Yearly Testing

Yearly Testing

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires states to define challenging academic standards and administer high-quality assessments so that students, teachers, parents, and administrators can measure progress against shared expectations for student achievement.

Elementary and middle school students in New York State take yearly State tests in core academic subjects to assess their mastery of the Common Core Learning Standards

Students’ test results are one of the factors that schools use to decide whether to promote a student to the next grade. In high school, students must pass five Regents Exams in order to graduate and may earn an Advanced Diploma if they pass more exams. Read more about the elementary and middle school promotion policies or high school graduation requirements. Students in New York City also take tests to apply for admission to selective schools and programs and to prepare for college.

New York City and New York State use test results to evaluate how well schools are serving students. To learn more about how the subjects are taught in New York City, see the academics page.

Grades 3-5 State Tests

Elementary and middle school students in New York State take yearly State tests in core academic subjects to assess their mastery of the Common Core Learning Standards. Students’ test results are one of the factors that schools use to decide whether to promote a student to the next grade. Educators also analyze students’ test results to help determine which instructional standards to focus on, and to evaluate their programs.

The links below take you to pages with more information about each particular test that elementary and middle school students take; you can also read more about how subjects are taught in New York City on the Academics page. 

• English Language Arts (ELA): Students in grades 3-8 take this test in spring.

• Math: Students in grades 3-8 take this test in spring.

• Science: Students in grades 4 and 8 take this test in spring.