ular PSSA item, the student is told, "Jim earned $127.59 last month." In the PSSA-M, the sentence is shortened to "Jim has $128." While the wording is simpler on the PSSA-M, both ask the student to choose an estimate of 20 percent from four possibilities.
Dr. Hoover said that teachers who gave the PSSA-M in math last week said students liked being able to write the answers in the test booklet. They also said the test better assessed math skills because the wording was easier to understand.
Clairton assistant superintendent Elisabeth Ehrlich said the standard format of "one-inch margin and lots of text and usually divided into two columns" creates "more obstacles than necessary."
Dr. Ehrlich, who beileves there should be additional levels of the state tests, said some struggling students give up on the regular test.
"You can never really tell whether that student who struggles could have performed at grade level if he hadn't lost hope," she said.
In Fox Chapel Area, where the high school and Kerr Elementary missed making AYP last year because of a special education subgroup, data research analyst Alicia Gismondi said, "The simplified format, the kinder numbers, the reduced number of sections should really be helpful for our students who struggle academically."
In Pittsburgh Public Schools, where some schools have missed special education performance targets, spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said about 230 students will take the PSSA-M. District officials hope the test will provide a "real picture" of what students know, she said.
Baldwin-Whitehall superintendent Lawrence Korchnak called the new test "long overdue." Whitehall Elementary School missed making AYP last year because of a special education subgroup. With the new test, he said, "I think it will give you a much more valid result."
Education writer Eleanor Chute: email@example.com or 412-263-1955.