P-G: PSSA results come up short in Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park

Two school districts in the southern suburbs are pointing to positives after disappointing state test score results: Mt. Lebanon for its high school, which failed to make adequate yearly progress, and Bethel Park for the district as a whole, which missed the mark on graduation rates and high school math scores.

The preliminary PSSA results first released to school districts this summer show Mt. Lebanon met graduation and reading targets districtwide. But it fell short in math at the high school because of low scores among its special education students.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-south/pssa-results-come-up-short-in-mt-lebanon-bethel-park-653167 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Trib: Test scores inch upward in Mt. Lebanon schools

Mt. Lebanon students improved slightly on state tests during the 2009-10 school year, and consistently exceeded the state average, officials reported last night.

Scores on the Pennsylvania System of Standardized Assessment tests in reading, writing, math and science held steady or improved, according to the "student outcomes report" the district's curriculum supervisors delivered to the school board.

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_714696.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

School Board Discusses, Again, Changing the Graduation Requirements to Boost Test Scores

Recently on Blog-Lebo, we had a lively discussion about a proposed change to the school district's graduation requirements. The change would require students to score "proficient" or better on the state-mandated PSSA exams to graduate.

The proposal was discussed further at this Monday's school-board meeting, where it was presented as offering remediation to students who were having trouble with the tests.

Some, including school-board director Mary Birks, saw the proposal in a different light, however: as a means to boost the school district's declining rankings by putting more pressure on students. The Post-Gazette:

School director Mary D. Birks spoke strongly against the proposal, calling it "reactive in nature" and designed to boost the school district's placement in the Pittsburgh Business Times rankings.

It's a tricky issue. School-board director Jo Posti writes on her blog about the subtleties of the proposal and Monday's discussion:

Some may look at this change as a response to Mt. Lebanon's rankings among other high-performing districts in the area. In a way, it is. If we're being compared to other districts by the Pittsburgh Business Times and others on the basis of PSSA scores, we obviously want our students to approach the tests with the same level of attention that they approach final exams or SATs. Final exams and SATs are tests that many students feel a more direct impact from, though. There's currently no incentive to perform well on the PSSAs. As a student, your grade isn't impacted, your college career isn't affected and the PSSAs taken during eleventh grade are one of a multitude of stress-inducers during a milestone year.

My understanding is that there are two groups of students who do poorly on the tests: those who are genuinely struggling and those who are doing well but blow off the tests because the tests don't affect college prospects. This proposed change is designed to motivate that second group to take the tests seriously.

In effect, then, this change will require the second group of students to work harder for a benefit that mostly goes to the school district itself. Is that fair?

Again, it's not so simple. While the test may not affect the students' prospects directly, it may do so indirectly. The school's reputation probably does carry over to the students. Enhancing that reputation, then, benefits the students – all students, not just those in that second group.

Also, and this is something school-board director Dale Ostergaard pointed out on Monday, adopting this change will eliminate a source of confounding and make our scores more directly comparable to those of other districts. As a result, we may be better able to isolate and improve weak areas in our educational programs.

In any case, I don't see how the school district can avoid adopting the change. As long as other schools do things to boost their scores (and they do), we will be forced to do likewise to remain competitive.

This change in graduation requirements is up for vote at the regular meeting of the school board on Monday, 16 August, 2010.

Read more:

• Mt. Lebanon considers remediation for test-takers (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• PSSAs as a Graduation Requirement (School Board Director Jo Posti)

Changes Could Boost Mt. Lebanon In Rankings

The Mt. Lebanon School District discussed two changes at its meeting this week that could move the high school higher in local, state and national rankings.

The first change would require students to achieve a proficient or advanced score in the 11th grade Pennsylvania System of School Assessments in order to graduate. The other proposed change would make the high school a participant in the National School Lunch Program.

Read more: www.post-gazette.com/pg/10168/1066354-298.stm

State Education Department Releases PSSA Test Results

The state Department of Education today released the results of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests for all public schools and districts, showing ones that made adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act.

State Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak previously revealed that test scores increased in each grade level in reading and math, resulting in a record number of students scoring proficient or better on the exams given in grades 3 through 8 and 11 in the spring.

Today's release includes overall results for individual schools and districts, and the results for racial and economic subgroups, where applicable.

Link: Mt. Lebanon School District test results

Link: www.postgazette.com/pg/09246/995323-100.stm