Standardized tests are failing

In classrooms across Pennsylvania, students are engaged in an annual tradition of taking standardized tests.

While these assessments can play an important role in their education, many would agree that the spotlight on tests and scores has overshadowed the great teaching and learning that should be the focus in our schools.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education agrees.

Since day one, the Wolf Administration has made education a top priority and has fought to improve public education by championing historic investments in classrooms, honoring our educators, and exploring ways to reduce the emphasis on standardized tests.

At the governor’s direction, the Department of Education has crisscrossed the commonwealth working with communities and educational organizations to identify ways to ensure students are prepared to succeed after they graduate.

This collaboration has led the Department of Education to offer recommendations to tackle the issue of over-testing.

First, Pennsylvania should stop relying on results from a few point-in-time assessments to evaluate how schools are doing.

Results from the PSSAs and Keystone Exams account for up to 90 percent of a school’s School Performance Profile (the state’s current school measurement tool).

This is why the department is adopting the Future Ready PA Index as the forward-facing school evaluation tool in the 2018-19 school year.

Future Ready PA would retain some measures from the SPP, but broaden the indicators to weigh how schools are doing at preparing all students for post-graduation success.

In addition to test scores, Future Ready will emphasize growth, access to high-quality programs, and follow-up to see how students are doing after graduation.

Next, with new flexibility under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced No Child Left Behind, Pennsylvania can update the state’s assessment practices.

Two of the items Department of Education is considering are reducing the amount of time students in grades 3 to 8 spend testing.

We are also eliminating “double testing” for middle school students who take Algebra I.

Finally, Pennsylvanians know that the Keystone Exams shouldn’t be the only ticket to a seat at commencement.

In 2016 the General Assembly unanimously passed, and Gov. Wolf signed, a law delaying the use of Keystone Exams as graduation requirements until 2019.

Part of the law required the Department of Education to investigate and report findings and recommendations on ways Pennsylvania students can demonstrate postsecondary readiness.

In the Department of Education’s report, which was released in August 2016, the department recommended retaining the Keystones as an option for students to graduate.

We also outlined other options to demonstrate readiness including using the ACT or SAT, or earning certificates in career and technical education programs.

Expanding these options for students to show they are prepared for college or career success will allow them to pursue a wider range of study and to demonstrate their readiness for college, high-demand industries, or the military.

Underscoring these assessment-focused initiatives is the Wolf Administration’s commitment to improving educational outcomes for all students regardless of zip code, including historic investments at all levels.

We believe that education must move beyond the cookiecutter approaches of the past that relied on narrow strategies for school improvement and limited paths to graduation.

Pennsylvania’s communities, economy, and expectations have evolved.

We owe it to our students to prepare them for the challenges they’ll encounter.