Students’ state test scores earn $8,442 award for school

Sixth-graders who last academic year attended Burkett Elementary in the Montour School District deserve a round of applause, says Principal Edward Wozniak.

Wozniak said he is elated about students' scholastic achievements.

Because of the students' efforts, Burkett has received an $8,442 performance-incentive award from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Burkett is one of three schools housing grades kindergarten through fifth in the Montour district.

'The kids deserve a lot of credit. Everyone took the test seriously - it was like a contest to them to see if they could improve. They really got into it,' said Wozniak.

The award was received as a result of improved performance on the 2000 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment Test.

The test is taken by students in grades five, eight and 12 at the end of the academic year. The state department released the results of the test scores in November.

Last academic year's fifth-graders scored 1,340 in math and 1,410 in the reading component of the test. About 85 fifth-graders attended Burkett during the 1999-2000 academic year.

Wozniak said throughout the 1999-2000 school year, he met with teachers and parents to discuss how they needed to improve the students' test scores.

The state average for the fifth-grade test scores is 1,310 in math and 1,320 in reading.

Wozniak credited the coordination of lesson plans, as well as a focus on state standards, for the high tests scores.

'We just made sure everyone was aware of the state standards in reading and math and that they were doing the same thing in their grade level,' said Wozniak.

Much attention was put toward boosting math scores, he said. Teachers made increased efforts in testing the students on a long list of 40 different math terms.

Teachers also were trained to grade math tests using the 'rubrick' grading system. In the rubrick system, students are graded on not just having the correct answer but also having the ability to explain their work. Students could receive up to five points for a correct answer and explanation.

The rubrick system is used in grading the PSSA, Wozniak said.

Schools ere eligible for the awards based upon improved performance in achievement and effort. To qualify of an achievement-improvement award, a school's 2000 PSSA average reading and math scores had to be at least 50 points higher than its baseline score.

Wozniak said the fifth-graders - now sixth-graders at David E. Williams Junior High School - scored 100 points higher than those who took the test in 1999.

Burkett School joins 754 other schools statewide that received the school performance award.

Gov. Tom Ridge earmarked $15.8 million in the 1999-2000 budget specifically for School Performance Funding program. Schools will be eligible for school performance grants totaling $33.5 million for the 2000-2001 academic year.

Treshea N. Wade can be reached at twade@tribweb.com or (412) 306-4531.