Test Fatigue

From the BCCT this morning.

Schools blast state for PSSA changes
Testing will be done from April 15 to May 15, a time when juniors will be preparing for final exams and Advanced Placement tests.
By HILARY BENTMAN

On the eve of the new school year, some local administrators are positively reeling.

The source of their beef is a late announcement about a change to the testing dates for this year’s PSSA, which administrators said will wreak havoc with their already-established calendars and monopolize an entire month of instructional time at one of the most critical periods of the school year.

“It would be a lot of days lost in the fourth marking period,” said Council Rock Superintendent Mark Klein.

Each year, students are required to take the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments, which tests students in math, reading, writing and science. The math and reading tests are for students in third through eighth, and 11th grade. The science test is given to students in fourth, eighth and 11th grades. All are required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The goal is to have all children proficient by 2014.

The state also requires a writing test but that is not required by No Child Left Behind.

In previous years, these exams, which can last two to three hours a day, were spread out over several months, with test windows lasting several days at a time.

But the Pennsylvania Department of Education informed districts on Wednesday that the PSSAs will be given during a four-week window from April 15 to May 15, which the department said is being implemented upon the recommendation of educators surveyed around the state who thought this was less disruptive to learning.

“Educators wanted to see more time with kids in the classroom,” said PDE spokeswoman Sheila Ballen.

But shortly after the new schedule was released, the department began receiving calls from school administrators around the state upset with the move.

Council Rock administrators sent emails to the state education department and was prepared to join other Bucks County districts in sending a letter of protest to the PDE, Klein said.

On Friday, the schedule was removed from the department’s Web site and replaced with a note saying “COMING SOON: Stay Tuned for More Information on the 08-09 Testing Schedule.”

Ballen said the department would consider the administrators’ comments and “try to find a solution.”

“We truly hope they do so,” said Klein. “Otherwise it’s seven to 10 days of one marking period.”

A condensed four-week testing schedule fails to hit the mark for several reasons, said local school principals and superintendents.

For some students, particularly juniors who are tested in all four subject areas, it means they will be sitting for exams two or three days a week. Administrators are concerned they will lose what amounts to a month of productive instructional time during a period when they should be preparing for final exams and Advanced Placement tests.

Eleventh grade “is one of most crucial years for a high school student. They’re building up a transcript and getting their best foot out” for colleges, said Mario Galante, director of special services for the Quakertown School District. “It’s almost like an oxymoron. We have to get kids up to standards and they’re taking more instructional time away from kids.”

The Advanced Placement tests begin on May 5 and will overlap with the PSSA. Administered by the College Board, AP exams, which can award students college credit, must be given on specific days. The PSSAs are flexible and will have to be moved around to accommodate students.

Juniors will be pulled out of classes, interrupting not only their instructional time, but that of the sophomores, juniors and seniors who are in some of their classes, officials said.

Administrators worry about test exhaustion and question how effective students will perform on the PSSAs under this new set-up.

“It’s gone from bad to unconscionable,” said Souderton High School Principal Sam Varano. “Our 11th graders are going to think that testing is all that school is about.”

The state, he added, “has thrown high schools across the state off for a solid month. They couldn’t pick a four-week time period that was more crucial.”

Adding to their woes is the timing of the announcement.

Many school districts had already printed their calendars and were preparing to distribute them to parents.

The new testing dates means having to rework the schedules for everything from special school programs, to teacher inservice days, to community events. Families will also be unable to take trips during this time because students must be in school for the exams.

“We build everything around the PSSAs. Now I’m blown out of the water,” said Upper Moreland Superintendent Robert Milrod, who called the state irresponsible and said his initial reaction was to band together with other Montgomery County schools and draft a letter protesting the move.

Although the department of education said schools are always told that PSSA dates are tentative, “we were admittedly late in telling them (of the changes). We understand the schools’ concerns,” said Ballen, who said the PDE is hearing from
Education department officials had been waiting for the completion of contract negotiations with the test provider, DRC.

The Minnesota firm provides the state with its PSSA exams and was coming off a five-year contract. Ballen said the state could not announce the testing dates until the new contract was officially signed.

Varano acknowledged that the department indicated the schedule was tentative, but said “you don’t do anything this important on the eve of the school year.”