Pennsylvania has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reduce the emphasis on standardized testing in our children's public schools. PA lawmakers MUST support this effort.

As part of its plan to comply with the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the PA Department of Education (PDE) has proposed ending the use of the School Performance Profile (SPP) as the tool to share information about school quality with the public.

The SPP reduces the measure of school quality to a single number that is based almost entirely on student standardized test scores. It forces schools to overemphasize standardized testing because student test scores determine if a schools is labeled as passing or failing.

PDE has proposed replacing the SPP with the Future Ready PA Index, an interactive dashboard that will share comprehensive information about public school performance. The Future Ready PA Index will NOT label schools with a single number. Instead, it will provide the public with a comprehensive picture of what is happening in our schools so that parents and community members can make their own judgments about school quality based on their own criteria, including:

• chronic absenteeism and graduation rates;
• standardized test scores and student growth;
• how many students take advanced classes or attain industry credentials;
• the progress ELL students make toward English language proficiency; and
• how successful students are after graduation as they transition to post-secondary education or training, the workforce, or the military.

Lawmakers say that they support Pennsylvanians who oppose an overemphasis of standardized testing in our schools. We need them to stand with us and support the Future Ready PA Index. Our schools are more than a number and our students are more than just test scores.