Local superintendents are upset with changes to the writing portion of the Pennsylvania State Standards of Assessment tests given last month.

Superintendents from the Commodore Perry, Farrell, Grove City, Hermitage, Jamestown, Lakeview, Mercer, Reynolds, Sharpsville, Sharon and West Middlesex jointly drafted a letter "expressing our views concerning the recent changes" to the writing assessment.

Students took the test during the week of Oct. 23. Jamestown Superintendent David F. Shaffer said schools learned of the changes about two weeks earlier.

According to the letter there were two main changes to the test. The first gave students half the time allowed in previous years to complete the test. The second prohibited students from using a dictionary or thesaurus during the test.

"As superintendents we take an oath to uphold the laws and regulations of the state," the letter said. "However, we want students, parents and community members to know that we do not support the current writing assessment."

Shaffer said he called the Department of Education to question the changes but was not satisfied with the answers.

Shaffer said he was told the test time was cut in half because the state now gives individual and group grades. To make grading more feasible, students must answer two questions instead of three.

Students were not allowed to use dictionaries or thesauruses because spelling and word usage ability are part of the essays, Shaffer said he was told. But, he said, the test is scanned quickly by two graders who assign a score; they don’t really have time to thoroughly check spelling.

Sharon Superintendent Richard A. Rossi said he was upset when he found out about the changes because staff members were working toward a goal with their students, and then the rules were abruptly changed. He said the state should have told the schools earlier so they had time to prepare.

Mercer Superintendent Dr., Lawrence Connelly Jr. said writing is taught as a process that involves many elements including the use of writing tools, prewriting and editing. Now the state is doing an assessment and "excluding the very elements we teach that are recommended by the department."

Rossi said the test is going to change again next year. He said students will take the test on computers which can check spelling. As a result, the state won’t grade spelling.

Even with the test changes, Rossi said the district is still aligning its standards to focus on writing, literacy and math. He said the PSSA test is only one measure of a school’s success and "won’t be the sole contributing factor of our destiny as a school district."

"This is what we felt was the responsible thing to do to let our parents and community know that we have concerns about it," Shaffer said of the superintendents’ letter to the public.

Mercer County schools are not the only ones objecting to the writing part of the test.

Seneca Valley School District, Butler County, refused to administer the writing skills test and sued the state. School officials argued in Commonwealth Court Wednesday that the law clearly limits state assessments to reading, math and science.

In court Wednesday, Matthew Hoffman, a lawyer representing Seneca Valley, argued that because of a recent change to state law, writing tests are no longer required for pupils in grades five, eight or 11.

Seneca Valley school board members and other critics objected to the test, arguing that writing cannot be graded objectively.

Seneca Valley won a temporary restraining order from a county judge last week. The order must be upheld by the state court which had not ruled in the case by Friday.

Dr. Patricia Homer, Greenville schools’ superintendent, asked that her name not be included in the letter. Dr. Homer said she respects the opinion of her fellow superintendents but has chosen another option to deal with the testing changes.

Dr. Homer said she is continuing to discuss the issue with state education officials. Because this is the pilot year for the test, Greenville is willing to work with the state and see how everything turns out, she said.

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