Bill O’Boyle: Shapiro takes action to reduce reliance on standardized testing

Apr. 21—Gov. Josh Shapiro this week joined Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin to announce changes to the state's system of school assessments that will reduce the amount of time students spend taking standardized tests, mitigate stress and anxiety around testing by adopting question types that match how students learn, help teachers spend more time teaching, and save the Commonwealth millions of dollars.

Shapiro has heard from Pennsylvania students, parents, and teachers about the burden standardized testing places on them — and he is following through on his promise to reduce reliance on those tests and ensure students and teachers have the flexibility they need to be successful.

The Shapiro Administration's three-part plan to update the state's standardized testing system includes implementing online testing over the next two years, adopting question types that allow students to use methods they are already familiar with — such as drag and drop, sorting and ranking, and graphic manipulation — and developing a free, optional benchmark assessment tool for schools to help educators better understand whether students are on track to succeed on end-of-year exams.

"I've made it a point to listen to the voices of students, teachers, and parents in my Administration, and I've heard loud and clear how much of a burden standardized tests can be," Shapiro said. "The changes will reduce that burden, shorten the amount of time students spend taking tests, and ensure schools get results faster so they can give students the support they need to succeed. Together, we can ensure that when our kids go to school they're doing less testing and more learning."

Shapiro said 32% of schools in Pennsylvania have already begun to administer online assessments. Over the next two school years, the rest of Pennsylvania's schools will transition from traditional paper-and-pencil testing to online testing for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) and Keystone Exams.

By 2026, all assessments will be online and PDE will begin to introduce technology-enhanced items such as drag-and-drop, sorting, and graphic manipulation questions, which students are already accustomed to using on a daily basis. Paper-and-pencil assessments will still be available for students who need additional accommodations.

Online testing has several significant advantages over the current paper tests, including saving the Commonwealth $6.5 million annually upon full implementation. The move to digital testing will also have significant environmental impacts, saving 85,788,522 printed pages annually and reducing our Commonwealth's carbon footprint through the reduction of printing, packaging, and shipping.

Additionally, online testing will ensure schools get results faster. Schools currently receive scoring reports throughout the summer months, making it difficult to use them for decision-making in student scheduling, course content alignment, and resource allocation. District educators, already overworked and wearing multiple hats, will save significant time by switching to online testing, ranging from 10-20 hours in small schools to dozens of hours or even days in larger schools.

Under the new system, educators will be able to deliver accommodations to students with disabilities more discreetly, and the addition of technology-enhanced items will further reduce testing time for students (and will potentially shorten the state's assessment window).

Pa. in national spotlight as state model to reframe aging and eliminate age bias

Pennsylvania Department of Aging Secretary Jason Kavulich recently joined aging network leaders from across the country in Washington, D.C., for the National Center to Reframe Aging's Summit 2024 — The Movement to Reframe Aging.

The summit centered around a collective goal to revolutionize the way we communicate, think, and act as we all share the universal experience of aging.

"It was truly an honor to represent our Commonwealth in that space and on a national level to discuss how we are changing the narrative about aging while learning what is being done in other states," said Secretary Kavulich. "We know that bias exists against aging. It is certainly something we are all encountering, especially within ourselves. It's critical that we change the way we all think and speak about aging to avoid perpetuating that bias."

The daylong summit brought together thought leaders, national experts, federal representatives, and local, regional, and state-based leaders to learn about the current movement to reframe aging, gain insight into what's next, and exchange ideas for advancing an equitable and complete story about aging in America. In addition to a live audience, attendees from more than 1,200 locations participated online internationally.

During the discussion, Kavulich noted how the Department incorporated best practices from the National Center to Reframe Aging while developing Aging Our Way, PA — the soon-to-be-released 10-year strategic plan for older Pennsylvanians that will help transform service delivery to create the age-friendly Commonwealth that all residents deserve now and in the future.

"As we were developing Aging Our Way, PA, we refrained from using words like 'vulnerable populations' to describe older adults," Kavulich said. "We were very conscientious in reframing the conversation about aging as being positive and something that we should all embrace."

To learn more about Aging Our Way, PA and the services and programs provided by the Department of Aging, visit PDA's website and Facebook page.

L&I's Autism Awareness & Acceptance Walk, Resource Fair benefits Pa. students

Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary Nancy A. Walker this week joined more than 400 autism-support students and educators from 15 Pennsylvania schools for the 2024 Autism Awareness & Acceptance Walk and Resource Fair.

The annual event is held at L&I's Hiram G. Andrews Center (HGAC) to celebrate autism awareness and showcase the state-operated facility's offerings of post-secondary education, pre-employment transition and support services designed for people with disabilities.

Established in 1959 and operated through L&I's Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR), HGAC specializes in providing barrier-free education and job-readiness programs to people of all backgrounds and ability levels. HGAC served more than 1,200 individuals in 2023.

"Individuals with autism — just like people with disabilities of all kinds — have so much to offer in the workplace and in the community," Walker said. "What HGAC and CTI staff do so well is help individuals unlock the potential that's already there so that they can thrive in a career of their choosing and achieve independence."

Prospective students, their teachers and families are always invited to tour the HGAC/CTI campus. Schedule a tour or inquire about applying for admission by calling 1-800-762-4211 or 814-255-8200. Information is available on L&I's website.

Pa. invests $204M to provide 40,000 homes and businesses high-speed internet

Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) Executive Director Brandon Carson this week announced that the PBDA has approved $204 million in Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP) grant awards to 53 projects in 42 counties across Pennsylvania that will connect 40,000 homes and businesses, bringing high-speed internet to over 100,000 Pennsylvanians.

The grants, awarded to businesses and non-profits, will be matched by more than $200 million in private investment. The combined investment of more than $400 million will expand broadband in unserved and under-served areas of the Commonwealth.

"The PBDA has worked hard to ensure Pennsylvania receives the funding we need to address access and connectivity issues impacting communities across the Commonwealth — and today's allocation of $204 million in awards is a significant step forward in getting more Pennsylvanians connected to high-speed, affordable internet," Carson said. "As Pennsylvanians increasingly rely on broadband to live healthy and productive lives, expanding access to the internet is essential to creating opportunity for folks all across our Commonwealth. These projects will leverage historic federal funding and private investment to connect communities to the internet — and the PBDA will continue working to make this a reality for even more Pennsylvanians."

Project applications were evaluated based on scoring criteria, including the size and scope of the unserved or under-served Pennsylvania community where the project will be deployed, the experience and ability of the applicant to successfully deploy high-speed broadband service, affordability standards that include a low-cost option, criteria to support Pennsylvania's workforce, a plan to ensure high adoption rates in proposed areas upon the project's completion, and more.

Funded through the federal Capital Projects Fund, the BIP awards grants for line extension and development projects, as well as large-scale regional infrastructure projects.

Visit the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority's website to learn more about its work to close the digital divide in the Commonwealth.

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.