The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment testing, which began in 1995 as the Pennsylvania Assessment Test, has generated considerable controversy throughout its existence. Even now, significant numbers of educators continue to dislike the testing because of the amount of time they feel they must devote specifically to readying students for the tests.

But the Butler County test results from the 2006-07 school year confirm why having a benchmark for measuring or judging quality of instruction is important.

It is because of PSSA that improvements in special education instruction have been implemented at Butler Junior High School and Seneca Valley Senior High School.

Both schools were in the category of needing corrective action in regard to special education; both schools had failed to meet educational targets for several consecutive years.

Now both schools have earned a place in the "making progress" category, important in terms of the schools' standing under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Adequate yearly progress is a requirement of the federal law. As an article in Tuesday's Butler Eagle noted, schools must meet certain targets overall and in all subgroups, such as special education and minorities, in order to receive a "met AYP" designation.

Those targets involve such things as students scoring proficient on the tests and meeting attendance and graduation requirements. When a subgroup or the overall school doesn't meet one or more of the targets, it is given a designation from "warning" to "corrective action."

Too many years of failure could result in a school or school district being taken over by the state for remedial action.

It is reasonable to conclude that without PSSA, the two schools in question might not have emphasized improving their special education programs to the degree that obviously has been done.

The testing identified a need for improvement and, commendably, the schools have responded in the right way, approaching the problem from a number of different directions.

As Michael Strutt, a Butler School District assistant superintendent, pointed out, the corrective effort involved tracking the progress of special education students, special tutoring and, in general, bringing those in special education into the mainstream classroom with a support teacher.

"We made significant progress," Strutt said. However, he said, in order to get to the AYP designation, a sustained effort would be necessary.

"Perhaps we even need to do more," he said.

Like all others, special education students deserve the opportunity to make the most of their lives, and that starts on the educational front.

Thanks at least in part to the PSSA, they have a greater opportunity for the special attention that their more-limited capabilities demand.

Even those who oppose the testing on the grounds that it removes a measure of control from local school districts should be willing to acknowledge that the testing has important benefits.