Parents and educators across Pennsylvania are starting to raise questions about the value and cost of standardized testing in reaction to reports that the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment scores from last school year plummeted throughout the state.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education is expected to release results of the PSSA tests given to students in grades 3-8 last school year within a few weeks. The schools will be sending the private, individual scores of students to parents and guardians.

The state’s preliminary estimates show the percentage of students who scored in the proficient and advanced range fell sharply. If the scores for Achievement House Cyber Charter School students do turn out to be much lower as projected, it will be important for parents, guardians and students to keep in perspective how the changes to the tests impacted the scores.

5 Reasons for Lower Pennsylvania Standardized Tests Scores

1. New Standards

The Pennsylvania Core Standards, which are based the Common Core Standards being adopted either in their entirety or in part throughout most of the United States, were fully aligned to the tests for the first time in 2014-15. Because the standards for learning have become more demanding in order to prepare students for success after high school, many of the questions were more difficult than in previous years.

2. Lack of Preparation

Pennsylvania Core Standards were adopted in late 2013, which did not provide schools and teachers with enough time to adequately prepare students.

3. Curriculum Misalignment

Content and courses previously taught in higher grades were moved to lower grades, and schools did not have enough time to adjust the curriculum to match the tests.

4. Cut Scores Raised

The benchmarks or cut scores were raised, making it more difficult for students to score in the in the proficient and advanced ranges. That will leave more students falling in the basic or below basic range.

5. No Comparison

The 2014-15 scores cannot be compared to previous PSSA tests because there were such significant changes. These scores are a new baseline to be used for comparison in future years.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has posted a one-hour video of a slide show with a detailed explanation of the new tests, including estimated statewide scores, comparisons to other standardized tests and the potential impact on the annual School Performance Profile building scores.