Plum High School administrators are developing a battle plan to improve math scores on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, or PSSA, tests.
"We didn't meet AYP (adequate yearly progress) in math," Principal Ryan Kociela told the Plum School Board education committee during a recent meeting. "We are on a 'warning' status this coming school year."
Kociela said according to the preliminary PSSA results, 60.8 percent of last year's 11th-graders scored at or above proficient on the math portion of the test. The performance target, or required percentage of students performing at or above the proficiency level, was 67 percent. The target for next year is 78 percent.
"We were 18 students (away) from meeting this year's target," Kociela told the committee.
The junior class in 2010 scored 62.1 percent in math, with the target being 56 percent.
Schools that met all AYP measures last year but did not meet all AYP measures this year are put on a "warning" status, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
If Plum's 11th-graders don't meet the AYP target in math next year, the high school would be placed on "school improvement" status, according to Department of Education rankings.
"We are not happy with where the scores are from a math standpoint," Kociela said. "We will attack them and do what we can from our standpoint."
Eleventh-graders made AYP in reading, with 76.2 percent of students scoring at or above proficient. The 2011 target was 72 percent. Next year's target is 81 percent. Last year, 77.4 percent of 11th-graders scored at or above proficient.
"We are down 2 percent in reading," Kociela said.
The district's six other schools made AYP in math and reading.
Kociela said the administration is working on "improvement strategies" that will begin as soon as school is in session in a couple of weeks.
He said the preliminary plan, which will be finalized when administrators meet with teachers at the beginning of the school year, includes professional development for teachers, tutoring for students, the use of pre-tests and a review of PSSA content a month before the test is administered to students.
Assistant Superintendent Timothy Glasspool said students will be given math and reading tests three times a year, which will allow teachers to have "instantaneous results" so they can respond quickly to students' areas of weakness.
Board member Sal Colella said the 11th-grade scores call for "bold action" and clear direction from the administration.
"I never want to be accused of board-induced failure," Colella said. "This board is going to have to allocate more resources so more math teaching is done. We have a lot of work to do."
Colella said results earlier this year of the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System or PVAAS was a "premonition" that the 11th-grade math scores were not going to measure up to standards.
Superintendent Lillian Naccarati said once school starts, a team of math teachers will be put together to address the concerns. Also, test scores and other data will be analyzed.
Naccarati said administrators, a few weeks into the school year, will look at the possibility of hiring a math consultant, as was done with the district's reading program.
"The administration is totally committed," Naccarati said. "There is not a lack of passion to improve where we are."
Battle plan
Preliminary math improvement strategies:
• Achievement data -- Implementing pre-tests prior to instruction in each math unit to formally assess students' competencies relative to the PSSA math tests.
• Remediation -- Tutoring administered by students in the gifted program during every period in the library.
• Benchmarking -- Use of classroom diagnostic tests in algebra I, algebra II and plane geometry.
• Professional development -- Use of a math consultant.
• Evaluation -- Increased formal and informal observations for math teachers.
• "February Focus" -- Eleventh-grade classes reviewing content and practicing tasks directly related to PSSAs in the month leading up to giving the tests.
• Lesson planning -- Specific to math department "look-fors." Learning objectives, instructional activity, assessment and anchors addressed. What are the meaningful contexts or real-life applications to which content is connected?
• Student Accountability -- Placing PSSA scores on college transcripts.
• Student Motivation -- Incentives for meeting achievement goals.
