Educators: Questions on ELA test had been used in practice exams

This week's top stories

1. State tests re-use questions

If this year’s English Language Arts test questions looked familiar to third- through eighth-graders who took the state exams, that's because they were.

Questions many students had seen in practice exams from past years were the bulk of those on this year’s tests, leading some parents and administrators to dismiss the exams as a way to assess a child’s progress.

The ELAs tests were held during a nine-day window in April. The mathematics portion of the tests started May 3 and end May 14. Port Washington Superintendent Michael Hynes said school principals and parents called to say the students had seen the questions and answers to the ELA tests beforehand.

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2. Double achievement in Long Beach

There's twice as much to brag about at Long Beach High School, which has twin sisters as the top students in the Class of 2021.

Uma and Maya Arengo, both 18, have been named valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, of their senior class of 340 students.

• Uma has a weighted grade-point average of 107.14, and Maya's is 105.47, the district said.
• Uma plans to attend Yale University in Connecticut, and Maya is headed to Stanford University in California.

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3. New science and nursing programs at Hofstra

Hofstra University will receive $120 million in tax free bonds to build a science and innovation center.

• The Hempstead Local Development Corp. approved the bonds April 22 to fund Hofstra's construction of a 75,000-square-foot center for nursing and science programs.
• The $76.8 million science center will be partially funded with a $25 million engineering state grant received in 2016 and a $2 million 2019 state grant for nursing equipment.

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4. Board votes to close two schools

The Northport-East Northport school board voted to close a pair of elementary schools. At a special meeting to take up the issue, board members voted 5-2 to close Bellerose Avenue and Dickinson Avenue elementary schools, effective Aug. 31.

• Closing the schools will move the district to a K-4, 5-8 and 9-12 model, with students from the closed campuses being rezoned.
• Fifth-graders would leave their elementary schools one year earlier.

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5. Teachers rally for contract

Teachers in the Hempstead school district and supporters rallied Monday outside headquarters to urge Interim Superintendent Regina Armstrong to negotiate a contract that would align teachers' salaries with those in neighboring districts.

• Hempstead Classroom Teachers Association president Nicole Brown said her members have not had a raise since 2010.
• Their contract expired in 2013.

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Resources for you

• From imaginative DIY jobs to pro major league renovations, teen rooms became a focal point during the pandemic when they needed to be much more than a place to sleep. There’s a lot to consider when redecorating teenagers’ digs. Here are a few tips.
• One of the best ways to pay for college is with a scholarship. Here are some of the best scholarship options for students with disabilities.
• Teach for America has created shareable thank-you messages for Teacher Appreciation Week for parents, co-workers and students to send via social media.

Round of applause

Sumaiya Ramsaroop said she's confident in the kindness of strangers. So when the 17-year-old held a donation drive and collected nearly 1,300 books for Hindi's Libraries, she said she wasn't surprised.

The organization collects and distributes children’s books all over the world to hospitals, homeless shelters, foster care systems and more.

Sumaiya, of Elmont, had plenty of books to spare. She's a self-published author of two books: "Emotionall," which is a work of poetry, and "Apollo of Helixion," a children’s book that promotes kindness, inclusion and celebrating differences.

Your questions answered

Have questions? Send them to ednews@newsday.com. Newsday’s education reporting team will pick one to answer in this space each week.

What steps are Long Island lawmakers taking to make sure that schools are meeting state requirements to teach about the Holocaust?

Long Island lawmakers recently announced legislation requiring the state Department of Education to study if individual school districts are meeting state requirements to provide instruction on the Holocaust.

"In a time when … anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic violence is on the rise here at home and abroad, it has never been more important to teach the lessons of the Holocaust to the next generation," said state Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-North Hills), the bill's chief sponsor, during a news conference at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center in Glen Cove.

A recent nationwide study by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany found that among New Yorkers ages 18 to 39, nearly 60% couldn't name a concentration camp; 19% believe Jews caused the Holocaust, and 28% thought the Holocaust is a myth or had been exaggerated. In nearly all metrics, New Yorkers produced the worst score in the country, the survey found.

The state mandates Holocaust education in its schools but does not have reporting mechanisms in place to determine if classrooms are carrying out this instruction.

This educational requirement is crucial," said Assemb. Nily Rozic (D-Fresh Meadows), lead sponsor in the Assembly.

— Find the latest education news at newsday.com/long-island/education. Joie Tyrrell can be reached at joie.tyrrell@newsday.com or on Twitter @JoieTyrrell.