Pennsylvania Educators Criticize State Decision To Start Using Test Scores For School, Teacher Evaluations This Year.

The Allentown (PA) Morning Call (10/3, Palochko and Tatu) reports the Pennsylvania DOE will use the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) scores from next spring to evaluate schools and teachers. Some educators are asking for more time to prepare before the scores are used this way. Pennsylvania State Education Association spokesman Wythe Keever said, “The tests were designed to be more rigorous. To really make this an effective change for teachers and students, there needs to be more time to prepare for it.” Last year’s test scores showed a 35% drop in math scores and a 9% drop in English scores after standards increased making the tests for difficult. The state waived the use of last school year’s scores from being used for evaluations because the tests were so much more difficult than what they replaced.