Time, money, learning: The PSSAs strike out every time
It was an honor to appear on Radio Times and speak about high-stakes standardized testing. In preparing for the show, I used a lot of information that had helped me to decide to opt out of the PSSA (Pennsylvania State Standardized Assessment) test for my own children. What I realized is that 15 minutes was not enough time to fully speak to the issue. Here’s what I wanted to say if more time was permitted.
I am not against all standardized testing. I feel that there needs to be a standard that ensures that kids in the US have education equality. However, the PSSA is a poorly constructed instrument that is not reliably or validity tested. It has predetermined failure rates of 35-45% even before the test begins. The writing assessments are being scored by temporary workers who respond to newspaper classified ads and are paid per test. They are not experts and are given only one metric to grade the test. There is no way that a student will perform well if the identical metric is not written. There is no room for original thought of expression. There is no time for students to develop their message by re-writing the response. Their first draft is the final. Is this how we want our children to learn, by using only a template and learning that there’s only one way to do this? Why has Pennsylvania continued to adopt this as the sole standard to demonstrate student achievement? There are better tests that are actually reliably and validity tested – the WIAT III is one that has been highly recommended as a nationally normed test.
The PSSA do not take into account the very real challenges of poverty that as many as 80% of our students face. Students come to school with additional stress, hunger, unmet basic needs, and violence due to poverty. This test does not address the needs of English Language Learners who must take the tests in English without interpretation services. Students with special education needs may not have their IEPs followed and are expected to perform on grade level with their same age peers. The PSSAs are extraordinarily harmful to these Time, money, learning: The PSSAs strike out every time | Parents United for Public Education: