Decisions+Based+On+High+Stakes+Assessments

**The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has been and continues to use high stakes assessments (such as PSSA's and Keystone Exams) to make decisions on curriculum, academic standards, graduation requirements, and what strategies could be considered best teaching practices. Assessments are tools used on a daily basis within classrooms, and necessary for educators to administer.** **However, students, parents, educators, and the general public question the use of particular types of assessments** **to** ** make decisions **** on a larger scale **** (school wide & school district wide) ** ** on budgets, curriculum, academic/extracurricular programming, and grant funding. ** **All of the decisions and efforts made by PDE are for increasing the success of a student with post-secondary goals,** **whether it is to possibly enroll into college or join the workforce.** **High stakes assessments follow a student from Kindergarten to graduation.** **I have reviewed a scholarly journal article, in which educators presented several profiles of students that failed reading assessments and thoroughly explained what skill deficits were present that contributed to the below proficient scoring.** Click on this link to view article ---> **This article presented the dilemna of the relevancy of High Stakes Assessments to the decisions made by School Boards and Administrations in relation to the implementation of Reading and Writing Skills remediation. How can one test taken by students on reading comprehension, reveal basic skill deficits in decoding, fluency, and word vocabulary? In other words, how can a child be tested in his or her understanding of a reading piece if they have trouble reading and understanding individual words?** The study reviewed in this article was conducted in Washington State, however, the study conducted in this particular journal is a reflection of all schools nationwide. Reading and Writing is a critical skill to have in any field of study, or line of work. The high stakes assessments provide educators with data and essential information on academic progress. However, the validity and value of the tests are not reaching full potential.
 * __ A Brief Mention of High Stakes Assessments __**
 * How can we make high stakes assessment more valid for further decision making in the classroom? **

**Keep in mind, that while this journal focuses on high stakes assessments, we should also consider that it is a collaborative effort for every person in your child's academic career. It is the responsibility of EVERYONE to ensure that every child's needs are being met, so that** **NO CHILD WILL BE LEFT BEHIND.** **I also take that to heart, especially for those students with special needs and learning disabilities.** **//__Ideally__, we want to avoid this....//**

**In all efforts to do so, speak up and be heard. It definitely takes a village to raise a child, so let's all work together!** //**Click the link above for my research and more in depth reflection on Buly & Valencia's journal article.**//