State assessment results mixed locally; some schools, categories show improvement

Dec. 3—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Many local schools saw slight improvements on students' state assessments this year compared to the previous round, and North Star Elementary School Principal Renee Lepley credits her teaching staff with making gains there happen.

"The teachers have done a great job preparing students by using evidence-based instruction," she said. "We are constantly looking at our data to see where supports are needed."

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has released the results of the 2022 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment and Keystone Exams.

The data show that many schools in the region had at least half of tested students, if not more, score as proficient or above this year on the PSSAs, although there were occasional dips compared to the previous testing period.

Lepley said that her school returned to a normal term in the wake of two COVID-19-impacted years that caused regular absenteeism. The change is allowing for better instruction, she said, with North Star elementary students producing better math and science scores.

According to the results, North Star Elementary School's PSSA math scores went up by 14 points to a total of 75% of students who scored as proficient or above, and the science scores increased to 96%, a jump of 11 points.

"We are excited about the growth and our data," Lepley said. "We have a strong MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support) process in place to catch students who may need extra support and interventions to get them or keep them on track. ... We really rely heavily on our benchmark testing data to meet all of our students' needs and to make sure we were providing the interventions needed to get them on track for the PSSA tests."

Lepley also pointed to the PAWS (positive behavioral interventions and supports) program that the principal said creates a positive school culture and reduces discipline problems within the building, increasing instructional and student performance.

"The combination of the academic and behavioral MTSS framework allows us to keep a good pulse on how every student is performing, even during situations like the pandemic," she said.

Some area districts, such as Greater Johnstown, also saw notable improvements in the advanced and proficient categories compared to the previous year. Fourth-grade science scores at Greater Johnstown went up by eight points in the advanced column, and there was a three-point increase for eighth-grade English.

Greater Johnstown also saw dozens more students in the assessment grades taking the exams, but still struggled with a majority of testers falling into the basic and below basic categories — more than 77% of fifth- through eighth-graders are considered below basic in math.

Windber Area, Richland and Westmont Hilltop school districts experienced steady advancements compared to last year as well.

Other districts, such as Ferndale Area and Conemaugh Valley, had minor decreases in the higher tiers individually, but still collectively logged roughly 50% of students in grades three through eight scoring proficient or above.

"Like states across the nation, we are not yet seeing test results at pre-pandemic levels," acting state Secretary of Education Eric Hagarty said in a statement. "However, student performance is generally improving year-over-year, and schools across Pennsylvania are working overtime to accelerate learning and meet students where they are at as we emerge from the pandemic.

"We know that assessments show point-in-time data that does not reflect the full scope of learning happening in classrooms across the commonwealth, and we expect student performance will continue to improve as students and educators proceed with a more normalized, uninterrupted year of in-person learning."

Testers in fifth and seventh grades in the English Language Arts portion of the PSSAs nearly doubled in the advanced category — going from 8.6% to 13.3%, and from 9.8% to 17.8%, respectively.

Mathematics remained a tough subject for some grades, throughout the state and regionally, and science again was a standout for high scores compared to the other subjects.

There were also thousands more students in each testing grade who took the PSSA and Keystone Exams this time compared to 2021.

The Commonwealth Foundation reports that nearly "160,000 more students — a 29% increase — participated in statewide testing this year compared to 2021, near the historical participation rate."

Despite these improvements, the results show students are still recovering from pandemic-influenced learning loss.

For example, more than 70% of both seventh- and eighth-grade students in the commonwealth fall into the basic and below basic categories for math.

Lucas Jacobs, Forest Hills School District director of education, said that "strategic planning to review and identify our students' learning loss and deficits due to the pandemic has been and will continue to be a priority within" his district, especially due to the trends noticed during the adjusted learning period, such as lack of access to computers and internet.

He added that a goal of the institution "continues to be strengthening the core instruction through the development of robust interventions to best early identify and intervene the learning gaps and learning deficits of our students."

Forest Hills students in all groups scored at 50% proficient or above on the PSSA this year, with the exception of seventh- and eighth-grade math, which had a proficiency and advanced result of 27%.

After-school tutoring and the hiring of additional intervention specialists — steps several local schools took in the past two years — along with the adoption of the benchmark program LinkIt and development of a stakeholders group to evaluate students were all steps implemented to help with learning loss, Jacobs said.

The educational director also credited a supportive school board and dedicated teachers and staff for meeting students where they are and helping them succeed.

As for the Keystone Exams, algebra and literature saw more students in the advanced category, while biology scores dipped roughly 20 percentage points across Pennsylvania.

There were also declines in the proficient grouping for biology and algebra, but literature scores experienced a 13-point increase in that column.

Roughly 64% of students are considered advanced or proficient in algebra and literature, state data show, and 41% in biology.

Locally, Keystone Exam results remained varied due to the test being skipped in 2020 and how "trigger courses" work at different districts.

In Cambria and Somerset counties, some high schools had more than 100 students scored for a subject, while others registered one or two participants, which resulted in no score.

Richland topped Cambria County schools in algebra, with 96% of students testing as proficient or advanced, while Forest Hills took that title in biology, with 100% of testers landing in those classifications — and Conemaugh Valley did the same in literature, with 78% of 11th-graders earning that achievement.

Jacobs said he spoke to Forest Hills biology teachers about the stellar scores and was told they prioritize "their instructional content to focus on the core standards within each lesson and or topic area."

"In addition, the teachers provided a student-centered educational experience where they were able to make connections with their students with 'real-world' examples within their curriculum," he said.

In Somerset County, Berlin Brothersvalley had 100% of tested students scoring as proficient or advanced in algebra, with several other districts not far behind, and Conemaugh Township Area held the top Keystone Exam spot for biology and literature in the county, with 55% and 82% at proficient and above, respectively.

For more information about the school and state scores, visit www.education.pa.gov/K-12 and click "Assessment and Accountability."