Local student post mixed bag of results in state tests
In the latest round of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, local schools continue to show a mixed bag of results, with some schools barely rising toward the statewide average and others soaring above it. The scores for the annual tests, which fifth-, eighth- and 11th-graders from throughout the state took last spring, were released Wednesday and are available for public review.
“Today more than ever, the PSSA is a vital tool to measure how well Pennsylvania’s children are learning and meeting our rigorous academic standards,” state Education Secretary Charles B. Zogby said in a prepared statement. “The theory is simple – you can’t improve what you don’t measure. The PSSA allows parents and educators to gauge individual student progress in core academic subject areas, such as reading and math, and also to identify areas of academic strength and weakness, so all children can reach high levels of academic achievement.”
The bar has been raised a bit statewide, as the average math test scores improved by 10 points for students at all three grade levels required to take the tests during the 2001-2002 school year. The 2002 statewide average scaled score for math was 1320, compared to the previous average of 1310 for grades five, eight and 11.
The average reading scores improved by 10 points for fifth-graders and 20 points for 11th-graders to 1320 for both groups. Average reading scores for eighth-graders held steady at 1310.
For the second consecutive year, the state Department of Education ranked students’ performance in the categories of advanced, proficient, basic and below basic.
The reading and math PSSA was last administered in April to fifth-, eighth- and 11th-grade students who this school year would be in sixth, ninth and 12th grades. The 2003 PSSA, which will be administered in the spring, will for the first time include third grade.
Frazier School District Superintendent Dr. Frederick Smeigh said he was pleased with his students’ overall performance, having looked over the results of other school districts in the Intermediate Unit 1.
He noted the 11th-grade test results in the subject of writing were the highest overall in the area, and the district’s combined scores were second only to Peters Township.
“I say Peters Township because that district is very wealthy and we have children living in poverty. We have our children competing with their children, and we’ve done well,” he said.
All of Frazier’s mean scaled scores beat the statewide average, and the district’s students were more likely than not to score within the advanced and proficient performance levels.
Smeigh also commented that he was recently notified by the education department that the school district’s Perry Elementary School is no longer named on a federal list of academically troubled schools.
Marked for improvement, the list includes schools in which students are not performing up to standard on the state test and other assessments. School districts, in some cases, were required to offer parents school choice or supplemental services, although no action was specified for Perry Elementary.
“It was stupid that we were on it. We went from 1470 down to 1370, but that was still over the state average. You are going to fluctuate. We were so far above the mean in the baseline year,” Smeigh said. “We had dropped by a percentage rate they were using. There were schools so low but not cited because they did not drop (in PSSA scores).”
Broken down into the math and reading categories, Perry Elementary last year had an average score of 1350 in math and 1320 in reading, compared to the new score of 1360 each in math and reading.
Also on that federal school improvement list were four Albert Gallatin Area School District elementary schools.
Superintendent Walter Vicinelly said he has not yet been informed of his schools’ updated status on that list, which included D. Ferd Swaney, Friendship Hill, Masontown and Smithfield elementary schools. Masontown and Friendship Hill schools were further required this school year to offer parents the option of sending their children to better performing schools within the district.
Among the schools on that list, Masontown saw a drop in the math and reading scores for fifth grade from 2001 to 2002, and D. Ferd Swaney saw a drop in its math score, while the others that were named showed improvement.
Vicinelly said district officials are analyzing the PSSA results with regard to the mean scaled scores, the performance levels and also the federal definition of adequate yearly progress.
“We have made progress in some of the schools. Obviously, we’re not satisfied until all are making adequate yearly progress,” he said. “I think our staff, we all, recognize the importance of this, and everybody is taking it seriously and working really hard to improve student performance.”
Southeastern Greene School District Superintendent Dr. Philip Savini Jr. said it takes a concentrated effort over time to improve on the PSSA.
Last year, Southeastern Greene’s Bobtown Elementary School was placed on a state empowerment list because of low PSSA scores; however, Savini said he does not know if the latest results have changed the school’s status on that list.
Bobtown’s fifth-grade math score last year was 1130 and reading was 1210, while the 2002 score in math was 1210 and in reading was 1190.
Savini said the district, among its efforts to improve, has worked with the Tri State Area School Study Council based at the University of Pittsburgh to address reading and math skills.
“We’ve not stood still. We’ve made every possible attempt to improve. If you do it the right way, it takes a while to see it reflected in the scores,” Savini said.
Savini said he is encouraged that the reauthorized federal education law known as No Child Left Behind calls for schools to be judged on more levels than one state assessment.
He said the school district’s strategic plan falls in line with that philosophy, and school officials will follow the federal law now that it is time to start redoing the strategic plan.
California Area School District Superintendent Dr. Marian Stephens agreed that a total school district effort is necessary to address the state’s academic standards on which the PSSA is based.
The school district at all grade levels held steady in math and reading and near or above the state average.
Stephens said reading has been emphasized in the schools, specifically with implementation of a research-based Success for All program in the elementary school and the hiring of a facilitator to make certain the program is working.
“We continue to work to reinforce the basic skills,” she said.
Also, she said California has overhauled its curriculum from kindergarten to 12th grade, in response to the standards.
The PSSA is also given on the subject of writing to sixth-, ninth- and 11th-grade students, although results have not yet been released for sixth and ninth grades. This year is the second in which the results have been released, and the average 11th-grade score statewide remained at 1320.
Highlights locally on the 11th-grade writing test include a high of 1470 for Frazier High School, while 88 percent of the students who took that test rated in the upper performance categories. Fifty-six percent fell in the proficient range and 32 percent in the advanced range at Frazier.
Also among the good scores were 1380 at Bethlehem-Center High School, 1410 at Belle Vernon Area High School and 1390 at Southmoreland High School.
At the other end of the spectrum was Mapletown Junior/Senior High School with an average 1140 score and 43.4 percent of the students scoring in the below basic range.
Connellsville Area Senior High School logged an average scaled score of 1170, although 44.4 percent of the students fell within the proficient range.
The results for all of Pennsylvania’s school districts are available at the PA PowerPort Web site www.state.pa.us, keyword “PSSA,” or at the state Department of Education Web site: www.pde.state.pa.us.