News in brief
Extra dose of testing planned this year
Extra Court's voucher ruling stirs action in PA
Hotline for parents addresses school issues
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News in brief
Extra dose of testing planned this year
The busy schedule of standardized tests in the School District gets even busier this year - particularly for grades 3, 5, and 8 - with several major changes to the testing routine.
First up is the state’s writing assessment, which will be given to grades 6 and 9 beginning October 7. (Eleventh graders also take the writing test, but not until February.)
Later in October, a new standardized test will debut in Philadelphia, between October 21 and November 1. The TerraNova test - in reading, math, and science - is being given in place of the SAT-9 test, which had been administered in Philadelphia every spring since 1996.
Like the SAT-9, the new test is "nationally normed," allowing comparisons between Philadelphia students and others around the country. There is also a version of the TerraNova test for Spanish speakers, known as the Supera.
Also new this year is the decision that students in the testing program be tested every year in order to follow students' progress from year to year. The District will give the TerraNova to grades 3-10 in the fall.
District officials promise that the results on the TerraNova are available from its maker, CTB McGraw Hill, in 28 days. Slow turnaround on individual student results from the SAT-9 meant that the testing results came over the summer. Parents got results in the fall, in reports that many complained were difficult to decipher.
The fall TerraNova results will be used to establish a baseline for monitoring test scores in the District. To measure progress over the course of this year, the District will administer the TerraNova test again in the spring (April 21 to 30), this time in grades 2 to 10. District officials say that in future years, TerraNova testing will be just once a year in the spring.
Once again next spring, the District will also administer the state’s PSSA exam, which is given in reading and math. PSSA testing dates are March 25 to April 9. Third graders will be included in that test for the first time, as well as grades 5, 8, and 11. The state will also be introducing a science PSSA, which will be tried out on grades 4, 7, and 10 between April 28 and May 9.
Extra Court's voucher ruling stirs action in PA
In the wake of a June U.S. Supreme Court decision that a school voucher program in Cleveland is constitutional, officials in Harrisburg are again debating whether to provide state funding for vouchers to help parents to pay for private and religious schools.
The Supreme Court ruling said that taxpayer funds could go to religious schools as long as families have other schooling options available.
In one voucher-type initiative, State Rep. Dwight Evans from Philadelphia has authored "The Chance Initiative." He says it would "provide educational alternatives" by allowing students in Philadelphia and other "failing" schools and districts to transfer to other public or private schools and have the per-pupil school funding allotment follow them to their new school. Action could come on the proposal before the end of the legislative session November 30.
Opponents argue that vouchers would siphon scarce state resources away from already underfunded public schools, and that private schools should not get taxpayer funds because they lack accountability and do not have to serve all students.
Hotline for parents addresses school issues
Philadelphia public school families looking for answers about their schools and the recent changes in the School District have a new information source they can call.
The Philly Public Education Connection, a hotline for parents and community members, has been launched through a partnership of 10 local organizations. The hotline provides answers to questions on school-related issues and connects callers to parent and community organizations working on these issues. It is staffed by both English and Spanish speakers.
Sponsoring organizations include the Notebook as well as Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth, the Education Law Center, and the Philadelphia Education Fund.
The hotline can be reached at 215-563-9057. Questions can also be asked through a web site - www.phillyedconnection.org - which includes fact sheets on commonly asked questions as well as access to school-by-school data for Philadelphia.