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Parents practice PSSA test in hopes of preparing kids
By Amanda Clegg, aclegg@altoonamirror.com
POSTED: February 18, 2008
Pencils scratching across paper and heads bent in concentration, adults practiced what their third-grade child or grandchild will face when the PSSAs roll around next month.
Teachers held a parent workshop introducing them to the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test last week at Logan Elementary.
Third-grade teachers Mary Lilly, Justina McCaulley and Debbie Smith led a small group of parents through reading, writing and math examples.
“It’s definitely a team effort, so any information we can give to the parents will help the kids,’’ McCaulley said. “We have wonderful parent support at Logan.’’
Smith said third-graders are curious about the test.
‘‘We do take it seriously,’’ she said. ‘‘We do give them all we can in support.’’
Smith said preparing the students begins in kindergarten.
‘‘They’re our kids, so everyone helps prepare them for this,’’ Smith said. ‘‘It’s a community here.’’
Joy Ollinger attended the program for her third-grade granddaughter Mira and planned to attend an additional session for her sixth-grade granddaughter Madison.
She said the girls have been talking about the test.
‘‘Mira wanted me to come. She has a lot of questions,’’ Ollinger said. ‘‘If I come and listen to the presentation, then she’ll be more comfortable with it because then she can ask me questions, too.’’
Ollinger said she wanted to see how in-depth the test is and the standards her granddaughter would have to meet. She said she works with the girls on their homework every night.
‘‘If they learn how to do all the tasks, they’ll do well with the test,’’ she said.
David Pearlman attended the program for his third child taking the PSSAs. He said he was nervous when his first child took the test, but it has gotten easier with each child. He said his daughter Elizabeth is excited about the challenge. The family practices telling time and counting money at home.
‘‘It’s fun, too,’’ he said.
At the beginning of a presentation on the reading portion of the test, Smith distributed a list of instructions to the attendees. The paragraph above the list advised the participants to read all of the directions before beginning.
The first instruction on the list was to get a yellow piece of lined paper. The second instruction was to place a heading on the paper for English.
Busy following the numbered instructions, the test takers failed to follow the advice to read all the directions before proceeding. The tenth instruction was to skip numbers one through nine.
“It’s all about being a careful reader,” Smith said, noting that the skill is a big part of the PSSAs.
Third-grade testing begins March 31.
Mirror Staff Writer Amanda Clegg is at 949-7030.
Teachers held a parent workshop introducing them to the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test last week at Logan Elementary.
Third-grade teachers Mary Lilly, Justina McCaulley and Debbie Smith led a small group of parents through reading, writing and math examples.
“It’s definitely a team effort, so any information we can give to the parents will help the kids,’’ McCaulley said. “We have wonderful parent support at Logan.’’
Smith said third-graders are curious about the test.
‘‘We do take it seriously,’’ she said. ‘‘We do give them all we can in support.’’
Smith said preparing the students begins in kindergarten.
‘‘They’re our kids, so everyone helps prepare them for this,’’ Smith said. ‘‘It’s a community here.’’
Joy Ollinger attended the program for her third-grade granddaughter Mira and planned to attend an additional session for her sixth-grade granddaughter Madison.
She said the girls have been talking about the test.
‘‘Mira wanted me to come. She has a lot of questions,’’ Ollinger said. ‘‘If I come and listen to the presentation, then she’ll be more comfortable with it because then she can ask me questions, too.’’
Ollinger said she wanted to see how in-depth the test is and the standards her granddaughter would have to meet. She said she works with the girls on their homework every night.
‘‘If they learn how to do all the tasks, they’ll do well with the test,’’ she said.
David Pearlman attended the program for his third child taking the PSSAs. He said he was nervous when his first child took the test, but it has gotten easier with each child. He said his daughter Elizabeth is excited about the challenge. The family practices telling time and counting money at home.
‘‘It’s fun, too,’’ he said.
At the beginning of a presentation on the reading portion of the test, Smith distributed a list of instructions to the attendees. The paragraph above the list advised the participants to read all of the directions before beginning.
The first instruction on the list was to get a yellow piece of lined paper. The second instruction was to place a heading on the paper for English.
Busy following the numbered instructions, the test takers failed to follow the advice to read all the directions before proceeding. The tenth instruction was to skip numbers one through nine.
“It’s all about being a careful reader,” Smith said, noting that the skill is a big part of the PSSAs.
Third-grade testing begins March 31.
Mirror Staff Writer Amanda Clegg is at 949-7030.
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View Comments: | 1-3 | Post a comment
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Youngandwise
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02-18-08 1:44 PM
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*of their state.
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Youngandwise
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02-18-08 1:41 PM
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Also, to the schools which prepare a child for the PSSA's--you are cheating yourself out of a valuable resource in assessing your curriculum and your teaching. Now, I know if you don't teach whats exactly going to be on the tests in the next few weeks (and that will be the motive-"You will see this on the PSSA") they may not know the answer. And if they don't get that answer correct--their goes your extra state funding. Boils down to the money, again. Don't cheat the school, the government, and the students by preparing the them. This should be done every single day of the school year, every single school year of their life. Just so you know this is realistic--I know of a private school who uses the standardized testing for its true purpose-to test their curriculum. The students have no preparation or clue that they will be taking the test until the night before when their parents are notified that they will need plenty of sleep and breakfast. They rank in the top 10% of the
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Youngandwise
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02-18-08 1:31 PM
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I wonder if most of these parents realize that this is not a test of their child's knowledge? I think most people have forgotten, or may have never been informed, that when standardized testing was put into place, it was to test the curriculum, not the student. It's deceiving for a 6th grade student to receive PSSA scores that tell them they are at a "11th grade Sceince level". The test really is to see what schools need to challenge their students more in their curriculum. My advice to those parents who get their childs scores--talk to your school if you are seeing below average scores in a certain subject. If you have an eager learner, your school is to blame, not your child.
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