Students try to take the fear out of PSSA
Standardized tests don't have to be scary.
An 11-minute video produced by a TV production class at Kittanning High School scheduled to air tonight on WIUP (Channel 20 for Adelphia subscribers) attempts to put their fellow students' minds at ease when taking standardized tests.
The video focuses specifically on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test, which is being used as a measuring stick for student progress and whether schools are making adequate yearly progress as required in the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Jonathan Szish, school and community relations coordinator for the district, said the students came up with the idea and put together the program on their own, adding that it provides “creative, light-hearted advice to their peers who will be facing the state exams in April.”
In the program, Kittanning High School guidance counselor John Colberg explains the importance of the test — that it can affect grant money given to the school by the state, that it could negatively impact a student's schedule for the upcoming school year and someday might even affect whether they get into college.
“Colleges right now are not asking for those scores, but being part of the (high school) transcript, they may start asking for them,” he said in the video.
The PSSA test focuses on student's abilities in reading and math, and each section of the test is explained by senior Nick Miller in a unique way in the video.
The video also surveys Kittanning Senior High School students' perceptions of the state exam.
The five seniors who created, filmed, edited and produced the video were Veronica Bagoly, Kristen Daisley, Bethany Eroh, Anna Mercurio and Greta Storey.
Szish said Kittanning Senior High School Principal Jim Rummel plans to show the video to small groups of 11th-grade students just before the test is given during the first two weeks of April.
Other elementary and secondary principals in the Armstrong School District have expressed a keen interest in showing the video to their respective students, he added.
The state exam is given to students in grades 3, 5, 8 and 11.
People can watch the video on a special segment of “Education Today,” the Armstrong School District's new TV show, which is scheduled to air at 7 p.m. March 17, 18 and 19.
For more details, check WIUP-TV's community marquee on Channel 20 Adelphia or the Armstrong School District Web site at www.asd.k12.pa.us.
