Members of the New York City Council are calling on education officials to allow students to return to using paper rather than just computers for state tests.<\/p>\n
Over the past few years, all of New York state\u2019s school districts have been required to switch to computer-based testing<\/a> on the math and reading exams. The state started requiring some grades to take the test by computer in 2024, with all third through eighth graders required to do so for the first time last spring.<\/p>\n Local lawmakers said it\u2019s an example of the use of screens in schools going too far.<\/p>\n \u201cEven when the vast majority of teachers and parents know that so much time on the screens is bad for our kids, they are forced to engage with the screens because that is how they are assessed for the state tests,\u201d said Councilmember Eric Dinowitz, who chairs the Council\u2019s education committee and is leading the effort.<\/p>\n Dinowitz said switching back to paper and pencils would be beneficial for students so that \u201cthey can underline whatever they want to underline in their reading passages, and so that they can do work by hand, and they can write their essays by hand as well.\u201d<\/p>\n More than half of the Council signed on to the letter.<\/p>\n State education department spokesperson J.P. O\u2019Hare said the agency is reviewing the request and \u201cwill have additional information in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a ban<\/a> on individual student use of laptops and tablets through second grade in September. The education department recommended daily limits on screens in third through fifth grade.<\/p>\n There has also been greater scrutiny of this year\u2019s test results, which showed a sharp decline in reading<\/a> after an increase last year.<\/p>\n