With new academic standards in place and new tests reflecting them, many expected lower scores on state tests given in math and English language arts in spring 2015.
But the overall numbers from the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests — coupled with school-by-school results released by the state Tuesday — paint a fuller picture of the difficult task ahead to move students toward the new standard.
Statewide in grades 3-8, 39.6 percent of students were proficient or advanced in math. In English language arts, it was 50 percent.
In 2014, 73.3 percent were proficient in math, and 69.3 percent in reading. The new test combines reading and writing.
The results released Tuesday also contained figures for historically underperforming groups — including special education, economically disadvantaged and English language learners. On average, the results were lower than the overall results. In math, 22.2 percent were proficient; in English language arts, 40.7 percent.
In Pittsburgh Public Schools, the percentage of students proficient or advanced in math, including special needs students taking the Pennsylvania Alternative System of Assessment tests, ranged from 18.2 percent in seventh grade to 36.6 percent in third grade.
In English language arts in Pittsburgh, the percentage ranged from 39.5 percent in seventh grade to 49.9 percent in third grade.
“These results do not mean our students are learning less,” said Pittsburgh superintendent Linda Lane. “The heightened difficulty and increased rigor of the PA Core has resulted in fewer students scoring proficient or advanced.”
The 2015 PSSA was based on new standards, known as the Pennsylvania Core, which is the state’s version of the Common Core State Standards. Many states have found significant drops in scores as the new standards were put into place.
For the traditionally low-achieving districts, the journey to proficiency seems even longer.
In the Duquesne City School District, where no fifth-graders were proficient or advanced in math, spokeswoman Sarah McCluan said, “While we understand this is a challenging year, it does make a challenging situation more difficult.”
Schools traditionally at the top had higher scores but still had some scores lower than what they previously earned.
In the Mt. Lebanon School District, administrators prepared parents for the lower than normal scores, particularly those in middle school math, by talking about the results at school board meetings and through a letter that superintendent Tim Steinhauer sent home along with students’ scores, said spokeswoman Cissy Bowman.
She said Mr. Steinhauer explained that even though Mt.Lebanon’s scores are lower than the district’s historical performance, they “are well above the state averages in all assessed areas.”
Statewide, one of the biggest decreases was in eighth-grade math. On the recent test, 29.8 percent were proficient or advanced, compared to 73 percent in 2014.
Students can score in four performance categories: advanced, proficient, basic and below basic. In July, the state Board of Education set the cut scores for each category, which essentially raised the bar for achievement. Those who score proficient or advanced are considered to be at or above grade level.
The state hasn’t yet released scores for the Keystone Exams in algebra 1, literature and biology. However, Pittsburgh Public Schools Tuesday released its Keystone results, showing improvement on all three exams for all students as well as African-American students.
School-by-school results can be found on the state website, www.education.pa.gov, by clicking on PSSA Information.
First Published: September 29, 2015, 4:38 p.m.
Updated: September 30, 2015, 3:05 a.m.
