The Reading and Math Assessment will be administered to 7th and 8th grade students March 25 – 27, 2014. The reading assessment will address the use of effective reading strategies and students will be questioned about their comprehension of what was read. The math assessment addresses eleven major standards categories. Students will respond to both multiple choice and open-ended tasks in these tests. These assessments are intended to evaluate performances of individual students and to provide comparative data about the school’s reading and math programs.
The Writing Assessment will be administered to students in 8th grade homerooms on April 1 – April 2, 2014. This assessment will include a multiple choice section on revising and editing and three writing prompts or questions. The writing assessment provides a measure of a student’s ability to develop, organize, and express their ideas in a variety of writing modes. The assessment is intended to evaluate the performance of individual students and to provide comparative data about the school’s writing program.
The Science Assessment will be administered to 8th grade students on April 29, 2014. The science assessment will address the four major elements of science: The Nature of Science, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Earth and Space Sciences. Students will respond to both multiple-choice and open-ended questions.
A copy of the individual student results will be sent to the school district for distribution to parents, teachers, guidance counselors and principals. The state will not receive any reports with individual names included. Results will be reported by school for curricular and planning purposes. School districts will publish the results of PSSA testing for each school. The state will also release school-by-school assessment data.
Since the PSSA is designed to help determine the quality of school programs, all students in grades 7 and 8 will be included. If parents do not want their child to respond to a specific prompt or to participate in the assessment due to a conflict with their religious beliefs, they must first review the tests by contacting the High School Guidance Office on or after March 18, 2014. They must then write a note to the School District Superintendent, Mr. Steve Gobble, to excuse their child from the assessment.