Keystone Exams at B-A are set for the second week of May. While administrators will benefit from having students access the test online, concerns remain over risks of technical problems during a test that’s as important as this test.
Those concerns were underscored by technical problems experienced across PA last week when middle and elementary schools administered PSSA tests. This is the first year all schools in PA are required to complete the tests online.
Grades 3-8 have to take the PSSA’s (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment). Keystones are assessments that evaluate the student’s ability to share what they have learned in the trigger courses of Biology and Algebra I, along with years of Literature skills. PSSA’s are assessments designed to determine how well students are learning the Academic Standards at their particular grade level. Keystone tests are graduation requirements for all BA students.
However, due to a statewide problem, many schools around the commonwealth, including Tyrone, cancelled PSSA tests on the Tuesday last week because the system froze.
According to Myers Elementary Principal Mr. Matthew Stinson, B-A was able to avoid the problem. Due to Myers Elementary testing later in the day, he said, they were fortunate to avoid the technical problems with the site after most schools had logged off the server.
Test administrators seem to like the idea of online digital testing, as it saves money, time, and physical work. In the past, school officials would have to wait for the tests to arrive, unload them, carry them to their designated location, sort them, put stickers on, and finally send them to the respective classes. That’s a lot of work in order to set the test up for the students.
Bellwood-Antis is lucky enough to have the technology to make this easier for school officials by delivering the test online, and there have been benefits.
“One of the biggest wastes of money in education that I observed was the shipping costs associated with sending tests and answer sheets across the country, in a secure environment,” said high school principal Mr. Richard Schreier.
Another advantage of digital testing is removing the physical busy-work needed to ensure the tests are secure.
“Once the tests arrive at schools, an advantage is that school personnel don’t have to account for all the tests and then place stickers on each one,” said Dr. Donald Wagner, Bellwood-Antis Middle School Principal.
Despite the upside, there are risks with any type of electronic testing. The first day of the PSSA’s last week was disastrous, with the servers going down when schools needed them most, but there are many other potential obstacles. Internet systems could crash, apps could not work correctly (as shown on the first day of PSSA’s), students could experience log-in troubles, and the best, and probably the most common tech issue, devices could run out of battery energy.
Despite the difficulties associated with online testing, school officials see benefits in PSSA and Keystone tests, themselves.
“The assessment results will also help the district with curriculum development. Student performance on the exams also tells the story of what academic standards are or are not being taught well in the classrooms,” Mr. Schreier said.
The Keystones will run from May 12-May 15. All tests will be digital.
