New York State Testing Program - English Language Arts Test - Spring 2026 - Session 1 - Released Questions

Sep 15, 2026

Spring 2026 New York State English Language Arts Test Session 1 provides released questions built around an excerpt from Little Shaq: Star of the Week by Shaquille O’Neal. The passages include reading comprehension tasks focused on locating evidence, interpreting key vocabulary, and identifying themes and supporting details. Test-taking guidance emphasizes reading the entire passage, reviewing quotes and questions, answering every part, and using complete sentences with accurate spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages36

Reading Time1 h 31 min

AccessFree to download

RELEASED QUESTIONS

TIPS FOR TAKING THE TEST

Excerpt and Question Set

Name: New York StateTesting Program # English Language Arts TestSession 1 厂 7 Spring 2026 L ## RELEASED QUESTIONS Excerpt from Little Shaq:Star of the Week by ShaquilleO'Neal.Copyright O2016by Shaquille O'Neal.Published by Bloomsbury USA.Usedwith permission of the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd.via Copyright Clearance Center “Porcupette Explores the Nigh”by Susan Yoder Ackerman,Ask,March 1,2020.Copyright O2020 by Cricket Media.Used with permissionof Cricket Media,Inc.via Copyright Clearance Center.Image of porcupines,courtesy of Superstock,Juniors Bildarchiv/4279-24937.Excerpt from Vote for Our Zoo by Lori Mortensen.Copyright @2009by Picture Window Books.Used with permission of Picture WindowBooks via Copyright Clearance Center. Developed and published under contract with the New York State Education Department by NWEA,a division ofHMH,125 High St.,Boston,MA 02110.Copyright ◎2026 by the New York State Education Department Session 1 ## TIPS FOR TAKING THE TEST Here are some ideas to help you do your best: ·Read the whole passage before you answer the questions.Most questions will only makesense after you read the whole passage. ·You might need to read the passage more than once to answer a question. ·Read each question carefully.Take your time. ·A question may include a quote from a passage.You might need to review both thequote and the whole passage to answer the question. When you write your answers ·make sure to answer the whole question; ·use examples or details from the text; ·write in complete sentences;and ·use correct spelling,grammar,capitalization,and punctuation. 2 3 4 5 6 At Little Shaqs school,one student is the star every week.The Star of theWeek passes out snacks,takes care of the class rabbit named Flopsy,andhas other jobs. Excerpt from Little Shaq:Star of the Week by Shaquille O'Neal "Hey,look at this!"said Aubrey.She was pointing at a flier on the reccenter's front door.“There's going to be a pet fair here all next week!” rec center=place to meet and play games "No way!"said Little Shaq."You guys are so lucky that you already havepets.” Walter and Aubrey nodded.They had a brown,furry dog namedMonty.Rosa's cat was Mittens,and Barry had a tropical fish named Louie. "Maybe you could bring your parents to the rec center,"said Barry.“Ibet the fair will have kittens." Little Shaq had been asking for a kitten for as long as he couldremember. "I don’t know,"he replied."They've never said yes before." That night during dinner,Little Shaq was nervous about bringing upthe pet fair to his parents.He was so nervous that he couldn't even eat hisfavorite meal.His spaghetti and meatballs sat on his plate untouched,but hisparents didn’t notice.His younger brother,Tater,had made a tower out ofmeatballs that had fallen over in a saucy mess.Mom was not happy.And hisolder sister,Malia,was going on and on about her school play.Finally,Dadcaught Little Shaq's eye. "How was your game today,buddy?"Dad asked. 8 "It was okay,"he answered."We lost,but the rec center is having a reallycool event next week.” 9 10“Oh yeah?”asked Mom. Little Shaq took a deep breath.“Yeah,they’re hosting a pet adoptionfair.” 11 "Shaquille,we’ve been through this before,"said Mom. 12 13“A pet is a lot of responsibility,”said Dad. responsibility =work that has to get done 14"I am responsible!"said Little Shaq. 15"What about your chores?”asked Mom."We always have to remindyou to make your bed.” Little Shaq sighed.It was true.He wasn't good at remembering to takeout the trash,and Mom did have to tell him every morning to make his bed.He couldn’'t understand the point of making it,if he was just going to getback in it later. 16 Little Shaq shook his head.There had to be a way he could prove hewas ready for a kitten before the fair was over.He glanced around the roomand saw his backpack.His Star of the Week instruction sheet wa

FAQs

What strategies are recommended for answering the released questions?

Read the entire passage first, review it as needed, and read each question carefully. When answers require evidence, use details from the text and write complete sentences with correct spelling and punctuation.

Which excerpt is used as the reading passage for these questions?

The questions are based on an excerpt from Little Shaq: Star of the Week by Shaquille O’Neal.

How can you decide which sentence best supports a given idea?

Look for the sentence that directly provides evidence for the idea, often by identifying actions or details that the question describes. Use the paragraph reference and compare answer choices to the story.

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Alex Sinclair