Should PSSAs be factor in graduation?

Another in the BCCT series on the 2008 PSSA scores

Should PSSAs be factor in graduation?
By MANASEE WAGH

Though they place great value on increasing state assessment scores, most Bucks County school districts say they don’t consider those results the best indicator of academic performance.

As such, proficiency on the PSSAs shouldn’t be a determining factor for graduation, say many district officials. Most declined to provide percentages of how many students graduated with a less-than-proficient score.

“They have access to that data and whether they choose to provide it is up to them,” said Michael Race, deputy press secretary at the state Department of Education. To get a close estimation of how many graduates did poorly on the PSSAs, look at the number of graduates and the number of below-proficient scores during their junior year, he said, though that doesn’t provide the most accurate picture.

Comments across the county vary as to why PSSA proficiency shouldn’t be a graduation factor, but all respondents agree on one point: The state’s PSSA assessments don’t necessarily paint an accurate picture of a student’s abilities in the core areas of math and reading.

“The PSSAs are broad brush strokes of understanding,” said Barry Desko, Council Rock’s director of secondary education. The tests don’t measure how well a student may be performing in class, he said. Like other districts, Council Rock relies on other means of assessment besides the state exams.

Competency is based on how an individual performs in each curricular area through class work and course exams, Desko said.

“Kids in high school are taking so many tests. How many assessments do we need to give evidence of student achievement?” he said.

Desko’s sentiments were echoed in a number of other districts.

In Morrisville, which showed marked improvement in the PSSAs this year, students take quarterly assessments that are closely modeled after the state assessments. If an 11th -grade student fails to attain PSSA proficiency, he or she can graduate only after taking further steps.

Graduation requires a 2.0 grade point average as well as a good score on the quarterly district assessments in English and math. Students also must retake the state test in the fall of their senior year.

Those who fail to pass quarterly assessments must join small focus-instruction groups to strengthen the concepts they haven’t grasped.

“The problem is that the PSSA is one test,” said Elizabeth Yonson, Morrisville’s superintendent. During each quarter, the district is already teaching the state standards, she said. In fact, district quarterly assessments are more rigorous than the PSSAs, and the state wants to see Morrisville’s quarterly exams, she added.

The district has improved state assessment scores over three years because of curricular changes, demonstrating that the current system is working, said Yonson.

Centennial, Morrisville, New Hope-Solebury, Council Rock, Central Bucks, Palisades, Neshaminy, Pennridge and Pennsbury all said students usually do better on the PSSAs after retesting their senior year. Otherwise they have to complete other district assessments.

Palisades was one of the only districts to provide information about how many graduates did not pass the PSSAs.

About 14 percent of students in Palisades graduated this year with a less-than-proficient score in reading, while 22 percent of graduates did not pass the math PSSAs. In the writing assessment, 4.6 percent of graduates did not pass, said Rich Heffernan, principal of Palisades High School.

“Every district is different and every district has different challenges,” he said.

At Pennridge, 131 out of 587 graduates, or about 22 percent, failed one or more of the math, reading and writing tests after the second opportunity to take them, said Arlene Zielinski, the district’s assistant superintendent for programs. However, “a good portion” of those are special education students whose individual education plans were used for assessment instead, she added.

A disconnect exists between 11th -grade PSSA scores and graduation rates, said Sheila Ballen, director of communications at the state education department. At the same time, it’s a valuable means to evaluate a student, she said.

“The PSSA is a very good tool in assessing reading and math at certain grade levels,” Ballen said. “It gives us a good snapshot in time.”

From Steven Young’s point of view, the PSSAs are a gauge for whether students need more help in certain areas. Therefore, the goal is to attain a proficient or better score.

“However, this is an unlikely result given the variation in aptitude, disposition and life circumstance among students. It is also the case that some students simply do not test well,” said the New Hope-Solebury High School principal.

The way his district gets around a low score is by recognizing the individuality of each student, he said. Teachers use a variety of assessment tools to meet curricular objectives, including tests, project work, papers, oral assessments and formal presentations.

Young called this mixture of tools a “far superior” way to relying on the PSSA, “a single measure of progress.”

Before this year’s results were released, Superintendent Paul Kadri of Neshaminy, which failed to meet the state’s Adequate Yearly Progress standards, said the district doesn’t track how many graduates pass the PSSAs. Instead, it looks at a student’s individual education plan.

The district has implemented a kindergarten through 12-grade writing program as one way to improve scores next year.

In the meantime, state proficiency rate targets are increasing, from 54 percent in reading in 2007 to 63 percent this year, and 45 percent to 56 percent in math. By 2014, all students have to score proficient or better to keep up with federal No Child Left Behind standards.