There’s some debate among county school districts about the importance of administering the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test for students in third through eighth grade and 11th grade.

Brian White, Butler Area School District’s superintendent, said he believes there are “much simpler ways that would take much less time to do” regarding the documentation of academic skills and learning that was interrupted during the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. He expressed frustration that the U.S. Department of Education did not waive or shorten the test this year to allow students more time to learn.

On the other hand, David Foley, South Butler County School District’s superintendent, said the test will show the effect on learning during the back-and-forth of virtual and in-person classes for students.

“We think it’s important to get a snapshot of our students right now,” he said.

Regardless, the state Department of Education says that the tests will take place, even if they are slightly later than usual. Some might take place this spring or as late as the start of the next school year.

It’s not difficult to see both sides of the debate regarding the importance of the PSSA, which was canceled last year because of the pandemic.

There have long been complaints about the test.

Some say it’s disruptive during the spring semester and that instructors end up “teaching to the test” to meet specific standards. Others complain that some standards are not represented adequately in the PSSA categories or that the test removes local control — in other words, the state is determining what is required, rather than local elected officials.

On the other hand, the test could be a decent way to gather data on how much students learned during the pandemic.

The pandemic has been extremely disruptive for the most recent school year. Let’s hope the upcoming one will be less topsy-turvy.

As COVID-19 rates went up and down in communities across the county, students bounced back and forth between virtual and in-person learning, often taking part in one format for several days a week, while engaging in the other during the remainder of the week.

So while we agree with the notion that the PSSA — or any standardized test — shouldn’t be given outweighed importance in determining a student’s proficiency level, it could be an important data point to be considered among others to determine how much learning was interrupted during this unconventional school year.

— NCD