PSSA scores fall as state rolls out new standards
With new standards put in place for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test, results released this week reveal fewer students are scoring in the proficient range.
In fact, there was a decreasing trend across the board, Pennsylvania Department of Education spokeswoman Nicole Reigelman said.
“This year is a baseline for future years,” Reigelman said. “As the students become more familiar, the scores will grow.”
Reigelman said the state is “discouraging a comparison” to previous tests as the new test is “fundamentally different.”
PSSAs are administered in grades three through eight in English language, arts and math and from grades 4 to eight in science. The 2014-15 assessment marked the first time the test was aligned to the new, more rigorous Pennsylvania Core Standards.
The state Board of Education approved the core standards in fall 2013, and performance level descriptions were developed for each grade in each subject.
PLDs describe what a student is expected to know in each of the four performance levels: advanced, proficient, basic and below basic. Proficient is considered to be “on grade level,” according to the state Department of Education.
The Pennsylvania Core Standards are meant to be more challenging in order to better prepare students for college and careers when they graduate.
“In the limited time since the new standards were approved, our schools and teachers have been working hard to align course content to the Pennsylvania Core,” state Education Secretary Pedro A. Rivera said. “The increased standards were not intended to penalize students, schools, or teachers and given adequate transition time and tools, we are confident our students will be successful.”
Burgettstown Area Superintendent James Walsh said his students scored “disappointingly low” in math. The results have prompted changes in the district’s curriculum.
“We were given warnings that the results would be low,” Walsh said. “We haven’t aligned enough with the core standards and are making adjustments.”
Ringgold Superintendent Karen Polkabla said it will take districts some time to build up the background knowledge to excel on the assessment.
“We saw a decrease in scores, but everyone did,” she said.
Polkabla said the district is making adjustments to ensure student success.
Central Greene Superintendent Brian Uplinger said school officials have not had time to review the district’s score.
“It’s more rigorous, so those changes and the standards are what could cause what I call an ‘implementation dip’ with any standardized assessment of that magnitude,” Uplinger said. “I’m not foreseeing anything that significant, but one can never tell until you start digging into the numbers.”
PSSA data can be found at http://www.education.pa.gov/Pages/PSSA-Information.