Alle-Kiski Valley schools saw modest improvements in students' state assessment test scores overall this year, according to data released Sept. 30.
It is the second year for more rigorous standards aligned to the Pennsylvania Core Standards on the tests for students in grades 3 through 8 and 11 that measure their knowledge in math, reading and science.
Larry Robb, Freeport Area School District program director, said overall the district is happy with students' scores.
“Our scores in sixth, seventh and eighth, we beat the stage averages by about 20 percent in each area,” he said. “There are some pockets at the elementary that we're working on.”
The percentage of Freeport Area Middle School students who scored proficient or advanced declined slightly from last year in all three subjects. Still, the majority of students had high scores.
At South Buffalo Elementary, about 48 percent of students scored proficient or advanced in math.
The district adopted a new math curriculum at the elementary schools last year, Robb said. The curriculum is better aligned with the PA Core Standards. A new reading curriculum is being phased in at the elementary level this year, he said.
“We have data teams in each building that look at the scores and decipher where we're at and where we need to be, and what we did well and what we need to work on,” Robb said. “We have benchmark testing we do throughout the year and we make adjustments as we go. We don't wait for the PSSA to inform our decision.”
The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests for reading and math is taken by students in third through eighth grades. Students in fourth through eighth grades take the PSSA science test.
Statewide, proficiency in math grew at every grade level, according to the data from the state Department of Education. This is the first year there was significant growth in math year over year since 2011, state officials said.
There was a slight decline in the statewide average of students who scored proficient or advanced in science. This was also the subject where local school districts saw scores decline.
“The PA Core Standards are more challenging and better reflect the college and career-ready skills that our students will require to be successful when they graduate,” state Education Secretary Pedro Rivera said in a news release. “The results from the 2016 assessment show student performance is trending in the right direction, but also that more needs to be done to help students who aren't yet achieving proficiency.”
Area school districts are trying to do just that, according to school superintendents who were interviewed.
“We've rewritten our curriculum and now we are buying our instructional materials,” said Highlands Superintedent Michael Bjalobok. “What we get will be specifically to address areas of need for student achievement.”
Scores for Grandview Upper Elementary and Highlands Middle School showed declines of less than 5 percentage points across all three disciplines.
He said district administrators will propose buying new math course materials early in 2017 so they will arrive before summer and teachers can begin getting acquainted with them. He said the new curriculum materials for English, reading and language arts will be purchased next summer.
For Leechburg Area, whose upper grade scores were among the lowest in the A-K Valley, it's a case of playing catch-up, according to new Superintendent Tiffany Nix. She said she was not surprised to see the low scores.
“Leechburg is a couple years behind in implementing the Common Core,” Nix said. “This is only the second year we have been doing it, while other schools have been doing it for on average three years. So, we are a little bit behind.”
She said that's because of the changeover in superintendents the district has experienced in the last few years. Nix said her predecessor, Ian Magness, had just started the new Common Core standards when he left to take a position in another district and there was no one to monitor the progress last year. She said she is delving into the curriculum to see how it can be improved.
“The teachers knew I was not happy so they are working hard,” Nix said. “They have worked the bugs out and are much more comfortable teaching it this year.
“It is a new way of teaching and thinking for teachers and students, so there is a learning curve,” she said. “It is going deeper into the thought processes. It's different for everybody. ‘Regurgitation' is no longer acceptable.
“My prediction is that those scores will go up next year,” Nix said. “They will keep going up as they keep learning the Common Core.”
In New Kensington-Arnold, Superintendent John Pallone said the focus moving forward will be more professional development work with the teaching staff with the goal of better delivery of the curriculum.
“We weren't able to do that this year, but we are confident we can do that next year,” Pallone said. “We are trying our darned best to do it.”
The scores at Roy A. Hunt Elementary School stayed virtually flat from last year, with a decline in reading and an increase in math scores by less than 1 percentage point.
Science scores, however dropped by about 22 percentage points, although the science results remained higher than the other two.
“I hate to say it because it sounds like a cop-out, but a flat score is a good score,” Pallone said.
“If we can hold the baseline and then go up, then we're showing progress.
“I think that is what we are doing, showing progress. Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet here.”
Jodi Weigand is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Tom Yerace is a freelance writer.
