Assessment and Accountability

Firefily Test Design

Firefly is a free benchmark assessment integrated into Pennsylvania’s assessment system, complementing existing diagnostic and summative evaluations. Developed specifically for Pennsylvania classrooms, Firefly aligns with state content standards to measure student knowledge and skills consistent with end-of-year and end-of-course assessments. The assessment offers feedback related to grade-level expectations, predicts student performance on summative exams, and supplies reporting and performance-based instructional resources for teachers during the school year.

Firefly is aligned to Pennsylvania’s summative assessments, assessing the same grades and content areas as the PSSA and Keystone Exams. The tables below provide high-level test plans for the administration of operational items by reporting category in each assessment. In addition to the operational items, students may receive a limited number of field-test items to help maintain a robust and diverse item bank. Firefly item types include multiple choice, technology enhanced, and evidence based selected response items (ELA grades 3-8 only).

The following tables summarize the ELA test designs.

Standard Operational ELA High-Level Test Plans

ELA Grades 3-8

Reporting Category	Number of Operational Items
Reading
Literature Text	14-16
Informational Text	14-16
Reading sub-total	28-32
Writing
Conventions of Standard English (Writing)	8
Total	36-40

Literature

Reporting Category	Number of Operational Items
Reading for Meaning—Fiction	6-8
Analyzing and Interpreting Literature—Fiction	9-11
Reading for Meaning—Nonfiction	6-8
Analyzing and Interpreting Literature—Nonfiction	9-11
Total	30-38

The following tables summarize the Mathematics test designs.

Standard Operational Mathematics High-Level Test Plans

Math Grade 3

Reporting Category	Number of Operational Items
Numbers and Operations in Base Ten	6
Numbers and Operations – Fractions	6
Operations and Algebraic Thinking	9
Geometry	6
Measurement and Data	9
Total	36

Math Grade 4

Reporting Category	Number of Operational Items
Numbers and Operations in Base Ten	7
Numbers and Operations – Fractions	8
Operations and Algebraic Thinking	9
Geometry	6
Measurement and Data	6
Total	36

Math Grade 5

Reporting Category	Number of Operational Items
Numbers and Operations in Base Ten	8
Numbers and Operations – Fractions	10
Operations and Algebraic Thinking	6
Geometry	6
Measurement and Data	6
Total	36

Math Grade 6

Reporting Category	Number of Operational Items
The Number System	7
Ratios and Proportional Relationships	6
Expressions and Equations	10
Geometry	6
Statistics and Probability	7
Total	36

Math Grade 7

Reporting Category	Number of Operational Items
The Number System	6
Ratios and Proportional Relationships	8
Expressions and Equations	9
Geometry	7
Statistics and Probability	6
Total	36

Math Grade 8

Reporting Category	Number of Operational Items
The Number System	6
Expressions and Equations	10
Functions	8
Geometry	6
Statistics and Probability	6
Total	36

Algebra I

Reporting Category	Number of Operational Items
Operations and Linear Equations & Inequalities
Operations with Real Numbers and Expressions	6
Linear Equations	6
Linear Inequalities	6
Linear Functions & Data Organizations
Functions	6
Coordinate Geometry	6
Data Analysis	6
Total	36

The following tables summarize the Science test designs.

Standard Operational Science High-Level Test Plans

Science Grade 5

Reporting Category	Number of Operational Items
Life Science and Environmental Literacy and Sustainability	9
Physical Science	9
Earth & Space Science	9
Technology and Engineering	9
Total	36

Science Grade 8

Reporting Category	Number of Operational Items
Life Science and Environmental Literacy and Sustainability	9
Physical Science	9
Earth & Space Science	9
Technology and Engineering	9
Total	36

Biology

Reporting Category	Number of Operational Items
Molecules to Organisms – Structures, Functions and Natural Cycles
Structure and Function [Standards A, B, C]	6
Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems [Standards E, F, G, H, J, K]	6
Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems [Standards I, L, M]	6
Continuity and Unity of Life – Biodiversity, Genetics and Changes over Time
Inheritance and Variation of Traits [Standards D, P, Q, R]	6
Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems [Standards N, O, V]	6
Natural Selection and Evolution [Standards S, T, U, W, X]	6
Total	36

What is Firefly?

Firefly is a fully online, computer-adaptive assessment administered as single-session tests on the same DRC INSIGHT platform as Pennsylvania’s summative assessments. Because Firefly uses the same test administration systems already used for the CDT, PSSA, and Keystone Exams, moving from interim/benchmark testing to the summative test is seamless. Testing is available throughout the year, beginning in the fall and closing with the spring summative assessments. These seasonal test administration windows will allow for more meaningful score interpretation relative to milestones throughout the school year.

Firefly Provides Timely, Relevant Results. Firefly’s reporting categories reflect the PSSA and Keystone Exams, and test results are available in Interactive Reporting (IR) within hours of assessment completion.

Firefly Supports Student Readiness for End-of-Year Exams. Firefly provides summative-assessment predictions on the benchmark individual student reports (ISRs). Instructional Strategies aligned to learning progressions are also available.