PASA 1%

ABCCS serves a highly diverse student population, including many students with significant and profound disabilities. Our STAR program is widely recognized for the care, thoughtfulness, and high-quality educational programming it provides to students with complex learning and developmental needs.

Because of this inclusive mission and our commitment to ensuring that each student is assessed using the most appropriate and meaningful measure, the school does not always remain below the federal and state 1% participation threshold for the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA).

PASA is an alternate assessment available only to students who meet specific, stringent eligibility criteria and is administered in place of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) when the PSSA is not appropriate due to the nature of a student’s disability. While this option is intended for a small percentage of the overall student population, the size and scope of our STAR program means that we may exceed the 1% threshold in order to align each eligible student with the assessment that best reflects their abilities and instructional needs, in accordance with state and federal guidance.