A Parent's Guide to PSSAs and Other Education Acronyms

 My third grader has mentioned the PSSAs. I know it’s a state test, but I’d like to know more about it and how I can help my child pass.  What do you know about this test that would help me understand it better?
Sharon C.

PSSA is an acronym for Pennsylvania System of School Assessment. It has evolved over time beginning in 1998 with earlier versions of a similar testing process.

Eventually, the State Board of Education adopted new regulations and the PA Department of Education (PDE) initiated a standards based assessment system.

These regulations can be found in the Pennsylvania Code Title 22: Chapter 4 Academic Standards and Assessment.

 PSSA measures what students have achieved in reading, mathematics, science and writing according to Pennsylvania’s world-class academic standards. 

By using these standards, educators, parents and administrators can evaluate students’ strengths and weaknesses and implement strategies to help students increase their achievement scores. 

 Standards means that the state sets a target score using a standard that clearly describes what a student should know and be able to do at a given grade level and the goal of the school is to provide the appropriate instructional programs to meet that standard. Schools are challenged to make Adequate Yearly Progress, commonly known as AYP.

 According to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, (NCLB) students must be 100 percent proficient in reading and math by 2014. Consequently, the target scores rise accordingly each school year.

Learn more about the Standards Aligned System and the academic standards by visiting this website: http://www.pdesas.org.

This year’s testing window opens on March 14 and runs through April 8. Students are assessed in these subject areas at these grade levels. Visit the state education department's website for details.

Subject

Gr.3

Gr.4

Gr.5

Gr.6

Gr.7

Gr.8

Gr.11

Math

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Reading

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Writing

X

X

X

X

X

Science

X

X

X

X

X

X

The PSSA target scores for this year, 2011 and next school year, 2012 are:

2011Target Scores

Reading

Math

72%

67%

2012 Target Scores

Reading

Math

81%

78%

Another important acronym relative to student assessment is PVAAS which stands for Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System.

This is not another assessment that students must take, but as PDE describes it, “PVAAS is a statistical analysis of PSSA assessment data, and provides districts and their schools with progress data to add to achievement data. This new lens of measuring student learning provides educators with valuable information to ensure they are meeting the academic needs of cohorts of students, as well as individual students. PDE continues, “To help you understand PVAAS analysis, think of academic progress in terms of a child’s physical growth, and the growth charts utilized by a child’s physician. Growth charts are an important tool for monitoring a child’s development, but they are just one of the indicators used by the physician to ensure a child is growing at the minimum expected level and on the trajectory to grow as expected. A physician would not use a growth chart in isolation to diagnose a child; however, the growth chart would provide valuable information that may warrant further exploration.” 

For the first time since PVAAS was instituted, there is a public access site that provides clarification and details about PVAAS and what it means to students, schools and parents. Click here to access this website: https://pvaas.sas.com/evaas/signin.jsf

 There’s lots more information about statewide testing and the interpretation of scores. If you want to know more about how specific schools are doing compared to other schools with similar demographics, you can check out AYP Facts.

Riverview School District has its Academic Standards and Assessment portion of its Strategic Plan posted on its website.

 More information about Plum Borough School District’s academic progress is available from a school pdf file.

 I realize that this is a ton of information to digest, especially for busy parents, so I recommend that you check out one or two of the websites linked throughout this article and get acquainted with the resources and data they provide.

So much to learn; so little time! Remember, no one ever said it was going to be easy to be an involved, engaged parent of school-aged children. 

May not be easy, but it certainly is worth the investment. Read, learn and apply.

 
Speaking of acronyms in education, there are so many abbreviated expressions that teachers and administrators use in conferences and other conversations, it’s sometimes really confusing to translate them all into the language of the lay person. Surely there must be an acronym “cheat sheet” that can help me remember what those letters all mean.
Phil K.

 Well, Phil, you are in luck.  There have been many acronym dictionaries, glossaries and lists published by many educational institutions. I’m going to draw from several of them and give you the citation where you can find more information if your appetite for acronyms is avaricious.

Allegheny Intermediate Unit 3 recognized this problem and posted a list of community use acronyms on their website. If you’re curious about the meaning of IEP, IDEA, MDT or OVR, here’s a helpful resource. This A to Z list will help to clarify the questions you have about educational terminology. Check it out at AIU3.

 If that doesn’t satisfy you or you can’t find the meaning of ERIC, ESOL or FERPA, and then check out this list from the Education Oasis. This list should quench your thirst.

 North Carolina is not only a great vacation spot, but its Department of Public Instruction is a useful clearinghouse for the translation of acronyms.  It even offers a Spanish version!

 Georgia’s Department of Education has a similar resource, as does California’s Department of Education.

Finally, NCREL — oops, I did it again and used an acronym. The North Central Regional Education Laboratory offers an extensive list of acronyms and educational terms along with some hot links that provide additional clarification and resources.

Satisfy your curiosity about the alphabet soup of public education at these sites and you’ll become a more informed parent. This can only be a bonus for your children. Inquire, invest and integrate.