The PSSA needs to be Banned: A Blog from a Frustrated Educator

May is approaching, and most teachers in urban education are probably drained by this point. Not to fear, there is something that is more draining than going through an entire year after the pandemic, and that is the PSSA's. If you are not aware of what the PSSA's are, it is simply a standardized test that public schools in the state of Pennsylvania have to take typically in 3rd-8th grade. You may be thinking, "Well, that can't be so bad", but in reality it is, and for many reasons than one. In this blog, I will be giving you reasons as to why the PSSA's should be banned, and then you can ultimately decide if you agree or do not agree. Deal? 

                                                   

             The PSSA's are Accountability Gone Wrong

In 2002, Pennsylvania developed the Pennsylvania Accountability Plan in compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act, so that they could measure school improvement, student achievement, and hold schools accountable. In a perfect world, where every child was receiving a great education, and every resource that they needed was accessible to them, than this plan would work, but unfortunately this is not the case, especially in urban education. The reality is that urban children do not receive the same education as their suburban counterparts, and this policy that was put in place just made matters worse. How can a child in an urban setting that has lack of resources, transportation, finances for tutoring or test prep, and are probably learning from outdated textbooks due to this policy ever going to pass this standardized test? The truth is that the odds are against them, and this is exactly what the government wants. This compliance plan ensures that suburban schools continue to thrive, and urban schools that serve low income students continue to fail. You may be wondering how? The answer is simple; funding. If schools cannot pass these standardized test then they do not get any funding, and if they do pass then they get funding. What has happened is that the government is funding areas with higher tax brackets that could probably already afford better materials to give their students a better education. and causing urban schools to have to fend for themselves. This here is where the injustice lies. The dreadful part about this all, is that this has been going on for more than two decades, and the test still has not been banned. 

         The PSSA's were not Designed for African American Children

As a Black educator, I have tried to find different ways to help my urban students pass this test. One of the main strategies I have used is using the past years PSSA samplers to help students get an idea of what will be on the English Language Arts section of the test. Many times, I hear the same comment: "I do not understand this passage Ms. Woodard." After reading the text, I understand why. The text are very bias and are not relatable to urban students in any way. One of the samplers I used talked about a treehouse, but what are the odds that a lower income urban African American student knows anything about a treehouse when they don't even have a backyard? That one passage would be more geared for a White suburban student who has a backyard to put a treehouse in, or who was probably exposed at one time to a treehouse. 

        The Pandemic should have been Enough to stop the PSSA

During the pandemic, everyone took a hit, but urban students took a more direct hit when it came to their education. During the pandemic, there were urban students who did not have access to a laptop, and even if the school was able to provide them with one, their parent may not have had money to pay for wifi to ensure they could learn virtually. Parents in lower income areas still had to work during the pandemic, and did not have the luxury of staying home, so many children were home unattended, and never opened their laptop for over a year, because there was no adult to hold them accountable. This means that children who already had a lack of resources before the pandemic started, now are farther behind after the pandemic, and the achievement gap that was already present between suburban schools and urban schools just became wider. As an educator, I see the downfall of the pandemic everyday in elementary urban schools. Children are in 4th grade, but on a 1st grade level academically, but the government somehow thinks it is fair to still give a grade level standardized test to students who are not even on grade level. It is absolutely outrageous!

I leave you all today with the hope that you too will educate yourself on the PSSA's, and even more so if you are a parent who has a child in 3rd-8th grade. In doing this, you too can challenge the systems that have been put in place to target certain children from ever getting the education they deserve, and to fight back to ensure every school gets the funding they need to ensure children can be successful in their academic careers and endeavors.