The State Tests moved
to a screen.

What has changed

From spring 2026, New York's grades 3–8 ELA and mathematics assessments are computer-based for most students, with limited exceptions and accommodations for those who need them.

The content is unchanged. What has changed is everything about how a child interacts with it.

What actually differs for a child

• Reading on a screen. A passage that fits on one printed page may need scrolling. Children who read on paper habitually lose their place.
• No margin to write in. Underlining, circling, jotting beside the question — the habits taught since grade 2 do not transfer. Digital tools replace some of them, and have to be found.
• Typing written answers. A grade 4 student who writes faster than they type will produce a shorter answer on a keyboard than on paper. That is not a reading or writing problem, and it will look like one.
• Navigation. Moving between questions, flagging, and reviewing all work differently, and none of it is obvious the first time.

Why this matters more for younger students

A grade 7 student has usually done schoolwork on a device. A grade 3 student may not have. The gap between what a child knows and what they can demonstrate on a screen is widest at the youngest grades, which is exactly where a first unfamiliar experience does the most damage to confidence.

What to practice

Not more content. The content is the same as it was. What is worth rehearsing is the screen: reading a scrolling passage, answering without a margin, and typing an extended response.

A paper practice book cannot do this, however good its questions. Our State Test practice exams run in a browser for this reason, with the same untimed conditions as the real assessments.

If your child has accommodations

Speak to the school. Accommodations continue to apply and some students will still test on paper, but the arrangements are made locally and are worth confirming rather than assuming.

Keep it in proportion

These assessments are untimed and, for most families, nothing hinges on a single result. The purpose of practice here is to remove surprises, not to chase a number. Ten minutes on a screen a few times before the spring does most of the available good. ten free questions are a reasonable place to start.