Lately, there’s been a lot of interest in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report. Between 2020 and 2022, national test scores for students in both Math and Reading have declined https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/. Reviewing and understanding achievement data can often require a degree in analytics. Graphs and arrows mean little to the average taxpayer, and they mean nothing to a parent whose child is stuck in a failed system.
While parents search for answers, the system of education looks for excuses. In this most recent case for declining test scores, Covid-19 policies are being blamed. But does this one test tell the whole story? What is the difference between NAEP and Pennsylvania when it comes to the purpose for assessments?
The NAEP administered test is an identical assessment given across all states. Where NAEP administers a national assessment, and the results used to inform decisions for the education system as a whole, Pennsylvania’s standardized tests are aligned to state standards and assess the efficacy of schools under the control of local school districts. Pennsylvania designs and administers its own assessment, which generates data for both the student and school pertaining to the teaching and learning of required academic standards. In some schools, less than 10% of students achieve proficiency in a subject.
The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) is administered in all Pennsylvania public and charter schools across the state. Notice that the second S in PSSA stands for School and not for Student. While the results can be misleading, the PSSA is not an evaluation of a student’s ability to learn. Instead, the PSSA is a measure of a school’s effectiveness to teach; specifically to teach academic standards mandated by law. As directed below by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, improving curriculum and instruction for students, and providing them the necessary opportunities to achieve success, is the responsibility of local schools and the districts that supervise them. Chronic failure cannot be blamed on Covid-19. Parents and taxpayers deserve answers, not excuses.
The annual Pennsylvania System of School Assessment is a standard-based, criterion-referenced assessment which provides students, parents, educators and citizens with an understanding of student and school performance related to the attainment of proficiency of the academic standards. School districts possess the freedom to design curriculum and instruction to ensure that students meet or exceed the standards’ expectations.
Individual student scores, provided only to their respective schools, can be used to assist teachers in identifying students who may be in need of additional educational opportunities, and school scores provide information to schools and districts for curriculum and instruction improvement discussions and planning. www.education.pa.gov
Is your local school successful at teaching academic standards? What do the data tell you? https://www.education.pa.gov/K-12/Assessment%20and%20Accountability/PSSA/Pages/default.aspx