The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) is comprised of multiple assessment anchors that represent categories of subject matter (skills and concepts). A strength profile (low, medium, or high) is assigned for each anchor by weighting the anchor raw score by the difficulty of the items. This report examines the percentage of students who scored in the high, medium, and low strength profiles on each of the 3rd grade ELA PSSA assessment anchors from 2014-15 to 2018-19, identifying differences in strength profile patterns by student demographic group.

Key findings for each assessment anchor:

• Key Ideas and Details: All demographic groups saw an increase in the percentage of students scoring in the high strength profile between 2014-15 and 2018-19, but Asian students, White students, and non-economically disadvantaged students saw larger increases than other groups.
• Craft and Structure/Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: All demographic groups saw a decline in the percentage of students scoring in the high strength profile between 2014-15 and 2018-19, with the exception of Asian students, non-economically disadvantaged students, and English Learners (ELs), who either saw no change or a one point increase.
• Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: All demographic groups saw a decline in the percentage of students scoring in the high strength profile between 2014-15 and 2018-19, but students with an IEP and ELs saw smaller decreases than other groups.
• Types of Writing/Conventions of Standard English (Writing): Nearly all demographic groups saw a decline in the percentage of students scoring in the high strength profile between 2015-16 and 2018-19, with non-economically disadvantaged students, students with an IEP, and ELs decreasing by less than other groups.
• Literature Text: All demographic groups saw an increase in the percentage of students who scored in the high strength profile from 2014-15 to 2018-19, with the largest increase observed for non-economically disadvantaged students.
• Informational Text: Most demographic groups saw an increase in the percentage of students who scored in the high strength profile on the Informational Text 3rd grade ELA PSSA assessment anchor between 2014-15 and 2018-19, but Black/African American students, Hispanic/Latinx students, Multi-Racial/Other students, and economically disadvantaged students saw no change.

Use the button to download the report.