2026 PSSA and Keystone Assessments

As Pennsylvania moves to online testing, PDE strongly suggests that all students have ample opportunity to engage with the testing platform through Online Tools Trainings (OTTs) prior to testing.

The CDT and Firefly can also help students become familiar with the testing platform. Educators will want to note that the CDT and Firefly do not include open-ended questions, TDA questions, short-response questions for grade 3 ELA, or non-calculator questions.

Test administrators may not direct students as to how to answer questions during the assessment. Test administrators may only suggest that students use the help feature.  For example, if the student asks, “I want to place the hands on the clock, or plot this point, or graph the line, or how do I do that?” the test administrator cannot explain how to place the hands on the clock, plot the point, or graph the line.

The test administrator can suggest that students press the “?” button, which is the help feature and is available during the entire assessment.

Examples of multiple-choice, all types of technology-enhanced questions, open-ended, TDA, and short-response questions are found in the OTTs.

The OTT questions are grade-specific and aligned to the standards.  

The OTTs should not be considered a practice test, but rather a mechanism to build familiarity with the test platform.