The “Times” They Are A-Changin’

Grace Kollander ‘25

After years of debate, the Ramaz Upper School implemented a sweeping and controversial policy change for the 2022-23 academic year: extended-time testing for all students. This new policy elicited varied reactions throughout the student body, faculty and administration. This change was on the docket for quite some time, even prior to the academic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but was ultimately implemented this school year.

In prior years at the Ramaz Upper School, if a student did not qualify for extra-time testing, that student received forty minutes to complete a test that was intended by the teacher to be completed in forty minutes. However, a student that qualified for extra-time testing would be allowed sixty minutes to com- plete that same forty-minute test, or twenty minutes of “extra time.” Following the implementation this year of the universal extra-time testing policy, every student at Ramaz Upper School is allowed sixty minutes to complete a test that is intended by the teacher to be completed in forty minutes.

When asked if Ramaz would issue a statement regarding these events, Ms. Krupka, Associate Principal, replied: “Not yet. But we have often made strong statements about our approaches to it in the past.” To students who experience things that make them feel unsafe or worried, online or in person, Ms. Krupka advises them to tell someone. “If anything happens inside, outside, or in the vicinity of the building, or anywhere that makes a student feel unsafe or scared, they should report it immediately to the school,” said Ms. Krupka. Ms. Krupka also welcomes suggestions on combatting antisemitism. She would “love to hear from the students if they have ideas for initiatives or things that they want to do about it, as it’s definitely something important.”

Ramaz student was required to undergo a meticulous neuro-psyche or other medical evaluation documenting the reasons for the extra time. This was not a standardized process across all students but one that was appropriately unique to that particular student’s needs. The evaluation results were submitted to a committee of Ramaz faculty to subjectively determine whether the student in question should receive the requested accommodation.

In prior years, to have qualified for extra time, a

There was a growing sense among the Ramaz administration that with so many extra-time requests to assess, it was becoming too unwieldy, time-consuming, and complex to manage the needs of every single student. Rabbi Schiowitz expressed that while there were “black and white cases,” it was “an enormous strain on the people that were reviewing every single case, Continued On Page 2