What is on the
grade 4 New York State Test?

Four sessions, over four days

Two in English Language Arts and two in mathematics. Across all four your child answers 79 questions worth 94 credits, and 15 of those questions are written answers rather than multiple choice.

Credits are not the same as questions, and grade 4 is where the gap opens. Nine written answers in the second mathematics session are worth far more than nine multiple-choice questions would have been. A multiple-choice question is worth one credit; a written answer can be worth two, three or four.

What is different about grade 4

The jump from grade 3 is not in the reading. It is in how much of the score comes from writing something down rather than choosing an option.

The subject matter

Mathematics adds multi-digit arithmetic, fraction equivalence and unit conversion. ELA introduces a paired-text question, where two passages have to be read against each other.

The written answers

Nine of the mathematics questions are written answers. A child who can get the right number but not show the working will lose credit on them.

There is no time limit

The state tests are untimed. A grade 4 child who wants to redo the working on a long-division question may take as long as it needs. Every student sits them on a computer from spring 2026, which means typing a mathematics explanation rather than writing it.