GENERAL INFORMATION
The Cooperative Admissions Examination Program (COOP) serves as one of the criteria for admission to all participating Catholic secondary schools. The program is sponsored by the Office of the Superintendent of Schools and the 32 participating Catholic secondary schools. Joining in this cooperative venture are the Diocese of Paterson and the Archdiocese of Newark.

The examination will be administered at selected test sites within the Archdiocese of Newark on Friday, 7 November 2008. Eighth graders desirous of seeking admission to a Catholic secondary school must apply to sit for the examination in advance. Application forms will be available the week of 2 September 2008 from Catholic elementary schools as well as participating Catholic secondary schools. Students enrolled in private or public schools may receive application forms by contacting the Cooperative Admissions Examination Program Office at 1-888-921-2667 or through the program Web site at www.coopexam.org or by e-mail at support@coopexam.org.

The examination administered on Friday, 7 November 2008 will be the only regular administration of the Cooperative Admissions Examination. A make-up examination will be provided on Saturday, 15 November 2008 for those students who may be ill on the regular testing date, as well as for those students who miss the registration date for the regular testing. An additional fee of $10.00 is charged for the make-up examination.

PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM
The COOP program has been designed to benefit eighth grade students making the transition to a Catholic secondary school. This well developed assessment tool is designed to measure scholastic aptitude in verbal and non-verbal abilities, and achievement in reading, language arts and mathematics. Utilized in conjunction with effort and performance ratings from the 6th, 7th and 8th grades, as well as previous standardized test results, secondary schools are able to gauge the readiness of applicants seeking admission to college preparatory educational programs.

PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION
Application Forms: Application forms will be made available the week of 2 September 2007 through Catholic elementary schools and participating secondary schools. Completed applications for students enrolled in Catholic elementary schools must be returned to their eighth grade teachers for bulk mailing to MCS by 3 October 2008. Catholic elementary school personnel must forward applications to MCS by 10 October 2008 Those students enrolled in private or public schools are to send their applications directly to MCS by 24 October 2008. Registration for the examination is also available electronically. In order to utilize this option access www.coopexam.org/ and proceed as directed.

Examination Fee: The $40.00 fee for the COOP examination is to be paid by the applicant at the time of registration. This fee is payable by money order or certified bank check. Personal checks will not be accepted. This fee entitles the applicant to sit for the examination on Friday, 7 November 2008; to have the examination scored and the results sent to three secondary schools. A Home Report of scores will serve as parent notification. In addition, each applicant receives a Handbook explaining the examination. A Sample COOP Practice Test may be downloaded from the Web site www.coopexam.org/.

Examination Confirmation: Admission cards indicating the test site and time at which Catholic elementary school students are to report for the COOP examination will be sent directly to schools. The admission cards of private and public school students will be sent to their home addresses. The admission card must be presented at the test site indicated along with another form of identification.

Secondary School Information: Catholic elementary schools usually hold parent information meetings to guide families in the selection of appropriate secondary school choices as well as shepherd them through the COOP examination application process. A comprehensive listing of Catholic secondary schools, providing necessary information and factual data, will be available for distribution to all students participating in the program. This listing is also posted on the Web site of the Office of the Superintendent of Schools, www.rcan.org/schools.

Secondary School Choices: Each student is entitled to choose three secondary schools to receive testing results. Students will select these secondary schools before the testing date. Students and parents should avail themselves of Open House opportunities to learn of the academic and associated programs offered by the secondary schools of interest. The COOP ID Code for each school chosen, listed in the Student Handbook, is to be entered by the student in the designated area of the student’s admission card. On the date of the examination, the secondary school COOP ID Code must be entered on the student’s answer sheet. If school ID Codes are not entered or if they are entered incorrectly, scores will not be reported for that student.

Ninth Grade Applicant Record: Each applicant must submit a Ninth Grade Applicant Record to an appropriate school official (teacher/counselor/principal) for the purpose of forwarding all transcripts of marks, including standardized test scores, to the secondary schools indicated. The Record contains a parental release form that must be signed in order to have all the documentation released to the secondary schools. Ninth Grade Applicant Records are available from Catholic elementary and secondary schools as well as parish Catechetical Offices of parishes with a Catholic school at that site, and the offices of MCS at 1-888-921-2667. Secondary schools will be expecting the completed Ninth Grade Applicant Record after the recording of the first quarter marks for the eighth grade, and no later than 5 December 2008.

Report of Scores and Record Label: COOP scores for each applicant will be sent to the selected secondary schools. The Report of Scores consists of several sections, including a notification form used to inform students of their admission status. Record Labels, containing aptitude and achievement scores, as well as national and local percentiles are provided to the secondary schools for the purpose of attachment to students’ transcripts.

Parent Notification: Parents of applicants will receive a specially designed Home Report detailing the results of applicant performance on the Cooperative Admissions Examination as follows: Catholic elementary schools will provide these score reports to all parents of their students; parents of students in public or private schools will have the score report sent directly to their homes by MCS. Scores will be available after 22 January 2009.

List Report: Catholic elementary schools of the Archdiocese of Newark will receive a List Report containing the assessment information relative to their students participating in the COOP examination. Each secondary school will receive List Reports of the scores earned by all applicants to the school.

Admission: Each secondary school subscribes to the following fundamental criteria for admission of candidates:
[1] successful achievement and effort as indicated by the official transcript of 6th, 7th and 8th grade marks with accompanying standardized test results;
[2] satisfactory performance on the COOP Admissions Examination;
[3] recommendation of the elementary school principal and/or 8th grade teacher;
[4] successful completion of 8th grade;
[5] record of satisfactory attendance and conduct.

Many secondary schools have additional criteria for admission; please consult the individual school for this information. Notices of admission status will be mailed to those candidates whose scores and completed records have been received by the secondary schools.

EXAMINATION DESCRIPTION
A professional team of educators and assessment analysts of CTB/McGraw-Hill in conjunction with an advisory committee from the sponsoring dioceses prepare the COOP examination.

The COOP examination is composed of two separate components. The aptitude component contains five sections of assessment: verbal reasoning -- word, verbal reasoning -- context, sequences, analogies, and quantitative reasoning. The achievement component comprises three sections of assessment: reading comprehension, mathematics concepts and applications, and language expression. Handbooks, providing a full description of the examination, will be available to each applicant. A Sample COOP Practice Test may be downloaded from the Web site www.coopexam.org.

CATHOLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS
ADMISSIONS TESTING CALENDAR
2008-2009