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New York State gave more extra time and other accommodations to fourth grade students on the national math exam than any other state in the nation.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card, shows that in 2009, New York State gave accommodations to 89 percent of eligible fourth-graders. The national average was 50 percent.

On the math exam for eighth grade students, New York came in second to Florida for giving extra help. Whereas the national average was 54 percent in 2009, Florida’s accommodation rate was 82 percent and New York’s was 81 percent.

Testing students with accommodations can mean anything from giving them extra time to take the test, reading the directions and questions aloud to them, or translating the test into the students’ native language. Students who have physical impairments like blindness and mental ones like Attention Deficit Disorder are eligible for accommodations. Students who are not proficient in English are also eligible.

New York State also gave more accommodations to fourth graders than any other state in 2007. That year, a separate city-by-city comparison showed that New York City gave more help than any of the ten other major cities, leading some testing experts to suggest that the city’s results be considered invalid.

The number of New York City students receiving legally allowed accommodations more than doubled between 2003 and 2007, a fact the city Department of Education has attributed to state policies encouraging more English language learners to take the tests.

Results, as well as accommodation rates, for New York City students from the 2009 math test have yet to be published.