Education Reform

We are students from Millersville University taking a class on civic change where we have spent the semester researching education reform in Pennsylvania. One of our main concerns is the use of standardized testing in PA schools and how that relates to education reform.

We are writing because we want to call to attention the impact standardized testing can have on students and how school districts are ranked within the system. The pressure of these tests can be damaging: some students may feel pressured to cheat, and some teachers may feel pressured to focus on test prep instead of other subjects, at the detriment of overall student learning.

We believe that test scores do not necessarily reflect a student, a teacher, or a school because of other environmental factors that might affect test outcome. Lower-income school districts often do not have access to the same opportunities as other schools, such as newer technology and relevant textbook material. As a result, the students in these districts struggle to perform well and adhere to the standards that this testing sets for every individual student.

On average, students will take 112 mandatory tests throughout the duration of the school career (K-12) and take up 20-24 hours each school year. The time that is spent with heavy focus on the academic factors of the Every Student Succeeds Act could alternatively be spent focusing on school quality. This time could be better spent focusing on the aspects of school quality that are required by the Every Student Succeeds Act, such as career readiness and solving chronic absenteeism.

In Lancaster county, PA alone, the disparities between school districts with adequate funding and those without are quite noticeable. On the 2019 PSSA/Keystone testing, students from Manheim Township, Penn Manor and Cocalico scored an average of 87 percent in language arts, 80 percent in math, and 96 percent in science. In lower-income areas, such as Columbia, students scored an average of 43 percent in language arts, 23 percent in math, and 56 percent in science on the same exams.

Basing every student’s academic success on the same testing without the same preparation and opportunity is unfair. We understand, however, that funding for these lower-income districts is much easier said than done, nor is it our main concern. We believe that, even with these inequalities and environmental factors, standardized testing should not determine the academic standing of individual students, but rather assess them in a way to determine if they need further educational assistance.

Ultimately, we believe that standardized testing in Pennsylvania could be modified in ways that eliminates much of our concerns with the current system.

We know that this is a very complex issue, which is only made more complicated by federal requirements to test students in reading and math, so we understand there are no simple solutions. Also, we understand that data is important to help identify struggling students or schools. However, we think there could be more creative solutions to make sure that student learning is not lost for the sake of data collection. We urge everyone to look into how standardized testing can negatively impact students and how Pennsylvania can be leading in the push to revolutionize how we ensure students are receiving the best education possible.