Test score melt down in high school

From the Allentown Morning Call

Test score melt down in high school

By Genevieve Marshall, Steve Esack and William J. Ford Of The Morning Call, August 17, 2008

Between the last year of middle school and the junior year in high school, something happens to Pennsylvania students -- and it's not just puberty.

After years of building on math and reading skills and showing consistent gains on state tests, those improvements come to a screeching halt in high school. Not only do students stop improving in reading, they actually seem to lose math skills.

''It's almost like falling off a cliff,'' said state Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak.

Two out of every five Pennsylvania high school students tested below grade level in the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment reading and math tests, which were released last week.

At the current pace of improvement, it would take 40 years for all high school juniors to meet standards, Zahorchak said -- even though they're expected to do so within six years.

''Clearly we need to do more to improve the high school experience and ensure those students stay engaged and challenged through graduation,'' Zahorchak said. ''We simply cannot afford to be content with the status quo.''

With the federal No Child Left Behind law pushing states to make all students proficient in math and reading by 2014, Pennsylvania school districts, including those in the Lehigh Valley area, have a long way to go.

The 35 school districts in the eight-county area averaged a double-digit drop in the percentage of students that scored proficiently between eighth grade and 11th grade. The drop was significant regardless of race and income, though it was worse for minority, low-income and special education students.

This generation of students wants to understand the reason behind a classroom lesson or standardized test in order to put in the effort, said Kevin Bush, a social studies teacher and track coach at Bethlehem's Liberty High School. There is no consequence for poor performers, he said. The test is not factored into students' grades or directly tied to graduation.

''On the second day of school students will be taking a state test,'' Bush said. ''Students are so over-tested right now without seeing what the relevance is.''

It's a matter of priorities, said Cedar Beach lifeguard Nick Carbonetto, an incoming William Allen High School senior who said he did not study for the state tests because he was busy with soccer, baseball and organizing the prom.

''Colleges don't focus on PSSAs, but the SATs,'' he said.

Matt Trexler, also a senior at Allen, said he studied for the spring PSSA during class and at night when he got home from his part-time job at a restaurant.

With the help of a $9.6 million federal grant, Lee Kern, a Lehigh University professor, is leading a team of researchers to find ways educators can help high-schoolers succeed and not drop out.

Kern said data do not explain why scores fall in high school. But they do show that the problem is worse for low-income students.

''Poor attendance and homework completion become more problematic with secondary-age students,'' Kern said. ''Also, families who are more affluent are probably more concerned about test scores, given that they anticipate their children will go to college.''

'We don't teach reading'

Searching for new ideas, state education officials are pushing a controversial plan for more and different exams. They also propose a standardized curriculum for high schools.

An undetermined amount of this year's education budget will go toward creating a standardized curriculum for math, English, science and social studies, said Leah Harris, spokeswoman for the state Education Department.

Districts would not be required to adopt the new curriculum but it would give struggling schools better guidelines, Harris said.

The controversy is centered on a plan to require students to pass six of 10 state-created final exams in order to receive for a diploma. The plan has stalled as the Legislature reviews it.

In the past three years, the Education Department has launched several programs targeting high school student performance.

Classrooms for the Future provides students with laptops and gives teachers intensive training in how to use them in class. Dual Enrollment pitches in $10 million to cover tuition for high-schoolers who want to earn college credits.

But neither of those programs has racked up results in the short term.

Among the more creative ideas was Project 720 -- for the total amount of days teenagers spend in high school. It breaks large schools into small academies of up to 600 students. Class sizes shrink and class periods grow longer.

But like the other programs that have sparked hope among educators, Project 720 has not proved to be a silver bullet.

Last year, the Norristown Area School District was one of the first in the state to reorganize its high school under Project 720. Lisa Andrejko, then district superintendent. led the effort to break the 2,000-student school into six academies.

Norristown Area did not make adequate yearly progress this year, PSSA results show.

One year is not enough time to judge the project a failure, said Andrejko, who now heads Quakertown Area School District. It takes at least five years to get hard data, she said.

The solution isn't merely in teaching with computers or in smaller groups, Andrejko said. It will require a greater emphasis on basic reading instruction, she said, the kind students receive in elementary school.

''We don't teach reading in high school,'' Andrejko noted.

Employers and colleges have told state education officials that Pennsylvania high school graduates, on the whole, are not up to speed in writing, reading and math, Harris said.

''They're graduating without basic skills,'' she said. ''That's a problem for the student, and for the entire state.''

Getting back to the basics

Easton Area High School administrators created a program to reinforce basic math and reading skills in the classroom and during after-school tutoring.

Bangor Area High School received a warning from the state because its 11th-graders didn't score high enough on the math or reading test.

Pat Mulroy, assistant superintendent of the Bangor Area School District, partly blames the same factors affecting high schools across the state: a lack of funding and slow-moving reform.

For decades, education policy and funding have focused on teaching preschool and elementary school students how to read. Only in the last decade have policy experts realized high schools need that help, too.

Bangor High needs, but cannot afford, four reading specialists, Mulroy said. And those specialists are usually trained at the elementary level.

So Bangor is retraining its high school teachers to teach reading and math in all content areas, she said. Now, ''every teacher is a teacher of math or reading.''

Allentown's middle-schoolers have made the transition almost seamlessly to high school in terms of reading retention. Nearly 46 percent of eighth-graders were proficient compared with 43 percent of high school juniors.

In math, though, their decline is clear. Just over half of Allentown's eighth-graders scored proficient or better on the math PSSA this year, compared with 39 percent of 11th-graders.

Allentown Superintendent Karen S. Angello said that when those juniors were in middle school, not enough was done to rescue students who were close to failing. That's why three years ago, the district began placing at-risk students in back-to-back math periods, offering intensive tutoring and additional math courses, she said.

This year, the district plans to hire more math coaches and begin tracking student progress on a daily basis. With early intervention, Angello said, they will spot problems sooner.

In the Bethlehem Area School District, Superintendent Joseph Lewis is planning major changes at his two high schools this fall, with the focus on reading and math. Because Liberty High School has failed to significantly improve its scores over a number of years, it is technically eligible for state takeover, although Zahorchak, the state education secretary, said that possibility was ''remote.''

Every student will take Algebra I in ninth grade -- no exceptions, Lewis said.

''It's time to stop complaining about the test,'' he said. ''It's not necessarily about meeting the targets, but showing our kids can grow.''

Bensalem School District

BCCT Back to School/PSSA Profiles continue:

BENSALEM SCHOOL DISTRICT
Smaller first-grade, kindergarten classes
New district initiatives target young and special education students.
By JOAN HELLYER

As part of its improvement plan for 2008-09, Bensalem is reducing its class size for kindergarten and first grade to a maximum of 20 students.

The reduced class size will help improve the district’s youngest students’ academic development because teachers will have more time to focus on the individual needs of the students in the class, Superintendent James Lombardo said.

Bensalem also is expanding its full day kindergarten offers from two classes in the district to six.

Each of Bensalem’s six elementary schools will house a full-day kindergarten class, administrators said.

Plus, the district will begin offering 90 minutes worth of Spanish language instruction to all Bensalem third graders this year.

And, the district is making every effort to increase the time special needs students participate in regular education settings, he said. The goal is to provide the special education kids with more access to the district’s standards-based curriculum mandated by the state.

The Bensalem Township School District serves approximately 6,000 students in nine schools in a township of more than 60,000 people. The district employs more than 900 people and runs on an approximately $111 million budget. WHO’S WHO IN THE

SCHOOLS:

Superintendent:
James Lombardo, 215-750-2800, ext. 4100
Assistant Superintendent:
William Gretzula, 215-750-2800, ext. 4103

Principals:
Bensalem High School: Francis Perry, 215-750-2800, ext. 3000
Robert K. Shafer Middle School: William Incollingo Jr., 215-750-2800, ext. 2200
Cecelia Snyder Middle School: Deborah B. McKay, 215-750-2800, ext. 2300
Belmont Hills Elementary School: Marla Zeisler, 215-750-2800, ext. 1100
Cornwells Elementary School: Shawn Mark, 215-750-2800, ext. 1200
Samuel K. Faust Elementary School: Maribel Camps, 215-750-2800, ext. 1300
Benjamin Rush Elementary School: Mary Gentile, 215-750-2800, ext. 1400
Russell C. Struble Elementary School: Lana Judy, 215-750-2800, ext. 1500
Valley Elementary School: Mary Glaesser 215-750-2800, ext. 1600

School board:
President Harry Kramer, Vice President Lewis Brandt, James Bodnar, Rose Jacobs, Carol Jones, Carol McGuire, Heather Nicholas, Stephen Nowmos, and Eugene Rothenberg.
Meeting schedule: Generally the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. except in July in the boardroom of the Dorothy D. Call Administrative Center off Donallen Drive.

Note: The board’s first meeting in October will be Oct. 7 in observance Yom Kippur, which begins the following day at sundown on the second Wednesday of the month. Its second meeting of November will be Nov. 25 because the following day, the fourth Wednesday of the month, begins the district’s Thanksgiving holiday observance. And the board’s second meeting of December will be Dec. 17 because the district’s Winter Recess begins on Dec. 24, the fourth Wednesday of the month.
For more information, visit the district’s Web site, www.bensalemsd.org

2008-09 SCHOOL CALENDAR
Sept. 2, First day of school
Sept. 29, Act 80 Day, no class for elementary, middle and high school students
Sept. 30, Oct. 1, Rosh Hashanah holiday
Oct. 9, Yom Kippur holiday
Nov. 4, Election Day
Nov. 11, Veterans Day
Nov. 25, Parent conferences, no class for elementary students
Nov. 26, Parent conferences and Act 80 Day, no class for elementary, middle and high school students
Nov. 27, Nov. 28, Thanksgiving holiday
Dec. 24, Winter recess begins
Jan. 1, New Year’s Day
Jan. 5, Schools reopen
Jan. 19, Martin Luther King Day
Jan. 20, No school for elementary and middle school students and full day of class for high school students
Jan. 26, Half day of school for high school students and full day of class for elementary and middle school students
Jan. 27, Half day of school for high school students and full day of class for elementary and middle school students
Jan. 28, No school for high school students and full day of class for elementary and middle school students
Feb. 16, Presidents Day
April 8, Spring break begins
April 14, Students return to school
April 17, Parent conferences, no class for elementary students
April 20, Parent conferences, no class for elementary, middle and high school students
May 19, Election Day, professional development day
May 25, Memorial Day
June 10, Half day of school for high school students and full day of class for elementary and middle school students
June 11, Tentative last day of school for students, half day for high school students and full day of class for elementary and middle school students

2007 AVERAGE SAT SCORES:
Verbal – 471
Math – 476
Writing – 467

FAST FACTS ABOUT BENSALEM
2007-08 Average teacher salary:
$76,322
AP courses: 10 – American history, chemistry, calculus, English language, English literature, European history, government, physics, psychology and statistics
Student/teacher ratio:
Elementary schools, 15.6 to 1; Middle and high schools, 14.9 to 1
Cost per student: Elementary schools, $12,070 and secondary, $11,375.
Partnerships with businesses:
Commerce Bank, Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Ninety Nine, Texas Roadhouse, Smokin’ Dudes BBQ, Brown’s Family Shop Rite, Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Rita’s Water Ice.
2008 Adequate Yearly Progress status: Met AYP goal

Borough Council Meeting tonight

GOVERNMENT
Morrisville Council: 7:30 p.m., borough hall, 35 Union St.

Agenda: Regular reports and business; consider directing the borough manager and engineer to send a list and application to the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission regarding additional projects that will be requested with the surplus money from the Compact Authorization Investment Program; consider paying $64,165.68 to J.L. Gruber Contractor, Inc., for curb and sidewalk replacement on South Pennsylvania Avenue; consider approving the projects to be funded by the remaining DRJTBC grant money; consider adopting sewer extension resolution for the Falkowski/Kulpinski subdivision at 130 Delaware Ave.; consider approving 2008 Labor Day Run; consider motion to acknowledge Randy Kenner’s resignation from the zoning hearing board; consider two 3-year appointments to the Morrisville Economic Development Corp.; consider amending resolution regarding the UCC Board of Appeals reducing membership from five members to three members. 215-295-8181