‘Less testing, more learning’: Governor Shapiro says in announcing changes with standardized tests

BELLEVUE, Pa. — Changes are coming to standardized testing in Pennsylvania.

Governor Josh Shapiro was joined by fellow state Democrats in announcing the plans during a stop in southwestern Pennsylvania on Thursday.

“Less testing means more learning, it means empowerment for our teachers and our students,” Shapiro said during the press conference, which took place inside Northgate Middle School in the Northgate School District.

By 2026, all districts in Pennsylvania will have students complete the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) and Keystone exams online.

As it is now, about 30% of schools, including those in Northgate, offer online testing.

Shapiro said that the effort will provide students with a format that many are more accustomed to. Eventually, the tests will be modernized with more technology-enhanced questions.

“When I actually took the tests, the online format felt familiar now that much of my school work is done on a Chromebook,” one student said. “It felt no different from doing normal homework.”

The changes will allow students to wrap up the tests sooner, leading to more time instruction time in the classroom. Teachers will also be rid of having to deal with administering the paper and pencil tests and the subsequent boxing and returning of materials. Exam results, Shapiro said, will also come back faster.

“Then teachers can use the results to help students get back on track before school is out for the season,” the Governor said.

Shapiro told news crews that the Department of Education is meanwhile working on new benchmarking tools to help schools assess if kids are on track prior to taking the standardized exams.

If he could, he said, he’d eliminate these tests altogether, but doing so would result in Pennsylvania losing $600 million in federal funds.

“We are working with our federal partners to see what we can do to ease the requirements on states,” Shapiro said.

Last fall, some state Republicans also expressed their desire to replace PSSA testing with benchmark testing technology.

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