Pa. State Tests Are Getting Shorter Starting Spring 2018
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Pennsylvania students will spend less time filling in bubbles with number-two pencils next spring, under standardized test changes announced Monday morning.
The PSSA tests are getting a little shorter. The state education department has been working for more than a year to streamline the PSSA exams - the standardized reading and math tests given to third-through-eighth graders.
Governor Wolf, speaking at a school in Harrisburg Monday morning, announced that starting in the spring of 2018, there will be fewer questions on the PSSA, reducing the time spent taking the exams from eight hours to about 6 and a half.
"This is not to dilute accountability. This is not to reduce standards. This is actually to try to make the way we test ourselves, the way we try to make sure we have accountability, that we're doing it right."
The move comes as the state prepares to move to a new holistic school quality measure, the Future Ready PA Index, that relies less on standardized tests.