PSSA test scores point out areas for improvement
The state Department of Education has released the scores for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams taken during the 2015-16 school year, and the numbers show school district administrators where improvement is needed.
Each year, students in third through eighth grade take math and English language arts exams, and students in fourth and eighth grades take a science exam as well.
Students are ranked into four categories: below basic, basic, proficient and advanced, and the percentage of students in those categories can be compared to the state averages. The federal No Child Left Behind Act called for 100 percent of students to be at least proficient in reading and math by 2014.
Some schools scored mostly above the state average, with only one or two categories below, but other districts, such as Karns City School District, show lower scores across the board.
[naviga:h3]Butler[/naviga:h3]
In the Butler School District, out of 39 tests at the different grade levels and schools, only five categories came back below the state average for the percentage of students who scored advanced and proficient: seventh grade math, fourth grade English at Center Township Elementary School, third grade English and fourth grade math at Emily Brittain Elementary School and third grade English at Summit Elementary School.
However, the district's seventh grade math score, 36.5, was only 0.5 percent below the state average of 37 percent.
Three of Butler's elementary schools — Connoquenessing, McQuistion and Northwest — scored above the state average in all categories.
Mary Wolf, Butler's assistant superintendent of elementary education, said the district is pleased with the scores but considers them a baseline for the future since these were the first PSSA scores after the district consolidation.
“Because of the new building (configuration), we don't really have anything to compare to,” she said. “This is our starting line. From this point on, we only want to go up.”
In addition to the consolidation, the district is still working on aligning curriculum to the Pennsylvania Common Core. The spring 2016 PSSA exams were the second year for the new test, which is completely aligned to Core Standards.
The National PTA website describes the Common Core as the development of “internationally-benchmarked standards that ensure all students are held to consistent expectations that will prepare them for college and career.”
This school year, Butler introduced a new elementary math curriculum that is aligned to the Core. The previous curriculum was not, Wolf said.
“Our math series is very different from what we've had in the past,” she said. “I believe it will take a couple of years for teachers to get used to teaching it and for us to fill the gaps of information that students are missing.”
On the English side, the district has a curriculum that is more than 10 years old, Wolf said. The district is looking into new English curriculums that match Core standards for implementation in the 2017-18 school year.
<h3>South Butler</h3>In the South Butler School District, scores were above the state average in every category except sixth grade math, which was 41 percent advanced and proficient, relative to the state average of 41.1 percent.Richard Cavett, assistant superintendent, said the administration is pleased with the 2016 scores.“We pretty much kept our rank within respect to the state average, so that tells me we were on track with what everybody else was doing,” he said.From 2015, the district saw an increase in math scores in third to fifth grade, Cavett said.In English, sixth grade students had a slight dip in performance relative to the state average and the previous year's sixth grade students.“Last year, we were 10 points above the state average (in English) and this year, we're five points above,” Cavett said. “What that tells me is that we would've liked to see some more improvement there because some other schools maybe made some improvements in that grade.”However, the eighth grade students showed great success in English, with the 2016 score being 23 points above the state average, according to Cavett.One reason for this huge jump — especially relative to seventh grade English scores, which were only 8 points above the state average — may be because students have finally gotten a handle on the new test demands.“The new test is different,” Cavett said. “It's much more rigorous, and the kids are being asked to do things, like what's called text-dependent analysis. That's something we begin in the elementary levels with trying to help the kids learn how to answer the text-dependent questions so I think what happens is, by the time they're in eighth grade, it's starting to click a little bit. It takes some time.”<h3>Slippery Rock</h3>The Slippery Rock School District had scores that matched or exceeded the state average in 17 out of 21 categories, but all scores that fell below the average came out of Moraine Elementary School.At Moraine, four of the seven tests came back below the average: fourth and fifth grade English and fourth and fifth grade math. Only Moraine's scores for third grade English and math and fourth grade science were above the state average.Patricia Kardambikis, assistant superintendent, said she focused on the fact that the combined elementary average of both Moraine and Slippery Rock elementary schools was above the state average.“On average, (our) elementary is above the state average,” she said. “We have the same curriculum (at both elementary schools), and we're starting to have the teachers collaborate and work together between the two buildings.”The district implemented a new math curriculum from kindergarten to eighth grade during the 2015-16 school year, Kardambikis said.“It all goes back to looking at the curriculum and the instruction. That's what we're focusing our attention on,” she said. “We're really working to fill in the gaps.”<h3>Karns City</h3>The Karns City School District had the lowest scores in the county, with 14 out of 23 testing categories scoring below the state average.The scores show significant struggle in math, with math scores at each grade from Chicora Elementary School below the average. At Sugarcreek Elementary School, only fifth grade math was above the state average, at 46.9 percent advanced or proficient, compared to the state average of 44.4 percent.Aside from math, third and fourth grade English at Chicora and fourth and sixth grade English at Sugarcreek showed scores below the average.In seventh and eighth grades, the eighth grade math and science scores also were below the state average.Eric Ritzert, Karns City superintendent, said the low scores are likely because the new test requires “higher order thinking and analysis skills.”Ritzert said the district has made curriculum changes and will be continuing to focus on improving scores.“Our curriculum is being modified and adjusted to include the eligible content from the PA Core Standards in order to meet the increased demand of the tests and better prepare our students.“We are undertaking a curriculum mapping project at the elementary level in math and language arts. At the secondary level we are working to increase remediation opportunities for students to help address deficit areas,” Ritzert said.The district also has expanded use of Study Island, a computer program that lets students practice standards, from third to eighth grade.<h3>Other districts excel</h3>On the other end of the spectrum, Moniteau School District scored above the state average in all 14 categories except one; fifth grade math.Mars and Seneca Valley were the only school districts in Butler County to score above the state average in every category.<h3>District scores</h3>Scores for each district can be found here:<a href="http://www.butlereagle.com/article/20161023/NEWS20/161029986" target="_blank">Butler</a><a href="http://www.butlereagle.com/article/20161023/NEWS20/161029987" target="_blank">Karns City</a><a href="http://www.butlereagle.com/article/20161023/NEWS20/161029961" target="_blank">Mars</a><a href="http://www.butlereagle.com/article/20161023/NEWS20/161029960" target="_blank">Moniteau</a><a href="http://www.butlereagle.com/article/20161023/NEWS20/161029959" target="_blank">Seneca Valley</a><a href="http://www.butlereagle.com/article/20161023/NEWS20/161029958" target="_blank">Slippery Rock</a><a href="http://www.butlereagle.com/article/20161023/NEWS20/161029957" target="_blank">South Butler</a>
