PSSA's

[Shandawn]

Hi. Just a quick (hopefully) question. Can your child be held back if they do not pass the PSSA's?? My DD's teacher told her that the PSSA's must be done entirely in cursive and since DD's cursive is mostly unreadable I'm afraid she will do very poorly. The teacher also told her that if she does poorly on the test she will be held back. Well, I assured her that I will not allow her to be held back, but shes still worried even though the tests aren't until April.

Shes not on an IEP yet, but my letter was recieved & an assessment process has FINALLY been started. I intend to get it into her IEP that she does'nt need to write as much in cursive. This child has barely legible printing, let alone cursive (although I do make her practice).

[Mayleng]

I don't know about Pennsylvania, but in Florida (FCAT) and TAKS (Texas) the kids can be held back if they don't pass. However, in NY (ELAs) the kids aren't held back and my older son was told not to write in cursive for the ELAs because his cursive was so bad - this request was from his own teacher. You need to check with your State Education Dept. This is a good reason to hurry and get her a formal IEP.

[Beverly]

It can be in a 504 or IEP to have a scribe or use an alphasmart when extensive written work is required. In NJ they are absolutely allowed to print for the HSPA but they can and will be held back of they do not pass.

[Shandawn]

THanks for all the advice! I found the PA dept of EDucation website & downloaded the e-book that details every single accomodation allowable by IEP for the PSSA's. It was a huge help!