Emilia Teasdale is reporting for The Columbia Paper on the efforts of teachers, parents and administrators in the Ichabod Crane School District to encourage parents of students in grades 3 to 8 to have their children sit for the state assessments this spring. The district is under pressure from the state to improve its test participation rate. Ichabod Crane has had a large opt-out rate since the newest assessments began in 2013. Only about 50 percent of students took the state math and English Language Arts exams in the primary and middle schools last year. The district must meet the state goal of 95 percent student participation by students in grades 3 through 8. The state will step in if districts do not meet the law’s requirements, Assistant Superintendent Suzanne Guntlow said, and it could ultimately jeopardize funding. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.