State science test used despite error

Exam sought A, B, C, D answers, students’ papers had 1, 2, 3, 4

State officials had to urgently send out a message Monday to school districts during a test about an error on the eighthgrade state science assessment.

The test was printed with multiple choice answers labeled A through D, but the answer sheet bubbles are labeled 1 through 4.

So the state sent a notice instructing test proctors to explain to students that A = 1, and so on.

The message was sent out while the test was in progress. A teacher said they had noticed the problem and told the students to convert their answers even before the email from the state arrived.

The announcement comes two weeks after the state canceled the new U.S. History and Government (framework) Regents exam due to a question that could “compound student trauma caused by the recent violence in Buffalo.”

The test question was written long before the shooting.

A notice from the state said the error was not significant enough to cancel the exam.

“After speaking with the Office of State Assessment, it has been determined that the students can still be administered the exam understanding that the number of questions do not differ,” the notice read, explaining that A answers should be recorded as No. 1, B as No. 2 two, etc.

“Please make sure teachers are aware of this and provide proper clarification to students,” the notice read.

The state also advised test proctors that they can check to make sure students were making the conversion correctly.

“It is also not against test integrity for proctors to confirm that a student who transfers answers from the booklet to the answer sheet do so accurately, according to this issue,” the state notice said.