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Bloomsburg Area School District |
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Math K-5 8/30/05 |
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Math K-5 8/30/05 - Addendums |
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Introduction
The Pennsylvania Academic Standards include standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Mathematics at levels 3, 5, 8, and 11. They were published by the Pennsylvania Department of Education in 1998.
Americans have long treasured children as our greatest national resource. We know that children who are educated have a brighter future - and they represent the future of ourselves, our Commonwealth, and our country. That is the reason that public education was forged - to enable children to participate effectively in our society as citizens. But our education system was designed early in this century - and times have changed.
The challenge facing education is to help students take their places and succeed in an increasingly complex world. In the past several years in Pennsylvania, there has been growing concern that too many children are leaving school without the skills they need to become productive adults. It has become clear that improvement is needed.
One way that educators, parents, and members of the wider community in Pennsylvania have accepted that challenge is to help students learn at higher levels than ever before. Standards are critical steps to meet the challenge.
Standards define what each student should know and do in a core set of subjects. They provide consistent targets for students, teachers and parents to meet.
Standards define what each student should know and do in a core set of subjects. They give students a solid foundation in the basics and provide consistent targets for students, teachers and parents. Standards allow schools to measure student achievement. They help parents, teachers, schools and school districts follow the progress that students make from year to year. Done right, aligned standards and assessments give us something that standards and curriculum objectives, by themselves, never delivered: the ability to see how well we are performing and how much we are improving.
Over 350 people throughout the Commonwealth assisted in the development of the standards. They included parents, business and community leaders, teachers, higher education professors, school administrators and Department of Education staff. In developing the Pennsylvania Academic Standards, the development committees reviewed and used national benchmarks, other states' standards and international academic standards.
According to the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (1997), the purpose of the statewide assessment is "to:
* determine the achievement levels of Pennsylvania students in the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics;
* provide results to school districts for consideration in developing strategic plans;
* provide information to state policy makers about student achievement and how schools in the Commonwealth are performing;
* focus the educational direction of educators in the field via sharing assessment results and providing widespread inservice on the assessment techniques used in PSSA; and
* provide information to the general public about student and school achievement."
"All school districts must participate in the reading and mathematics assessment each year. Beginning with the 1997 assessment all districts may participate in the writing assessment on a yearly basis. Required participation in the writing assessment coincides with a district's six-year strategic planning cycle. Writing assessment occurs before planning begins, after three years and at the end of the strategic planning cycle."
"The reading and mathematics assessments use a combination of census testing and matrix sampling procedures. Census testing requires all students to complete the same set of multiple-choice/selected response items and performance tasks, into several different test forms with an equal number of items on all forms. Matrix sampling helps to limit the time required for the assessment, provides for consistent administration procedures and reflects a broad curriculum content."
"As part of each test form in reading and mathematics, students are asked to respond to multiple-choice/selected response items. They also are asked to respond in writing to questions about reading passages and to explain in writing how they arrived at answers to mathematics problems. These performance assessments are included so students can explain what they are thinking and doing. The writing assessment requires students to respond to one of nine different prompts or topics in one of three modes of writing -- narrative/imaginative, persuasive or informational. The assessment results can be useful for various educational initiatives, such as a measurement instrument for a student's portfolio, development of a writing curriculum, or planning academic programs. The performance assessment tasks are intended to inform teachers and to serve as a model for the development of assessment tools by Intermediate Units and school districts."
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Ordering Information
For ordering information, contact:
Chester Upland
For ordering information, contact:
Central Cambria School District
208 Schoolhouse Road
Ebensburg, PA 15931
For ordering information, contact:
Scantron Corporation
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Copyright Information
Copyright 2003, Scantron Corp. and
Chester Upland
Copyright 2002, EdVISION.com Corp. and
Blacklick Valley School District
555 Birch Street
Nanty Glo, PA 15943
Copyright 2003, EdVISION Corp. and
Scantron Corporation
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