PSSA Accommodations for All Students Guidelines for administering the PSSA Test What you can and can not do!

Changes in Test Environment Time: The test administrator should extend the amount of time allotted for each section of the test, if needed, to allow students to finish the test without having to rush. The PSSA is not a timed test. However, do not allow any overnight extensions. Also, you may not go to a special, lunch, or other activity, and then return to a test. Scheduled breaks The test administrator may schedule opportunities for students to move around the room and/or take breaks. Students should be monitored during any break to ensure test security. (We may want to plan this at the same time to reduce noise) Place: You may use study carrels. You may rearrange seating. To reduce distraction, a student may need to be tested in a room separate from the larger group. Grouping: Small group testing-Some students may require a testing environment with fewer students. Other students may require testing in a setting separate from all other students.

Assistive Devices/Special Arrangements *Students normally use word processors may use them for the PSSA test. Students with illegible handwriting may use a word processors. (Spell checkers, grammar checkers and all other supports must be turned off.) *A test administrator must then transcribe students’ responses into his/her answer booklet. Under no circumstances may the answers be altered. *ELL students that use translator devices in the classroom may use them during PSSA testing.

Assistive Devices/Arrangements (cont.) *Special paper such as graph paper, large lined, or widely spaced paper may be used. Highlighters, place markers, graph paper, and reading windows are also allowable. Reading windows, also called “window frames” (paper guide with a hole cut out), are used to help students focus. *In addition, students may use scratch paper, but any markings on the scratch paper will not be scored. Answers must be transcribed onto the PSSA Answer Booklet.

Other Accommodations *In grades 4-8 and 11 students may mark answers in the test booklet, including drawings and graphics. Highlighters may also be used. However……….. Responses must be transferred onto the PSSA Answer Booklet. *In grade 3 students respond directly in the PSSA Test Booklet. They may use highlighters, but must be very careful to avoid stray marks. Students should avoid marking the bubbles, avoid marking in the open-ended response areas, and avoid marking the black marks along the edges of the paper. If a highlighter mark strays over the answer bubble, the item cannot be scored correctly.

Other Accommodations (cont.) Dictation to an Administrator: *You may have a few students who normally dictate their answers to a scribe as part of their regular classroom accommodations. For example, you may have students whose handwriting is so illegible it cannot be scored or who have a broken arm. For those students, use of a scribe is an appropriate and acceptable accommodation for the Mathematics, Reading, and Science PSSA.

Other Accommodations (cont.) *On the Writing prompt, dictation is not allowed, but the administrator may transcribe illegible handwriting or a student-typed response. A test administrator must transcribe the student's responses into his/her PSSA Answer Booklet. They must not alter student answers under any circumstances. * For the Writing Prompt, the teacher may not in any way assist, support, direct, or have any input in the student writing to guide the outcome of the written piece.

Other Accommodations (cont.) Reading Aloud: For the Reading Test, after the test directions are read from the administrator’s manual, NOTHING may be read aloud from the Student’s Test Booklet Multiple-choice and stimulus passages on the Writing Test may not be read to students. However, on the Writing Test, the writing prompts may be read to individual students. Test administrators are not allowed to read any portion, multiple-choice and open-ended, of the Reading assessment except for the directions in the administrator’s manual. Test Questions may be read aloud for Mathematics and Science only for the small number of individual students who might need this accommodation….Not to the entire class. A test administrator may not define a word.

Other Accommodations (cont.) Marking an answer booklet at student direction: *Test administrator may mark a PSSA Answer booklet at the direction of the student for multiple-choice questions only. For example, with multiple-choice questions only, the student may point to his/her response and the test administrator must record the student's responses in his/her PSSA Answer Booklet.

Other Accommodations (cont.) Providing Visual clues: The accommodation guideline booklet states “A test administrator may use visual cues in the assessment directions, such as highlighters and stickers”. Clarification of this statement: After speaking directly to the Bureau of Assessment and Accountability, the above statement means providing visual cues in a procedural manner. (Example….highlighting the turn the page arrow or the stop sign in the bottom corner of the pages.) Simplifying directions: The accommodation guideline booklet states “The test administrator may simplify the language of the directions as necessary……” Clarification of this statement: After speaking directly to the Bureau of Assessment and Accountability, the above statement means simplifying directions in a procedural manner, NOT simplifying any test question. (Example type……fill in the bubble of the correct answer means color in the circle in front of the right answer.)

Accommodations NOT Allowed: *Helping the student eliminate some multiple-choice items. *Pointing to key phrases in test questions for students. *Pointing to correct answers on the assessment. *Posters on the walls with formulas, vocabulary, definitions, or anything that would help a student decide on an answer. (No word walls) *Helping a student to use a highlighter in the questions, text, or answers. *Giving students a lunch break, unsupervised break, stop the test for a special, or finishing a test the next day. *Reading ANY portion of the Reading PSSA, except for the administrator’s manual. *Reading aloud the multiple-choice and passage portion of the Writing PSSA (You MAY read the Writing Assessment Prompts) *Giving students reference materials for any of the PSSA tests. (No dictionaries, no spell checkers, no thesauruses)