CALDWELL-WEST CALDWELL PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
James A. Brown (973) 228-6981
Vice Principal
Dear
Parent/Guardian,
All
states are required by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) to implement
science assessments by 2007–08 at three benchmark grade levels, including high
school. To satisfy this requirement, the state now requires that all New Jersey public high school students enrolled
in a requisite Biology course
participate in the End of Course Biology Test on May 19,
2008. Currently, the End of Course Biology Test is not a
graduation requirement, however, it will become a graduation requirement once
the Core Curriculum Content Standards are revised to include detailed biology
standards and specific science course requirements are adopted by the State
Board. The test measures student mastery of the Biology component of the
Core Curriculum Content Standards. The
assessment will require 2 hours and 36 minutes of class time and is made up of
60 multiple choice questions and 4 open ended responses. All
public
high school students, regardless of grade level (grades 9–R12), including
limited English proficient students and special education students, who are
enrolled in a requisite Biology course
during the 2007–08
school year are required to take the
test.
On
May 20, 2008, all high school biology students will also
complete a stand-alone field test of a biology performance assessment prompt.
This assessment is an additional component of
Students will be
informed of their testing room assignment prior to the test and must be in their assigned testing classroom at
7:45AM on each day of testing. Although we will remind your
child the day before the test, please mark the critical dates and times found
on the back of this letter on your calendar. If you have any further
questions regarding the test, please feel free to contact me at
973-228-6981.
Sincerely,
James
A. Brown
James A.
Brown
Vice Principal
END OF
COURSE BIOLOGY TESTING & ASSESSMENT
SCHEDULE
Monday,
May 19, 2008
Bio-Science
and Biology I students *ONLY
are
to arrive at JCHS by 8:00 AM.
Test
administration will begin by 8:15 AM, with
anticipated ending time of 10:45
AM.
*All
OTHER JCHS students are to
arrive by 10:30 AM, for attendance sign-in at various
general locations (seniors and juniors to the auditorium, sophomores and
freshmen to the cafeteria). At 10:45 AM, we will begin the regular
schedule of classes, beginning with mod 7, and continuing through mod
17.
Tuesday,
May 20, 2008
All students are to arrive at JCHS
at their regular times. We will follow our regular class
schedule, and all students testing will resume with their classes at the
conclusion of testing.
Bio-Science
and Biology I students are
to arrive to their testing location by 8:00 AM.
Test
administration will begin by 8:15 AM, with
anticipated ending time of 9:45
AM.
*STUDENTS
must be in their assigned testing
classroom at 8:00AM
AND
BRING A #2 PENCIL ON BOTH DAYS OF TESTING