Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) FACT SHEET

Office of Accountability, Assessment and Intervention

The annual Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) is a standards-based, criterion-referenced assessment used to measure a student's attainment of the Pennsylvania academic standards while also determining the degree to which school programs enable students to attain proficiency of the standards.
Individual student scores can be used to assist teachers in identifying students who may be in need of additional educational opportunities. School results provide information to schools and districts for curriculum and instruction improvement discussions and planning.
PSSA annual aggregate results and trends of these results are the major determinants of whether schools and districts make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as stipulated in the Commonwealth’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) accountability system.

Beginning in 2006, and to be in compliance with assessment stipulations of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), every Pennsylvania student in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 is assessed in reading and math. (Note: A small number of students with severe disabilities take the PASA – Pennsylvania Alternative System of Assessment.)
The table below shows the grades tested (shaded gray) by year and the year in which the grade-level results were counted in the calculation of Adequate Yearly Progress (“X”) by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Note that 2001 (school year 2000-2001) was the first year PSSA results for grades 5, 8, and 11 were expressed as performance levels: Advanced, Proficient, Basic, and Below Basic.

At the request of PDE, the Human Resources Research Organization (HUMRRO) conducted validation studies of the PSSA and the findings support the test content as an appropriate sample of the skills, knowledge, and understanding that are representative of the Pennsylvania content standards.

In March 2008, the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) was administered to students in grades 3 through 8 and 11. Results from all tested grades will be used to measure Adequate Yearly Progress in 2008.
Approximately 85,000 students (this total and the results below DO NOT include charter schools) in the School District of Philadelphia were assessed in reading and math.
Statewide results will be released on August 18 (tentative).