OESJ Central Schools

OESJ students take a number of exams every year, including Regents exams, local exams and required New York State assessments. 

The purpose of continual and periodic assessments is to ensure every child is learning. It is much more beneficial for a student to receive reteaching or remediation when deficiencies are caught immediately.

• Fountas and Pinnell (F&P): F&P provides reliable reading screening in order to identify students at the correct independent and instructional reading levels and strategies and skills deficits; this assists teachers in helping students learn and provides a measure of reading growth. This assessment helps to place a student in his or he appropriate guided reading group so that s(he) spends part of his/her day working at his/her instructional level — a research-based best practice.
• Benchmark Assessments in ELA and Math: Assessments that are aligned with the Common Core will periodically be given to monitor what students should have learned from the first day of class. Teachers will implement new strategies to ensure each student learns the skills, strategies and concepts expected at that grade level. By the spring of 2021, the new state Next Generation Learning Standards will be the basis for the state exams.
• i-Ready: The i-Ready program measures students’ understanding of their learning in math and ELA. These assessments are aligned with the Common Core Learning Standards. The results are used to inform instruction throughout the year.

Neither state law nor the education commissioner’s regulations detail a specific legal right or mechanism for students — or school districts — to formally refuse the required state assessments, except for certain exceptions such as those involving students with disabilities.

EngageNY is the official website for current materials and resources related to the Regents Reform Agenda. The agenda includes the implementation of the New York State Next Generation Learning Standards.

Please refer to the district’s calendar for upcoming testing dates each school year.

The district’s formal reporting system includes report cards and/or forms developed by the professional staff and issued periodically.

Scheduled conferences between parents and teachers, and interim reports may be issued as needed or required. Parents are encouraged to visit the school and to meet with guidance counselor and teachers whenever necessary. Please schedule all such visits in advance.

Parent-teacher conferences are an important element in parent-teacher communication and reporting student progress to parents. Parents will be notified in advance of the available dates and times so a convenient appointment can be arranged. Parents should feel free to request a conference with their child’s teacher at any time.

Parents may initiate a conference by calling the guidance office or main office and making an appointment with the teacher(s), counselor or building principal. When a parent requests a conference with a teacher, the teacher will make every effort to arrange a mutually convenient time. Such conferences will be planned around the teacher’s schedule so as not to interfere with class time.

If a parent cannot attend a scheduled conference, he/she should notify the school as far in advance as possible so that another conference time may be arranged.

An open house will be scheduled during the year. This is a time for parents to be a part of a specific project, mini-program or activity involving their child. Open house is not a time to discuss individual student issues.