Majority of Districts’ Students Meet State Standardized Test Goals (PA)

September 16, 2010

Students at seven of the 11 school districts in Luzerne County have scored well enough on 2009-10 standardized tests to achieve all goals set by the state.

And even at schools missing targets, most students are working on or above grade-level, and the students needing additional help are in minority subgroups, such as special education or English language learners, according to data released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education on Tuesday.

"When you look at it as a whole, it’s not a large quantity of students but it’s enough to not make the target. We’re going to break them down into individual scores and take it one student at a time," Lake-Lehman Superintendent James McGovern said the district will push forward with helping the special education program. The district missed two targets, at the high school and Lake Noxen Elementary.

More than half of the 37 school districts in Northeastern Pennsylvania failed to meet at least one target. Across the state, record numbers of students performed at grade level in reading and math. Three quarters of students statewide are now on grade level, meaning they scored at the proficient or advanced level. About 290,000 more students are performing at or above grade level now than did in 2002.

"The trend is extremely positive and very exciting," Acting Department of Education Secretary Thomas E. Gluck said Tuesday in a conference call. "While we’re excited about the results, there’s more work to do."

Crestwood, Dallas, Greater Nanticoke Area, Hanover Area, Northwest Area, Pittston Area and Wyoming Valley West reached all targets for reading and math. Students are also tested in writing and science, but the state does not have set targets for those tests.

Pennsylvania’s target for 2009-10 PSSA scores was for at least 63 percent of students to be proficient in reading and 56 percent to be proficient in math – targets that will increase to 100 percent proficiency in 2014.

Next year, the targets will jump to 67 percent for math and 72 percent for reading. That rising bar has administrators already planning for the next round of testing in the spring.

"Our teachers and our administrators, they were just waiting for the results to come back, because, obviously, as soon as they came in it was little like Christmas in July," Dallas Area Superintendent Frank Galicki said. "And as soon as they saw the scores they were thinking about how to improve them."

Students in third through eighth grades and 11th-graders are tested for math and reading. Fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders take science tests, and fifth-, eighth- and 11th-graders take the writing test.

Crestwood – Made all targets. Significant increases include sixth-grade math at Fairview Elementary, from 79 percent of students at proficient or above to 94 percent, 11th grade math at the high school from 56 percent to 71.

Dallas – Made all targets. Most scores remained relatively steady, although 11th grade math swung from 56 percent of students at proficient or above to 71 percent.

Greater Nanticoke Area – Made all targets. The high school saw gains across the board. Eighth-grade math went from 65 percent proficient or above to 87 percent, reading from 69 percent to 80. Eleventh-grade math went from 42 percent to 56 percent and reading from 51 percent to 59.

Hanover Area – Made all targets, with most grades and subjects achieving moderate increases or remaining relatively steady.

Hazleto n Area – Missed nine targets at the high school, for reading and math overall, for special education and English language learners, and math for white, Latino and economically disadvantaged students. West Hazleton Elementary School also missed the target for special education in math. Some significant increases include a 20 percentage point jump in third grade math at Hazleton Area Elementary/Middle School, to 83 percent of students at proficient or above. Reading jumped 23 percentage points to 76 percent.

Lake-Lehman – Missed one target each at the junior/senior high school and Lake-Noxen Elementary School, both for special education math. However, every fourth-grader tested in math at Lake-Noxen scored proficient or above.

Northwest Area – Made all targets. All Garrison Elementary fourth-graders tested in math and writing scored proficient or above, and the percentage of fifth-graders passing math doubled from 28 percent to 56 percent.

Pittston Area – Made all targets, with most schools and grades remaining steady in scoring. Eleventh-grade math and reading both dropped, however, from 70 percent and 78 percent passing, respectively, to 64 percent and 76 percent passing

Wilkes-Barre Area – Missed two targets at Dodson Elementary School, for Latino and special education reading. Missed two targets at GAR Memorial Junior/Senior High School, for Latino math and special education reading. Missed both targets in math and reading for special education at Heights/Murray Elementary School. Coughlin Junior/Senior High School missed the economically disadvantaged reading target.

Wyoming Area – Missed reading and math targets for special education at the Secondary Center. All third-graders at Kennedy Elementary Center and all fourth-graders at Tenth Street Elementary School who took the math test achieved proficient or above.

Wyoming Valley West – Made all targets, with steady increased of several points in most subjects and grades. Fourth-graders at Third Avenue Elementary School achieved a 30 percentage point increase in reading, to 89 percent proficient or above.