be used because the scores will not be returned to the district until next fall. Davis added that students who are accelerated and taking Sequential I Math in eighth grade are still subject to having to take the state eighth grade math test. Davis said they expect to be able to use the state science and social studies assessments as finals. He noted that they may be able to use part of the English Language Arts assessment as part of the final exam but not the whole thing. The technology exam is a new exam so the district knows very little about it. He did not comment on whether or not the district would be able to use the foreign language state assessment in place of local finals. "We are going to have a lot of duplication of testing, we're going to have some confusion, and we're going to have some stressed-out kids and I suspect some stressed-out staff," Davis said.

Davis added that because the results of these exams are so widely publicized and districts' programs are judged upon their results, everyone is going to try to prepare the best they can for those tests which will be a further distraction. This is complicated even further by the fact that in instances where the tests will not be able to be used as a final exam, students will have a sense of the test not counting .

In addition to the tests themselves and the preparation for the exams, some of the state tests are going to require multiple days of scoring. This, said Davis, again takes time away from either teaching or scoring the district's local exams.

According to Davis the outcry about this overload of assessments on the eighth graders has been the same throughout the state. Levittown Superintendent of Schools Dr. Herman Sirois, noted that the New York State PTA has also addressed this issue. Board of Education Secretary Diane Shapiro stated that the Nassau District PTA has taken the position that this is just too much testing in the eighth grade. Sirois said that it is his understanding that the Nassau PTA received a response from a supervisor of testing saying that their concerns have been noted but that no changes in testing were taking place.

"It is going to be an adventure in eighth grade at the end of the year. My hat is off to the staff and the administration who are working very hard to make this as orderly, organized, and educationally productive as possible," said Davis.