No time limit. No stakes. And no consensus among educators about how these changes affected their students and classrooms.

That was the story in a nutshell as this year’s standardized tests in math and English language arts for students in grades 3–8 came and went during the first two weeks in April.

Starting this year, the test results will not be tied to teacher evaluations for at least four years. Also, strict time limits, which in the past ranged from 60 to 90 minutes, were eliminated this year in hopes of reducing stress felt by students and allowing them to truly show what they know.

“I noticed the children taking their time and not looking to see how much time was left,” Victoria Karnatski said shortly after administering the first day of the ELA exam to her 3rd-graders at PS 16 on Staten Island. “There were children working up to an hour and 45 minutes, looking back and checking their work. In other years, I had children racing to answer all the questions in the last 10 minutes.”

Cashashiria Hoilette, who shares a 5th-grade ICT class at Staten Island’s PS 74, said the extra time was valuable. “Most of my students used every minute — even the general ed students,” she said.

Staci Young, a 4th-grade teacher at the same school, said her students seemed less anxious. “They didn’t feel rushed, so there was no pressure,” she said.

But not all teachers saw the benefits.

“I think the unlimited time is torturing our students,” said Samantha Fischer, an ELA and special education teacher at McKinley JHS in Brooklyn. “They get done within an hour and have to sit silently for two. It’s a huge waste of precious school time.”

Janine Martucci, a 5th-grade teacher from PS 69 in Brooklyn, said the extra time raised the anxiety level for some of her students and caused them to second-guess themselves more.

“Some children took a lot of time and became frustrated,” she said. “A few actually had tears in their eyes and put their heads down on the desk. I told them they had to continue working because that’s the only way you get the extra time.”

This year’s tests also featured fewer questions, but some teachers had issues with the content.

Brendan Peo, a 4th-grade ICT teacher at PS 204 in Morris Heights, the Bronx, said: “I appreciated the reduction of test questions ... (but) they continue to use stories that were well outside the realm of a 4th-grader’s reading level.”

Young from PS 74 on Staten Island made note of one ELA question “about vibrato and a cello. We don’t have a music program, so our students had no idea what that meant.”

Karnatski from PS 16 on Staten Island observed that the questions on the math test, while “very fair,” needed to be “read very carefully” by the students.

The constructed responses, on the final day, she said, included questions that required “deep thinking and digging into the math. They were two- and three-step questions” using different types of calculations.

The opt-out movement wasn’t in the news as much this year, but many parents still refused to allow their children to be tested.

Reports indicated that roughly 20 percent of students across the state and about 2 percent in New York City didn’t take the tests, basically the same percentages as last year.

This was the last year Pearson is developing the state exams. Questar Assessment will develop future exams, with input from teachers from across the state.