Q: What would you personally change about the PSSA’s and why?
A: I wish it had more open-ended questions instead of so many multiple choice questions. As objective as the questions may be, there are multiple things to get out of it”. Students can look at a simile and think they know what it means but get confused when the answer they had in mind is not an option. They get extremely flustered.
Q: In one sentence, how do you teach to the test without teaching to the test?
A: “Go above and beyond and connect it to the test”.
Q: What is the hardest part of teaching the test/administering the test?
A: Making the students care about the test is the most difficult part for me. There are no stakes for the students so they definitely do not take the test as serious as they should. Plus, state-to-state, the standards are so different so there is almost no bearing on the results. Students just see the PSSA test as a test they have to take. They do not consider it as important, let’s say, as an in-class test they will receive a grade on.
Q: Would you abolish the PSSA test if you could? Why or Why not?
A: I would not necessarily abolish them, I would refine them. First of all, I would make standards universal across all the states so that when the states compare the scores, everyone is placed on the same scale. For one, “ESL student should NOT have to take the test nor should the Special Education students”. They need to create tests specifically for ESL and Special Education students if they want to assess their comprehension and knowledge. It is completely unfair that those students are graded on the same scale of the other students. I might even raise the stakes on the test if it were up to me!
A: I wish it had more open-ended questions instead of so many multiple choice questions. As objective as the questions may be, there are multiple things to get out of it”. Students can look at a simile and think they know what it means but get confused when the answer they had in mind is not an option. They get extremely flustered.
Q: In one sentence, how do you teach to the test without teaching to the test?
A: “Go above and beyond and connect it to the test”.
Q: What is the hardest part of teaching the test/administering the test?
A: Making the students care about the test is the most difficult part for me. There are no stakes for the students so they definitely do not take the test as serious as they should. Plus, state-to-state, the standards are so different so there is almost no bearing on the results. Students just see the PSSA test as a test they have to take. They do not consider it as important, let’s say, as an in-class test they will receive a grade on.
Q: Would you abolish the PSSA test if you could? Why or Why not?
A: I would not necessarily abolish them, I would refine them. First of all, I would make standards universal across all the states so that when the states compare the scores, everyone is placed on the same scale. For one, “ESL student should NOT have to take the test nor should the Special Education students”. They need to create tests specifically for ESL and Special Education students if they want to assess their comprehension and knowledge. It is completely unfair that those students are graded on the same scale of the other students. I might even raise the stakes on the test if it were up to me!
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