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PSSA 2024 Parent Webinar

Added Apr 08, 2024 •

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Informational Session regarding the 2024 PSSA Testing at WOLCS.

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and again I am the pssa coordinator my email address is located at the bottom of the screen at T Rivera at Wilkes. Org if you have any questions I'd like introduce our Wilkes leadership team doctor Deborah people's leading the CEO Miss Sheila Mosely R C O S & C A O of course Miss Charles Etta Ziegler principal of k28 Misty Lloyd assistant principal 628 ebony Goodman assistant principal 4325 Maisha Goodman assistant principal for K2 to miss Peggy Middleton is the director of climate is Tiffany Davis send the director of special education Miss Christina the Sarah the director of literacy and Miss Christy Miss Kirsten Davis who is our director of curriculum and instruction today our agenda will be sing about the general information and schedule of the pssa the prep preparing for the test special education services and the preview and opt-out option so today you will learn about the upcoming pssa please use the Cuban a button to ask any questions throughout the presentation okay so what is the pssa the pssa is the Pennsylvania state assessment and the pssa measures the understanding of grade levels skills for standard the Pennsylvania Pennsylvania require all students in grades 3 to 8 to take the pssa for grades 3 to 8 they are going to be assessed in ela and in Matt and grades four and eight are going to be assessed in science this is a requirement in the state of Pennsylvania requires all of our students and 3 to 8 to take this the pssa the standard of the days for the pssa for ELA usually takes about the bug 3 days and it's about an hour and a half per day for the testing for math it is about two days and it'll be two hours per testing session and for science it is for two days and it's about 1 hour recession there are important dates of course today we are here for our webinar on Wednesday April 10th our parents will have an opportunity to come and preview the test from 12:15 to 2:15 and then again at 3:15 to 5 but I think it's 5 yes that is correct sorry about that and then our pssa will begin on April 22nd with the ELA assessment this assessment will be done on the 22nd the 23rd and then Thursday the 28th Friday will be open for any Ela assessments that need to be made up for any of those grades on April 29th our math assessment will begin and that would be on the 29th and 30th and then on Thursday May 2nd and Friday May 3rd is the Science assessment for fourth grade and eighth grade only during that time math and Ela makeups for third fifth set a 6 and 7 will also be taking police at that time and then we have a week of pssa makeups from May 6th through the 10th the way that our chest is going to be administered this year are third 4th 5th and 8th grade students will be taking the online pssa at assessment and our 6th and 7th graders will be taking the paper and pencil assessment some information for students of course they must come in and in their uniform to school on these days they must report at 7:45 it is very important that students get here on time so that they can have breakfast be prepared for the testing if students arrive at school by 8:45 he or she may not be able to take the test and will need to make up their test during make up their that Miss section during makeup students should bring one book from home this book should be a non content-related book so it should not be any King on learning anything about English or math or science it can be a fiction book of poetry nonfiction novel short story magazines anything like that however it cannot be you know something related to the content and of course is very important for students to bring a refillable water bottle with water already in it just so that they have it what students should I bring is any no any Electronics so no electronic should be bought by any student at all they should leave these at home they will not need a computer we will have that for that far as any smart watches or apple watches are fitbit's those are strictly prohibited and students bring a cell phone they would be asked to turn it off and turned it in to the teacher or Proctor during the test the state guidelines require us to report any incidents of students caught with a cell phone or any electronic device during testing to the Pennsylvania Department of Education if soon start have a cell phone or any electronics at this time that you know there will be disciplinary action that will happen if they're you know bringing it out and they will have to retake the assessment again if your student misses a day of pssas again we will have that make up time from May 6th through May 10th students will be missing any if they miss any sessions during the pssa these sessions will the makeup will take place during the school hours on these dates the student will be missing core instructions if makeup is if I make what is needed so please do your best to come to school during the pssa dates great ways to prepare your students for the pssa would be to have them get a good night It's Time at that time to take the electronics away I know with my kids they like to be on their cell phone and different things like that so we want to make sure that that is all the way from them teaching them good relaxation techniques teaching them how to stretching how to take deep breaths and different things like that these are great strategies that you can practice with your child so that they can be comfortable using them the day of the test make sure that you review the expectations all of the rules and making sure that they know so that there are no electronic devices to be brought to school or anything like that making sure that they're keeping their eye on their own tests and really just following all of the protocols of the testing it's important for your child able to choose a book that they would like to read Because during the testing they will not be able to do any drawing or any coloring they have to either put their head down or choose a book to bring home from choose a book to bring from their home of course to bring their water bottle and filled filled each day and for our 6th and 7th graders you can go on Google Google bubbles for sheets so that they can begin to practice the bubbling techniques and for our students and 3rd 4th 5th and 8th they can use a computer just to practice different typing because they will have to type out different prompts for their answers if your student receive special education services your student will be taking will be tested in small groups so students who have small group testing indicated on their IP or on their 504 plan they will be tested in a small group environment the students will test with a for special education or from the intervention team if you have any questions about special education services and the pssa please contact Miss Tiffany Thompson at T Thompson at work dot-org very important would be that our parents have the right to preview the test on April 10th of course and that is at from 10 to 12:15 until 2:15 p.m. and then we will have another session from 3 p 3:15 p.m. until 5 p.m. you will have the right to come in and back turns out that you have the right to preview the student pssa prior to the testing this is good for parents who are previewing to require I'm sorry parents who are previewing the test will sign will be with where to sign a confidential a confidentiality agreement stating that they will not share the contents of the test with anyone we ask that you turn in your cell phone no cameras photography or anything will be allowed in the previews if you are thinking of opting out of the pssas for religious purposes you must preview the pssa the pssa can only be opted out for religious purposes as we stated earlier in opting out all students in PA public and Charter Schools must are are are required to take the pssa each year and the only reason students can opt out is through religion for religious purposes parents who believe that the test may be against the religious beliefs will preview the test prior to opting out helping the student out of their pssa the parent must submit a written statement that the test is in conflict with their religious beliefs just keep in mind though that opting out of the middle of opting out of the test for middle school students in 6th and 7th grade will affect their High School application because of school district and many of the other high schools are looking at the 6th and 7th grade pssa scores in order for them to get two high schools and then opting out for any to any student has a negative result has a negative effect on the Wolves participation score and I think it's really good for our students to really just get the hang of starting to take the PS2 play so that by the time they get into 6th and 7th grade they are familiar with it and they they they are more comfortable and taking and taking all the all of the testing so please please please carefully can before opting out your student from the pssa that is all that I have for you does anyone have any questions or is there any clear clarification that that needs to be Miss Tasha there was a question in the chat regarding how did they go about I'm coming in to preview the tested and it sent an email or anything or do they just show up at the school that is correct. They can just come to the school let us let security know that you are here to to preview the testing and then I will take you down to the boardroom and we will sign everything that we need to sign and then you can preview the test from there thank you so much thank you any other questions the only thing I like to add is just for parents as well be doing here in school just really encourage your children to do their very best this testing. Can be really stressful for some students as he's well with a hand raised if you could type your question in the Q&A for me please but we know we really want to get naked student about it being an opportunity an opportunity to show what they've learned to show how much they've grown over time, so just begin to encourage them even now to go to work hard and to apply what they already know some of the questions will be kind of difficult for them but to persevere and just keep going and do the ones they know and at least get started I'm at home right now when they're doing their math they should be drawing pictures of the models and I'm using their calculator when they're supposed to do that using a ruler things like that I'm when they're reading making sure that they're taking their time and actually reading what they're and answering the questions I'm all of that stuff in those are things that you can begin to do at home now during the pssa testing when they come home each day ask them how it was and what their experience was like and you know validate their experiences and their feelings and then help to motivate them to continue to go back in and do their best a severe so they call Home Instead long and it was boring and I got tired of reading all those messages I looked in there and it was a lot of passengers I had to read and you do just in Courage them and congratulate them for working harder than and persevering and just encourage them to go back again and let them know how excited that you'll be to see how they do and then to see what those test results look like for them and I also wanted to add that for the online testing students will have an opportunity to practice the online testing in what tools they have to use in different things like that so it's not like we're just going to give them the test and they're not going to know what to do we will be teaching them in the classes that you know how to use the house the responses how to use the tools whether it's a highlighter or the calculator so all of that will be shown to them by the by their teachers Miss Tasha there was a question in the Q&A about breaks will there be a break allowed during the test so if you can speak to a little bit to the factors to text sometime this how that works with students to beat the test is on time if students do need a do you know we do ask that they close there there book and they can get up and stretch and you know things like that you know everything is monitored where the student can't you know they will have that from brakes and different things like that but you know we and in this the test is also an Extended test so if your student is not done the test at the same time that everyone else is they will be taken to the gym so that they can continue their testing without you quit being disrupted or anything like that so there are there are opportunities for breaks especially for our special education small group sessions they will they will have frequent break and I'll set to bet on while there's not like a class-wide schedule break because it is a testing session that has two that we don't we don't want to break it up we're not supposed to do that but will be encouraging students you can talk to your child Sue about little stretching there and I'll take a stretch breaking things like that we do typically give them peppermint just to give them a little boost a little sugar Joe and give them you know something to  on while there testing I'm in the water helps as well there was a question in the chat what will be a benefit for parents of preview the test so the benefit for the parents of review the test if you feel like it may be against the religious religious beliefs then you should definitely you have to come in and and preview the test you know we can't just say so it's against my religious beliefs without coming in in Italy looking at it and and and making sure that you know that that is against your religious beliefs but really just for that that's a purpose of it but you know if you if you wanted to come in just to kind of see the different things that are going to be asked and kind of get an idea of what the testing kind of looks like yes I'll ask that as well that you don't be having the opportunity to come in and do the test I'm you get to see again idea of the length of parades in the past you will have enough time to sit and read through it and you know the purpose is not for you to go home and you know drilling is if you don't kill your kids around you know here's what I saw on the other try to memorize all that on the Earth around but you do get to see that there will be several passes on their pretty long and so you know we really do need to get to bed on time I really do hate to hear you read longer Passages at home and in you do looking at the math and saying like you know I did pick me see a couple of things on it do you know how to use a ruler let's look at that you know what I mean I thought that you don't you may be of use a calculator there going to be work problems on their whatever and do things like that so just say it gives you a just an idea and in a quick view of what your child is about to experience and what they're about to you do go through and better enable used to have conversations with some at home around what to expect as well as I'm way that you can that way when the kid comes home and say that text was so long I was going to die I had to be I know I saw it too and you know that's awesome and I'm glad that you were able to do it you know kind of it so you would you have an idea of what your child will be experiencing there was a another question that what does texting look like for a 504 or IEP third graders now on their reading math grade level so they will be am in small groups for their for their testing session if a student needs something to be read then you know there are certain things that can be read within the testing but for the most part you know that they do have options Proctor to help them like with the read along and at with her with reading the the package or something like that to them not the passage reading the information to them out loud it is not a test that's going to be read out loud to the whole I mean to the whole class but it will if a student has a question they should definitely raise their hand it and ask because they they they will be able to assist them as bad as well just so that we even if students are not reading on grade level two test is one great mouthful and so if even if a student has a 504 or an it and they're not reading on grade level or they might not have a phone for 9 p.m. great level B will take their grade level assessment for there are no alternative versions of that assessment where to get take one that's a little easier or below level of it is to assess how every student in that grade is doing I'm at that great level on those grade level standard which is why even for students who have IEPs if I will for if they still do receive instruction at grade level are in school during the school day and then you know they aren't they get the additional support around the guests are other areas where they may need some additional support so I'm that will be on grade level as well any accommodations that are provided you know it could vary somewhat from child to child base what in their IP and based on what they need so the small group testing is for some students and maybe not all students with an it if that's not what you require a written to the IP and so you know that that buries us well and if you want me to revisit or you want to review any of the specifics that are all are currently in the IEP and 504 plan but you know what kind of accommodations your child will receive you can reach out to Miss Thompson special education department are there any other questions if so you can quickly type it in the Cuban a and just once again thank you all for coming out please please please take very seriously ensuring that your children are getting B one time if not earlier than they're used to getting to bed on time this is a good time if you don't normally do it to take those cell phones away at night so that they're not tempted to go on and you know the blue screen and all of that and then stay up a little bit later I'm also Leverage I will receive breakfast here at school will provide breakfast in the classroom if your child typically doesn't eat breakfast here or they typically don't eat breakfast you may want to encourage encourage that a bit more than me that brain energy first thing in the morning and would have to persevere and have the stamina to really attend to the test and work through it sits long you know it's a long time to sit and work and and really use your brain and soul really you don't encourage them to to eat breakfast to eat breakfast here at school trying to get them here on time as much as absolutely possible by 7:45 is best when when students are coming in even if they're coming in right at 8 or 8:01 you're rushing they get their day off and then into a fresh start and it's harder to settle yourself is double your body and that's true every day but is certainly true when you have to settle and really now sit and take a test so please I'm do your very best make sure that they're getting here ahead of time and on time for sure the next question the chat is what are the apparent preview preview dates again so that is April 10th and the mine is from 12:15 to 2 let me just grab my stuff from 12:15 to 2:15 and then again from 3:15 to 5 any other questions okay alright but thank you so much for for participating this evening and taking the time out to learn little bit more about the pssas if you have any other additional questions you can feel free to a team Rivera at Wilkes

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