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The late Jeanne Chall first alerted the U.S. to our fourth grade slump (pdf file) in the 1960s:

The fourth-grade slump refers to the phenomenon whereby students who have previously fared well on standardized tests of reading experience difficulties when they reach fourth grade.
source:
Reading in Science: Why, What, and How
Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar, Ph.D.
University of Michigan

Usually, when you see references to the fourth grade slump, researchers are talking about disadvantaged students. However, the international TIMSS tests find a similar decline for American students as a whole compared to their peers in other countries.

So I was wondering whether Irvington kids experience a slump.

They do:

The grade 4 2001 students are the same kids tested again in grade 8, 2005. (right?)

Look at the scores for Levels 3 (Meets standards) and 4 (Exceeds standards).

math

In 4th grade (2001) a solid majority of these kids score a 4:

3s: 36%

4s: 55%

Four years later, in 8th grade (2005), many of these children have dropped to a 3:

3s: 45%

4s: 33%

English language arts

4th grade (2001):

3s: 47%

4s: 44%

Four years later we're down to just one quarter of the class, now in eighth grade, exceeding standards:

3s: 61%

4s: 24%

High-level reading ability strongly predicts success in college: (pdf file)

Research shows that the leading predictor that a student will drop out of college is the need for remedial reading. While 58 percent of students who take no remedial education courses earn a Bachelor’s degree within eight years, only 17 percent of students who enroll in a remedial reading course receive a BA or BS within the same time period (NCES, 2004a). and in employment.

These slides were presented at a school board meeting, but I've never heard a single parent, teacher, or administrator mention this sharp drop-off in Irvington scores. Nor have I heard mention of any plan or even desire to make sure that students who are exceeding standards in 4th grade are still exceeding standards in 8th.

It's not in the strategic plan.

how hard are the tests?

New York

Sample ELA tests are here; sample math tests here.

For 8th grade math, page 7 of Book 3 (pdf file) has this word problem:

Tracy's dog eats 8 ounces of dog food every day. How many pounds of dog food will her dog eat in 40 days?
Show your work

Page 11 of the same booklet poses this problem:

Xavier bought a shirt that was on sale for 20% off the original price. He also used a coupon that gave him an additional 15% off the sale price of the shirt. The original price of the shirt was $37. What is the new price of the shirt before tax?

California

Here are two problems drawn from David Klein's Practice Problems for the California Mathematics Standards Grades 1-8:

A chemist has one solution of hydrochloric acid and water that is 25% acid and a second that is 75% acid. How many liters of each should be mixed together to get 250 liters of a solution that is 40% acid?

Molly can deliver the papers on her route in 2 hours. Tom can deliver the same route in 3 hours. How long would it take them to deliver the papers if they worked together?

Singapore

From the placement tests for New Elementary Math 3 (9th grade):

Two mechanics take 4 hours to repair a car. If each of them worked alone, one of them could do the job in 1 hour less time than the other. How long would it take the slower one to complete the job alone? Express your answer to the nearest tenth of an hour.

A tank contains 430 L of water, correct to the nearest liter. The water is completely drained off in 1 h 20 min, correct to the nearest minute. Find the limits between which the average rate of draining in liters per minute must be, correct to 3 significant figures.

Two circles with centers at O and P intersect at A and B. The radius of the smaller circle is 4 cm. AOB = 120º, APO = 60º. Find the area of the shaded portion to the nearest tenth of a cm. Take pi = 3.14.

sin 60º =
cos 60º =
sin 180º = 0
cos 180º = 1