The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has directed specific modifications to the PSSA Test Administration protocols. The modified protocol states that the individual(s) administering the PSSA test cannot be the student’s primary teacher. Prior to the notice, PDE only “strongly recommended” that the test administrator or proctor be an individual other than the student’s primary teacher. PDE now is requiring that all schools abide by this modified protocol; this is no longer a recommendation.
Schools are asked to revise their test administration plan according to the new directive, which states that the individual(s) administering or proctoring the PSSA test cannot be the student’s primary teacher. The Office of Accountability is interpreting this to mean that students cannot be tested by their teacher of the given subject, e.g. Math sections cannot be administered or proctored by the teacher(s) that provides the student with mathematics instruction. In cases where the primary teacher provides instruction in both Math & Reading, then that teacher cannot be involved in administering or proctoring any component of the test to his/her students.
