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Parents put to the test to understand the challenge PSSA poses to children

Parents put to the test to understand the challenge PSSA poses to children

Kim Perkins learned a firsthand lesson about the pitfalls of taking a test without getting the proper rest and nutrition beforehand.

Ms. Perkins showed up at Centennial Elementary School in McKeesport to take a version of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test similar to the ones her son will face the week of March 20. She came straight from her overnight shift in facilities maintenance at the University of Pittsburgh and hadn't eaten breakfast.

"I kept thinking, 'I need to focus,' but it was hard," Ms. Perkins said of the math test, which she took along with other parents who were invited to school to see what the test was like.

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Her score, a 70 percent, was far lower than she had expected.

Her experience was exactly what teachers and administrators at the school had hoped for when they offered parents a chance to experience taking a test similar to the state achievement test that pupils in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11 will be taking this month.

Teachers stress the need for a good night's sleep and a healthy breakfast each day during the week the tests are administered.

In fact, the district thinks breakfast is so important that it serves it before pupils take their PSSAs, Centennial Principal Pamela Gordon said.

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"I had just come off of work at 7 a.m. and I was tired," Ms. Perkins said. "I was reading the questions, but I was reading some of them wrong."

She said she could see the importance of making sure her son, Anton, who is in third grade, gets to bed early during test week. "I got to see what he will be going through," she said.

Ms. Perkins was among 37 parents who signed up to come to the school's computer lab during one of three sessions offered Tuesday. The invitation went to parents of pupils in grades K-3.

The parent test-taking was part of a series of activities taking place as part of Centennial's buildup to taking the PSSAs. Tonight, there will be a dance at the school called Boogie on the way to the PSSAs, at which Ms. Gordon said she planned to dance with the children.

Next week, the third grade pupils will play a version of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" which will use questions covering material that will be on the PSSAs. They'll be able to pull out all of the stops using 50-50s, polling the audience and phoning a friend for help with answers, Ms. Gordon said.

The tests the parents took Tuesday in math, reading or both came from CDs created by Triumph Learning which are used as practice tests for the pupils.

Though the real tests taken by the pupils are done with paper and pencil, the practice tests are given on a computer and the scores are tabulated as soon as the test taker finishes. The pupils use the practice tests to find their areas of academic weakness, Ms. Gordon said.

The principal said she and her staff came up with the idea to let the parents take the tests when they were brainstorming about ways to share information about the upcoming state assessment exams and how to best prepare their children.

They discussed a Power Point presentation, but then came up with the idea that they decided would give parents the most complete information about the PSSAs.

Ms. Perkins wasn't the only parent to have a rough experience. Another mother, who didn't want to give her name, was suffering from a sinus infection while she tried to take the test. She said she was hot and uncomfortable and had trouble concentrating and could see how it would be difficult for a sick child to perform well on the tests.

Leona Mols, a computer lab technician who administered the tests, said some parents were overwhelmed by the tests. "You have to really read. You have to really work at the problems," she said.

Some children challenged their parents to try to score better than they will when they take the test this month. Other parents had bets about their scores with their spouses. "One woman wanted the test results printed out so she could share them with her husband," Mrs. Mols said.

Centennial PTA President Susan Ross took the test. She has a daughter in first grade who won't take the PSSAs for two more years. But her daughter in sixth grade and son in ninth grade have taken them. Now she knows what they face.

"You have to really read the question. The one math problem I missed, I did not read the question correctly," Mrs. Ross said. "Even as an adult taking a third-grade test, it wasn't an easy task. I can see where the kids would be stressed out."

First Published: March 9, 2006, 5:00 a.m.

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