The Shapiro administration has introduced the Pennsylvania Firefly Student Progress Indicators (PA Firefly), a new voluntary and free tool designed to help schools monitor student achievement throughout the academic year. This initiative reflects a broader effort to reduce reliance on traditional standardized tests, allowing for more personalized and adaptive assessment methods.
PA Firefly enables educators to gauge students’ mastery of the material taught in Pennsylvania classrooms and provides timely feedback to help identify areas where students may need additional support. This early intervention is aimed at ensuring that students can fully grasp the content before taking end-of-year exams.
Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin emphasized that PA Firefly offers a real-time, comprehensive view of student progress, helping teachers adjust their instruction to meet both daily and long-term educational goals. The tool is designed to reduce the stress associated with high-stakes testing by offering more engaging and familiar assessment formats, such as drag-and-drop, sorting, and graphic manipulation, which better align with how students learn today.
Earlier in the year, Governor Josh Shapiro announced a broader three-part plan to update the state’s testing system. This plan includes the transition to online testing, the introduction of new question formats to make testing more intuitive for students, and the development of PA Firefly as a benchmarking tool. This overhaul not only aims to reduce the amount of time students spend on standardized testing but also helps teachers focus more on teaching.
PA Firefly also is fully aligned with Pennsylvania’s academic standards and is designed to predict students’ performance on end-of-year assessments, offering continuous feedback to educators throughout the school year. The tool is computer-adaptive and can be administered in single sessions, with testing windows available throughout the year. This allows schools to track student progress in fall, winter, and spring, ensuring students stay on track to meet grade-level expectations and prepare for summative assessments.
