The Times-Shamrock 2019 Grading Our Schools analysis shows most Schuylkill County districts failed to meet state averages in a majority of standard achievement tests for the 2017-18 school year.
The report, which compares districts’ average scores to the state in 18 categories, found that Mahanoy Area and Panther Valley did not meet or exceed state averages in any of the categories, while Shenandoah Valley met just one and Williams Valley, two. Blue Mountain, Upper Dauphin and Schuylkill Haven Area, meanwhile, were again among the top local performers, meeting or exceeding averages in 16, 11 and 10 categories, respectively. They are the only three districts out of 15 to meet or exceed averages in more than half of the categories.
Gregory S. Koons, Ed.D., Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29 executive director, reminded, however, that “state assessments are just one piece of the puzzle when determining student success.”
He noted the state Department of Education launched the PA Future Ready Index in November as a new approach for evaluating school performance. As stated by PDE, the index provides a more comprehensive approach to include academic performance, student progress and college and career readiness.
“I am in favor of PA Future Ready since it focuses on factors other than a focus on isolated test scores,” Koons said. “I am especially pleased that college and career readiness is part of the new focus for measuring student success.”
Koons addressed why some PSSA math scores may appear low in recent testing. State averages didn’t reach 40 percent in either sixth, seventh or eighth grades.
“Over the past 10 years, the bar has been raised in the math subject area within our schools, and this shift can pose a challenge to our students,” Koons said. “For example, algebraic concepts are now being taught at a younger age.”
Assessing the assessments
Each year, the Grading Our Schools report looks at the most current Pennsylvania System of School Assessment math, English language arts and science tests, Keystone Exams and SAT scores for the state’s 500 public school districts. The report also considers key educational factors like teacher salaries and student demographics. The Republican-Herald reports on the 15 districts that operate in Schuylkill County and a few bordering counties.
School administrators from a handful of local districts offered explanations and laid out plans they’ve taken or will take to address shortfalls.
Williams Valley: Curriculum
revisions possible
A review and a revision of curriculum may be in order in the Williams Valley School District.
Data from 14 PSSA categories, three Keystone categories and the SAT show that Williams Valley met or exceeded the state average in only two.
It was met in the PSSA grade five English language arts test at 66.2 percent advanced/proficient (the state average is 59.4 percent) and in PSSA grade five math at 49.3 (the state average is 45.2 percent).
For the Keystone results, 11th-graders were close to the state average in all three categories, scoring 59.6 in advanced/proficient in Algebra I, 63.1 in biology and 70.2 in literature. The state averages are 65.2, 64.4, and 72.7, respectively.
Superintendent Diane R. Best, Ed.D, declined to comment about specific score numbers, but said, “We are examining data to be used to review and revise curriculum and assessments, ultimately looking at instructional strategies.”
As for the SAT, Williams Valley scored in the top half of the county’s 12 public schools with an average of 1051, yet was below the state and national averages of 1086 and 1068, respectively.
District administration and the Williams Valley school board are aware of the results and have already begun work to address them, Best said. Also, an overview of the preliminary 2018-19 scores have been presented to the board.
“We are also comparing to past year’s and planning to implement the Classroom Diagnostic Assessments as a way to determine where gaps and overlaps may exist,” Best said.
Saint Clair: ‘Growth’
matters more
Saint Clair Area School District Superintendent Sarah Yoder said PSSA tests are not the only yardstick that should be used to measure student preparedness.
“They (the public) may misinterpret the data because they are only using one piece of the puzzle,” she said. “The PSSAs and any standardized tests don’t define our students and what their careers will be.”
Overall, Saint Clair met or exceeded state averages in four of 14 categories (its highest grade is eighth, so there are no students taking the Keystone or SAT tests). Saint Clair was below the state average in all grade levels for English language arts except third, and didn’t meet state averages for fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth for math, but did so for third and fifth grades. Fourth-grade students exceeded state standards in science but not eighth grade.
Yoder said the district is still proud of its students because scores improved from previous years for all grades.
”Growth is just as important as achievement,” she said.
The number of grades exceeding the state average has increased the past two years compared to 2016, Yoder said.
The district has strategies it uses to help students reach their potential, including more instruction for struggling students.
Yoder noted the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System, a tool for school districts to measure “growth” data, is more applicable. The website http://pvaas.sas.com says “achievement results (PA state assessment) and growth results (PVAAS) must be used together to get a complete picture of student learning.”
For Saint Clair, PSSA scores on the PVAAS website for math and English show the school exceeded the state standard for growth. Science scores for districts are not provided, but Yoder said data from the state shows the school exceeded growth in science.
Pottsville Area: Scores
help spawn new curriculum
Pottsville Area met or exceeded state averages in five of the 18 categories.
Students in grades three and four exceeded scores in English, but those in grades five through eight did not. Math scores didn’t meet state standards in any grade. And for science, students in fourth grade exceeded state standards, but those in eighth did not.
Scores on the Keystones reflect the district exceeded state standards in algebra and literature, but not in biology.
Students in the middle school didn’t meet the state standard for academic growth in math or English for the PSSAs.
And though the district didn’t meet the state average of 1086 for SAT scores, its 1071 did top the national average of 1068.
Superintendent Jeffrey S. Zwiebel said the district is “never satisfied” in its effort to prepare students.
“We know we can always do better in our teaching and curriculum,” he said.
Zwiebel, too, said the public should not view these assessments alone.
“Obviously, you have to look at test scores, but look at everything else,” he said.
Still, the test scores in part influenced a new curriculum that will launch at the middle school this year.
“We’ve been attacking this since January,” Zwiebel said. “We felt there needed to be an improvement.”
He didn’t recall the last time the middle school curriculum was changed, adding the district eliminated the position of director of curriculum after the prior director left. Principals and the Title I federal program director have a role in curriculum development.
The district is also reviewing the high school curriculum. Though that study is not as intense as it was for the middle school, it is a means of improving student learning, Zwiebel said.
He said the district has some preliminary numbers from the state Department of Education about the more recent PSSA tests that show improvement.
Mahanoy Area:
‘Work in progress’
Mahanoy Area’s 0-18 testing results are not indicative of the education quality in the district, administrators argue.
The scores were discussed with Superintendent Joie Green, junior-senior high school Principal Stan Sabol and Assistant Principal David Holman, elementary school Assistant Principal Lisa Broomell and Curriculum Coordinator Tracy Dudash.
Whether or not a bubble is filled in on the Grading Our Schools chart “is not as important to me as looking at each individual student to see if there is growth from year to year,” Green said. “If we’re teaching our students correctly, you will grow from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and we have seen significant growth.”
She thinks district teachers are “doing an excellent job” toward that goal.
“We come from an economically deprived area where 66 percent of our students are low income in our district, but out of that 66 percent of students, I guarantee that a majority are making growth each year,” Green said.
“It’s comparing apples to oranges because you have such a broad range of factors that go into a school district,” added Holman.
To that point, Green noted the district transitioned from an elementary, middle and high school to just an elementary and junior-senior high in 2017-18.
“That’s not an excuse, but it’s a factor,” Green said.
“There was new administration in the high school and the elementary,” Sabol added. “Teachers were teaching new students and grade levels for the first time. ... There was a lot of anxiety in the kids and the staff and the parents.”
But the change also allowed implementation of programs tied to student achievement, Green said.
“One change we made was self-contained classrooms in kindergarten with many Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction,” she said, noting the program will move into first grade this year.
“We’ll have that multi-tiered system of support instruction that includes professional development for those teachers,” Broomell added.
Sabol said the obvious goal is to meet or exceed the state average, but that it will take time.
“It’s a work in progress,” he said.
As cited by others, Green noted the challenges educators face.
“We have many students coming into kindergarten who have never stepped foot into a preschool,” she said. “We’re trying to teach them to add and subtract. Some don’t know their last name.”
Hazleton Area: The
impact of funding
Hazleton Area School District also failed to meet any of the state averages. Superintendent Brian Uplinger said the district has large numbers of students who spent a short time in its classrooms before taking tests. Enrollment increased by about 600 students in the year that just ended.
“We have some new programming for upcoming years that will assist students who have not been part of the (district) for a significant amount of years,” Uplinger said.
He mentioned the PVAAS results, too, and said they show subgroups of students have improved academically.
Hazleton Area gets less state aid than a comparable district, has low tax rates and stagnant property values, putting the district second to last in spending per student in Pennsylvania, Business Manager Robert Krizansky said. Because Hazleton Area receives relatively low local taxes, it gets less money from the state, too.
The formula for state aid rewards districts with higher local tax revenues and higher poverty rates. Lancaster School District, which has about 200 fewer students, a lower rate of English learners but a higher poverty level, receives $25 million more in basic state aid than Hazleton Area.
“If we got even half of that difference, we’d be fine,” Krizansky said. “When you’re ranked 499 of 500, it will affect test scores (and) just things you can do in your district.”
Scores and rising costs
The issue of funding is on the minds of superintendents across the region, said Koons from the IU.
The IU, whose board is comprised of 12 members, one from each of the county’s public school districts, hosts meetings with the county’s superintendents.
Koons has had conversations with area superintendents regarding state assessments, and his view is that each district is unique and faces different challenges. He said superintendents are passionate about the focus on student success, “and are incredibly resourceful in their ability to provide quality educational programs and services despite insufficient funding.”
He stressed, “There is a continued need to lobby for increased funding to offset the rising costs of education.”