Reading, math good for eighth graders

If you’ve got an eighth-grader in your house, give her (or him) a gold star and a pat on the head.

State test results show he’s better at reading and math than pretty much any eighth-grade student in the last nine years.

Your fifth-grader deserves praise for her math skills but could brush up on reading, but if you have an 11th grader in the house, you might want to give him a nudge toward the books.

High school juniors – at least according to state test results – have been slackers for nearly a decade, barely better now than they were in 2001, scoring consistently lower on math exams than kids half their age and practically flat-lined in reading skills for five years.

Maybe that’s why the state is on the verge of dropping the current 11th grade standardized reading and math tests completely, replacing them with a set of tests in different subjects taken over several years.

The state has mandated annual standardized tests in reading and math since the 1995-96 school year. Initially, good test results gave a district little more than bragging rights. But in 2002, the federal law known as No Child Left Behind mandated steady improvement, with the goal of having 100 percent of students in grades 3 through 8 score “proficient” or better by 2014.

The law spawned a relentless race to improve, with curriculums thoroughly revamped and heavy investment in remediation tactics such as tutoring and computer learning software designed to detect and fix student academic weaknesses.

Has it worked? To find out, The Times Leader reviewed math and reading results in the Pennsylvania System for School Assessment tests given in grades 5, 8 and 11 for the last nine years in 12 districts.

While the state currently tests grades three through eight and 11, only grades 5, 8, and 11 were tested right from the start of the PSSAs. And while the tests began in 1995-96, the state changed the way it reports results in 2000-01, switching from providing “scaled scores” to giving the percentage of students who score in each of four categories: Below basic, basic, proficient and advanced.

Since No Child Left Behind required improvement in the percentage of students scoring proficient or better, The Times Leader only looked at that percentage.

The highlights of results

• On average in the 12 Luzerne County districts, eighth grade results climbed steadily in both math and reading, though there was a dip in 2004-05 in reading. Fifth grade math results climbed quickly until 2004-05, then leveled off, while fifth grade reading results peaked in 2003-04 and dipped a bit before starting a slow climb back up in the past three years. In 11th grade, math and reading scores have climbed sporadically and only slightly throughout the nine years.

• Even with that mixed news, on average, the 12 districts started out higher than state minimum goals in both subjects, and most have managed to stay above those goals even as the state ups the ante. In 2002-03, the first year the goals were in effect, the minimum was 35 percent proficient in math and 45 percent in reading. Now the minimums are 54 percent in math and 63 percent in reading

• Looking at individual districts, Greater Nanticoke Area made the biggest gains in both subjects in fifth grade over the nine year stretch, while Wyoming Valley West made the biggest gains in both subjects in eighth grade. Not surprisingly, in both cases the districts started out with the worst test results of the 12 districts, so they had the most to gain.

• In 11th grade, Pittston Area made the biggest gains in both subjects from 2000-01 to 2008-09, and unlike in the lower grades, Pittston Area started out with decent scores. Only three districts had better math results the first year, and Pittston’s reading results started in the middle of the pack.

• In a curious twist, Dallas School District – which consistently posts some of the best scores in the area in all grades in both subjects – saw a substantial decline in math results, from 66.3 percent proficient or better in 2000-01 to 53.8 percent this year. Reading results have also slipped, though by considerably less. Northwest Area saw the biggest decline in 11th grade reading scores, from 66.7 percent to 60.8 percent. Wyoming Area became king of the math mountain, not only making big gains in nine years, but hitting the highest mark of all 12 districts, 81 percent proficient or better this year.

The fact that eighth grade results have climbed consistently while others seem to have stalled reflects data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, tests, which are intended to be a common yardstick for gauging student performance across state lines. While all states must administer reading and math tests under No Child Left Behind, each state devised its own tests and determined what score qualifies as proficient, so it’s nearly impossible to accurately compare test results from state to state. NAEP is not given in all districts, and is given in fewer grades than state tests, but is given in all states.

Results in NAEP math and reading tests for grades four and eight rose slowly but steadily this decade, until 2008, the most recent data. Those test results showed that, while eighth grade test scores rose again, fourth grade results flattened out. The trend was present in both national data and among those students in Pennsylvania who took the NAEP tests (The government does not reveal which schools participate in NAEP).

The 11th grade state test results are more problematic – and may become irrelevant. Districts have consistently struggled to raise those scores and to figure out why they are generally hard to improve. One reason may be the length of time between when the subject matter was taught and when the test is given.

“A student who did not do well in algebra or geometry may score below basic (in the PSSAs) because it’s years since he took that course,” Dallas Superintendent Frank Galicki noted. “And the bulk of the tests is algebra and geometry.” In fact, algebra has been pushed into earlier grades, even pre-high school, so students can move on to more advanced courses like calculus as they prepare for college.

Galicki also noted that high school students “don’t take a reading course per se,” so it can be trickier to devise a curriculum that helps them master the type of things tested by the PSSA.

Hard to prepare students

Both Galicki and Wilkes-Barre Area Superintendent Jeff Namey said another part of the 11th grade problem may be that, unlike grade school courses, high school lessons tend to branch out into many areas, so it can be harder to prepare students for PSSAs, which focus on basic skills. “The higher you get into the system, the more complex it is,” Namey said. “I’m not sure what kind of benefit we get out of the 11th grade tests.”

Apparently, neither is the state. The Department of Education has been considering a system of tests students would have to pass in order to graduate. An early proposal that would have made the 11th grade PSSA test such an “exit exam” fell by the wayside amid heavy criticism, and a new plan to test students in several subjects emerged.

The latest version of that plan overcame a major hurdle in October when the state’s Independent Regulatory Review Commission approved it. Department of Education Spokesman Michael Race said the regulations now undergo a review by the state attorney general before being published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Once published, they are officially enacted.

Under the plan, in order to graduate, students would have to show proficiency in “English composition, literature, algebra I and biology.” The regulations leave room for a “local assessment” created by the district and approved by the sate to serve as proof of proficiency, but also set up “Keystone exams,” or state tests the student can take to meet the requirement.

Unlike the PSSAs, which are administered to all students in a narrow window of time each school year, the Keystone exams would be given at the end of a course, similar to local final exams typically given now. The new requirements would take effect in the 2014-15 school year. The state also would eliminate the 11th grade PSSA tests, but needs federal approval because the 11th grade PSSA currently fulfills requirements mandated under No Child Left Behind.

“The idea behind the Keystones is that, when you finish Algebra I, you take an exam and you’re either proficient or you’re not,” Galicki said. “The concept of Keystones replacing the PSSAs makes sense in that regard.

“What worries me though – and I think you have to look at it globally – is this: Are the Keystones driving a state curriculum? Is there going to be the demise of the opportunity to take performing arts and other electives? Is it going to limit the kids’ options as we focus on those core areas?”

Wyoming Area High School Principal Vito Quaglia raised similar questions. He said his district has been so successful with 11th grade PSSA results because of “hard work crunching numbers and being committed to make the curriculum a living document.” The high school and district have spent years honing a system designed to detect academic shortcomings that will affect test results, and help students correct them. The new system would almost certainly mean changing all that, and currently there is no clear explanation of what districts will need to do.

“It’s difficult to say what (the Keystones) will accomplish if the curriculum doesn’t come with it,” Quaglia said. “I think that’s the big issue. What material is going to be assessed? And that’s not there yet.”

While assessment and accountability are important, Quaglia expressed a concern heard frequently in schools these days.

“There are so many questions out there. It’s almost like you get into a culture of test, test, test. When do we have time to teach when all we worry about is testing?”