Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe AMITYVILLE, N.Y., Sept. 6 (UPI) -- More than 200,000 Long Island, N.Y., students will face old fashioned grammar instruction and testing when they return to school this week. Such instruction began falling out of favor in the 1960s, but now, state educators claim most students don't know the difference between a noun and a verb, not to mention participles. Advertisement "It's rampant," said school administrator Mike Cohen. "People use 'impact' as a verb until my teeth rattle. "You've got to immerse students in proper grammar and usage, because they're immersed in improper usage wherever they go." New York State, which previously tested English and math in grades 4 and 8, will extend English testing to other grades in January and math testing in March, Newsday reported. To measure students' grammar skills, each new English test for grades 3, 5 and 7 will include a paragraph in which students will correct errors in spelling, punctuation, word usage and sentence structure.
