State: 15 local districts must improve
Even as Pennsylvania parents got their first look this week at how their school districts measured up to state academic standards in the last school year, administrators in districts cited for insufficient improvement were already planning how to meet the targets next year.
The state Department of Education added to a deluge of new data Wednesday as it released school-by-school results on the 2003-04 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, which gauge achievement in mathematics, reading and writing. The PSSA tests, required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, are a primary tool for gauging whether schools meet state standards.
The 15 districts in Westmoreland, Fayette and Indiana counties that were placed on "Improvement 1" status by the state Department of Education must file a report with the state by Nov. 30 describing what they will do to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, targets. The district status does not, however, mean parents can choose to move their children from one school to another.
Districts were informed of the results last month, but yesterday Hempfield Area Assistant Superintendent Terry Foriska said the education department has yet to specify what information it wants in the report.
"We're not sure what they're looking for ... what it needs to entail," Foriska said.
Hempfield Area and the 14 other districts were designated as "Improvement 1" because special education students either did not meet the AYP targets in the math or reading sections of the PSSA tests, or failed to take or complete tests. The "Improvement 1" status means that the districts -- not necessarily individual schools -- failed to meet all AYP targets for improvement for two consecutive years.
Foriska said that while some accommodations are made for special education students, "they have to reach the same proficiency" as other students. "All the targets and goals are the same," he added.
The tests were administered to students in grades 5, 8 and 11, and the state required that at least 45 percent perform at their grade level in reading, and at least 35 percent in math. The goal is to reach 100 percent proficiency by 2014.
Yesterday, several school administrators contacted by the Tribune-Review were reluctant to discuss PSSA reading, mathematics and writing results for individual school buildings because they were reviewing the data.
PSSA results are categorized by performance levels -- advanced, proficient, basic and below basic. The levels were established by committees of Pennsylvania educators.
The advanced level reflects superior academic performance and indicates an in-depth understanding of skills, while the proficient level reflects satisfactory performance. Students who score at the basic level achieve marginal academic performance, while those who score at the below-basic level demonstrate inadequate performance and a major need of additional instruction and increased student commitment.
Ironically, in most area districts that were given an "Improvement 1" status Tuesday, yesterday's PSSA report showed that each school within the district met AYP standards for math, reading, attendance and graduation rates. The exceptions were Brownsville Area High School, which showed math deficiencies within economically disadvantaged students, and Kiski Area High School, which showed deficiencies in reading and math for special education students.
If an individual school building is placed on "Improvement 1" status for two consecutive years, the law gives parents the right to choose to move their children to another school within that school district. However, no such option exists if it is the district, rather than an individual school, that is placed on "Improvement 1."
"The consequences are not the same. A district improvement status requires a plan," and not school choice, Penn-Trafford Superintendent Deborah Kolonay said.
Kolonay said that Penn-Trafford last year attempted to convince the state that it did not deserve to be placed on warning status. The district underwent a change in administration and officials did not realize it was placed on a warning status, but the education department would not grant the appeal, she said.
While Penn-Trafford's special education students did not meet the AYP targets on the math test for 2003-04, Kolonay said the education department incorrectly listed those students as falling below the state standards in the reading portion as well.
An education department spokeswoman late yesterday afternoon could not confirm whether a mistake had been made in the Penn-Trafford data.
Faced with filing a report in November to help its special education students, Kolonay said Penn-Trafford will focus on boosting the math and reading curriculum. She said administrators intend to implement teaching techniques shown to improve test scores, including putting objectives on the blackboard and frequently referring to those objectives.
"It's a lot to expect of the special education students, but we want them to be successful to the extent they can be successful," Kolonay said.
Joseph Leftwich, director of instructional services at Franklin Regional School District, said the district established "power standards" to help students and teachers focus on the most important goals and address those in the classroom.
"We really have high expectations (for special education students) and work real hard to provide a lot of support to meet that, and they did," Leftwich said.
He noted that it is difficult for some special education students to complete the test within the same time frame as other students because their disabilities may put them at a disadvantage.
"It really isn't fair to everyone, because we have kids who are different. Our biggest concern is that we don't discourage the kids we want to encourage," Leftwich said.
The state's release of the PSSA test scores by school building will give school district administrators more data to review just as they are preparing for the new school year.
The education department released the performance level results showing what percentage of students' scores were considered advanced and proficient in math and reading, as well as those students considered basic and below basic. The state also released scaled scores for each of the school buildings.
A state education department spokeswoman said yesterday the department did not compute statewide averages or countywide averages.
The test results by school building are available at the following state education department Web site: www.pde.state.pa.us/
