State Testing Letter 2011-2012

November 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians:

During the spring of 2012 a number of our students will be participating in the New Jersey Department of Education State Assessment Program.  Students in grades three, four, five, six, seven, eight and eleven, as well as all high school students taking a first year Biology course during the 2011-12 school year, will be administered a state assessment.  The state assessments are aligned to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards including Common Core Standards for Language Arts and Mathematics.  These standards identify the required knowledge and skills students should be learning at each grade level. All areas of the Burlington Township Curriculum in grades K-12 are closely aligned with the Standards, so students will be prepared for the state assessments through their daily classroom instruction.

The state assessments are intended to give students and parents individual feed- back on each student’s progress in achieving the standards.  Another valuable use of the test scores is to assist our district in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the programs we have designed to enable your children to reach the standards.  Performance on the state assessments is not intended to determine whether a student is promoted or retained, nor should it have an impact on a student’s report card grades.  In addition to the grade levels being administered state assessments, students in grades nine and ten will be administered a practice HSPA. This additional assessment will also determine students’ progress in learning the knowledge and skills identified by the Standards.

Although each child has different capabilities, here are some suggestions to help your student do their best:

1. Encourage your child to be serious about the tests
2. Try not to have any upsetting situations before the test
3. Have your child get a good night’s sleep before the tests
4. Be sure your child eats something nutritious before school and arrives

to school on time

Please review the chart that accompanies this letter to identify the assessment dates for students at each grade level. Your child’s school will provide more detailed information as we get closer to the testing dates. We want to provide this information to you now in the hope that you will make every effort to have your child in attendance on these dates. If you have any questions prior to then, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s principal.