• Pennsylvania Alternative State Assessment (PASA)

    The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1969 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), December 10, 2015, requires states to ensure that the total number of students assessed in each subject, using the alternate assessment for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, does not exceed one percent of the total number of all students in the state assessed on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) (grades 3-8), Keystone Exams (grade 11), and Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA) (grades 3-8 and 11). 

    The Pocono Mountain School District will exceed the 1% cap for students taking the Pennsylvania Alternative State Assessment (PASA) for the 2024-2025 school year. Therefore, PA will implement additional measures of training, monitoring, and oversight of LEAS in the state’s current plan of action in order to reduce the number of students with disabilities participating in alternate assessment and increase the number of students with disabilities participating in all statewide assessment measures.