PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Standardized test scores went down in Pennsylvania schools last year, according to the state.
Some say it’s proof of pandemic learning loss, while others say the evidence is incomplete.
Scores on the PSSA and the Keystone exams fell nearly across the board, according to the state education department.
Tests in 2020 were called off as schools were closed for COVID-19. Districts were allowed to delay last year’s tests until the fall.
In a statement, House Speaker Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster County) said the drop in scores showed students were “struggling to recover from the many disruptions to their education” during the pandemic.
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In a normal year, 53,000 Philadelphia students take the PSSA. Last year, it was 9,000.
Philadelphia School District Chief of Evaluation, Research and Accountability Tonya Wolford said the district wasn’t using the scores for any district-wide measures because so few students actually took the tests.
“It had to be students that opted in to in-person classes, that didn’t opt out of testing and that were at school on the days that the actual tests were administered," she said.
Related audio: Masking guidelines are changing in many schools, and in general due to the changing state of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It’s going to be very likely that that’s not a representative sample.”
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association cautioned against using the scores to make general determinations of school performance, saying diagnostic tests administered at the local level provide a more accurate picture.
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