skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump vows to pursue executions after Biden commutes most of the federal death row; Mississippi group working in 71 counties to end homelessness in Mississippi; Farmers no longer feeling Farm Bill anguish, but relief might be fleeting; Addressing Montana's expanding 'news deserts.'

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

President-elect Donald Trump considers reclaiming Panama Canal. Lawmakers are uncertain Trump's cabinet will help everyday Americans and, advocates feel Biden must reconsider clemency actions.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural folks could soon be shut out of loans for natural disasters if Project 2025 has its way, Taos, New Mexico weighs options for its housing shortage, and the top states providing America's Christmas trees revealed.

Teachers: Now is the Time to Reexamine Testing in PA Schools

play audio
Play

Thursday, October 6, 2016   

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The latest school-level scores on statewide standardized tests show some improvement over 2015, but education advocates in Pennsylvania caution they don't tell the whole story.

A slightly higher percentage of public school students passed the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment - or PSSA - and Keystone Exams in 2016. But Jerry Oleksiak, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said the scores from high-stakes testing only give a snapshot of education in the state.

"They don't tell us everything we need to know about our schools,” Oleksiak said. "So, while we're happy to see some of the progress being made, my question is always, 'What is that costing us in terms of the things we are giving up in our schools?'"

By the time students graduate from high school in Pennsylvania they have taken more than 100 standardized tests.

According to Oleksiak, students now spend more than 100 classroom hours a year on test preparation alone, while many are sacrifice things like art, music and elective courses.

"Things that our kids love, that keep them in school,” he said. "We need to focus on what we know works for our kids, and filling in bubble sheets on standardized tests do not do that."

He noted that standardized tests are now being used not only to evaluate students' academic achievement, but also teacher performance.

In late 2015, Congress passed the "Every Student Succeeds Act," a successor to "No Child Left Behind." Oleksiak said he sees the modified testing requirements of the new law as an opening for positive change on the state level.

"We're hopeful that our Department of Education and the Wolf Administration will look at this and see this as an opportunity to take some of that emphasis off the high-stakes testing that's going on in our schools,” he said.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
Juana Valle's well is one of 20 sites tested in California's San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast regions in the first round of preliminary sampling by University of California-Berkeley researchers and the Community Water Center. The results showed 96 parts per trillion of total PFAS in her water, including 32 parts per trillion of PFOS - both considered potentially hazardous amounts. (Hannah Norman/KFF Health News)

Environment

play sound

By Hannah Norman for KFF Health News.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the KFF Health News-Public News Ser…


Environment

play sound

Animal rights organizers are regrouping after mixed results at the ballot box in November. A measure targeting factory farms passed in Berkeley but …

Environment

play sound

Farmers in Nebraska and across the nation might not be in panic mode anymore thanks to another extension of the Farm Bill but they still want Congress…


Immigration law experts say applying for asylum status can be very lengthy, and that programs such as Temporary Protected Status can fill the void for people fleeing violence elsewhere in the world. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

With 2025 almost here, organizations assisting Minnesota's Latino populations say they're laser focused on a couple of areas - mental health-care …

Social Issues

play sound

A new report found Connecticut's fiscal controls on the state budget restrict long-term growth. The controls were introduced during the 2018 budget …

Beef tallow is made from parts of the cow that are not sold as meat and are transported instead to rendering plants. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

By Jessica Scott-Reid for Sentient.Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Arkansas News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collab…

play sound

By Julieta Cardenas for Sentient.Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Texas News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration …

Social Issues

play sound

Cities and states, including Mississippi, are grappling with rising homelessness. In Mississippi, 982 people experience homelessness daily…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021