PASA Test Performance Descriptors and Cut Scores Revised (July 26, 2017)

At its July 10, 2019 meeting, the PA State Board of Education approved PDE’s recommendations for Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs) and cut scores for the revised PA Alternate System of Assessment (PASA) tests in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics for students with significant cognitive disabilities who are unable to participate in the general state assessments. The revisions were required to be developed because the assessments were redesigned to encompass two levels of complexity, instead of than three. During the 2018-19 PASA test administration cycle, the ELA and mathematics tests were revised. The revisions, aligned those tests with the two-tier structure. Thus, moving forward each tested subject will consist of two tiers of complexity at every grade level.