Dear Putnam Valley Parents/Guardians:
Once again, I am writing to you to ask that you support our teachers and administrators in providing the instructional foundation and environment that supports student learning and achievement as creative and critical thinkers, readers and writers.
We are hoping that all students participate in the State Assessment process this year.
We understand that there continue to be questions about the direction of New York’s educational initiatives. However, much has changed, and we need to be sure that our students are meeting the standards that measure their progress and the District’s efforts to provide a meaningful and engaging educational program.
As educational leaders and as a community, we have to consider the negative impact on the District’s accountability rating because we had a refusal rate above 5%. In fact, our refusal rate was over 40%, which may result in penalties that are not related to student performance, but to student participation. We are looking at the consequences of not meeting the Acceptable Yearly Progress (AYP), not due to student achievement, but due to lack of participation in the testing process. If we are named a “School in Need of Improvement,” we have damaged our reputation and the community’s standing, and created the need for extensive paperwork and reporting that will compel our use of limited resources for this purpose.
Parents are now able to review most of their child’s tests and responses, not just the results, but the actual math and ELA tests so that they are aware of what students are expected to know and do in their grade level. In order to review the tests, parents can call the principal’s office and make an appointment to meet with the administrator or teachers to examine their child’s tests. We encourage you to do this.
As we have indicated in prior letters, we continue to look towards strengthening our instructional strategies and targeting our approaches to student needs. To that end, our staff has analyzed the New York State 3-8 assessment results to provide information that we have used to examine student progress and performance. We feel that the students have been well prepared and should have the confidence and resources to participate in this assessment.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Dr. Frances Wills
Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Edward Hallisey
Middle School Principal
Ms. Margaret Podesta
Elementary School Principal