Title
Authorizing the Committee on Education to hold hearings on the benefits of the Pennsylvania System School Assessment (PSSA) testing and the administration of these tests by the Philadelphia School District.
Body
I have heard from teachers at diverse settings across the district among them Honey Polis (CTE at comprehensive H.S.), Luigi Borda, (Social Studies, Magnet Mid-H.S.) and Amy Roat, (ESOL neighborhood Middle School) and they are unanimous in their belief that administering standardized tests such as the PSSA will not provide any useful information about students to their parents and teachers.
WHEREAS, The School District of Philadelphia is administering the PSSA to third through eighth grade students who are returning to the classroom. It must be understood that the PSSA is not the Big Test I took back in my school days. Rather, it is a drawn-out process, 3rd, 4th and 6th graders take 6 sections over three days. 5th and 8th graders take 8 sections across 4 days. For immigrant students learning English, they will also take the ACCESS - an assessment with 4 parts that will take 1- 2 days to complete; and
WHEREAS, Parents wanted their children to return to school so they could connect with their friends and teachers. Many parents rightly believe that there is no substitute for in person instruction, no matter the herculean efforts of our teachers, and that a return was necessary for the best education of their children. What is actually happening is that students who returned to the classroom on May 10th will spend 3-7 days on testing, out of 8 or 9 days in the school building; and
WHEREAS, The PSSA results will not be shared with teachers in the beginning of the next school year. The PSSA will also not be used as criteria for entrance into competitive high schools. To make matters even worse, parents "in the know" can choose to opt out their children from these tests, while other parents, who are unaware of this laborious testing schedule, do no...
Click here for full text