The bell has long since rung on the 2016-17 school year, and the test scores are finally back for the Keystone Exams and the PSSAs.

The Express has examined the data from this year’s scores and compared it to those from last year, with the intent of presenting an overview on the performance of area districts on Keystone Exams.

A separate article will be forthcoming to focus on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test results.

It must be emphasized, however, that there is much more to educational success than standardized testing.

Furthermore, this information is complex. There are many factors that figure into each district’s performance, ranging from student populations, student- to-teacher ratios, special needs population, and so forth. As such, the summaries of the Keystone Exams by district that follows should be taken as but a single measure of success: Relevant and worthy of scrutiny, but far from descriptive of the entire picture.

The Keystone Exams are administered to 11th graders in Pennsylvania school districts who are tested in three areas: Algebra I, Biology, and Literature.

Students are then ranked by score into the following categories: Advanced, Proficient, Basic, and Below Basic. These categories depict how many students out of the total population taking the test scored within those ranges.

For 2017, the Pennsylvania state averages for each category are as follows:

ALGEBRA I

r Advanced: 22.2%

r Proficient: 43.4%

r Basic: 24.5%

r Below Basic: 9.9%

BIOLOGY

r Advanced: 27.6%

r Proficient: 35.9%

r Basic: 20.5%

r Below Basic: 16%

LITERATURE

r Advanced: 8.8%

r Proficient: 63.9%

r Basic: 19.6%

r Below Basic: 7.7%

All of this data is available to the public and can be found online at www.education.pa.gov/pages/pssa-information.aspx

Above are the averages for students across the state, but how did the local districts compare?

BALD EAGLE AREA

Centre County’s Bald Eagle Area School District tested just under 140 students in 2017. While Bald Eagle students scored lower than state average across all three categories in the Advanced column, with 10.1%, 20.3%, and 7.3% scoring advanced in Algebra I, Biology, and Literature, respectively, they collectively performed well in the Proficient and Below Basic categories.

For Proficient, Bald Eagle students scored 69.6%, 55.8%, and 72.3% across the three subjects, while just 2.2%, 8%, and 5.1% of students scored Below Basic. Comparing these numbers to the state averages listed above reveals 10-20% more students performing at the Proficient level than is average, with the Below Basic percentages being smashed as well: compare 2.2% of Bald Eagle’s Below Basic Algebra I students with the Pennsylvania average of 9.9%, for example.

But how do they compare against themselves?

Examining Bald Eagle of 2017 against Bald Eagle of 2016 reveals a very slight uptick in students tested, with small losses across the board in the Proficient category, ranging from just .5% in Algebra I to 4.5% in Biology and 5.3% in Literature. That said, Basic and Below Basic also saw slight gains, also all under 5% change.

This suggests a slight decline in the 2017 class, but a decline in a district which still fielded a strong result.

As of press time last night, the superintendent of Bald Eagle School District did not return an email sent Friday to The Express seeking comment.

BELLEFONTE AREA

Bellefonte Area School District, also in Centre County, saw noticable student population growth from 2016 to 2017 in its 11th grade class, with 193, 193, and 195 students testing by subject respectively, a growth of 15, 13, and 13 students from 2016.

This growth did not inhibit a district putting up overall strong results.

The only two categories in which Bellefonte performed worse than the Pennsylvania average were Advanced Literature, at 6.7%, and Proficient Literature, at 59%. These compare to the state averages of 8.8% in Advanced and 63.9% in Proficient.

In all 10 other categories, Bellefonte was either within 1% of the average or surpassed it, in some cases by as much as 10%, such as their 5.7% Below Basic Biology, vs. the state’s 16%.

Compared to the Bellefonte of 2016, current scores are generally up, with Biology in particular showing an impressive improvement: featuring +8.4% in Advanced and +5.8% in Proficient. Literature, which appears to be the weakest testing area of the three at Bellefonte, slipped just .4% in Advanced, and 6.4% in Proficient, but also improved 1.2% in the Below Basic category.

This suggests steady growth overall in this district, despite Literature’s slightly below average performance.

The superintendant of Bellefonte Area School District could not be reached in time for responsible comment, as the data was freshly released and had not been fully examined yet.

JERSEY SHORE AREA

Jersey Shore Area, of Lycoming County, fielded just over 160 students in all three subjects for the 2017 Keystone Exams, slightly up from 2016. They, too, put forth a strong showing, with 9 out of the 12 total categories performing higher than state average. The three below average were Advanced Biology, Basic Algebra I, and Basic Literature, however it must be noted that the sub-average results in the two Basic categories were because of a substantially higher than average Proficient result.

For example, Basic Algebra I saw only 12.2% of the student results, compared to a state average of 24.5%. Proficient Algebra I, though, represented 69.6% of the results, compared to the state average of 43.4%.

With better-than-average scores in all three Below Basic categories, Jersey Shore only put out one substantive score that was worse than average: a 16.9% Advanced Biology score. Biology, though, scored higher than average across all three other categories.

The district saw some small losses in many categories compared to the 2015-2016 testing year, but that is largely due to growth in the Advanced category for both Algebra I and Literature — 10.4% and 4.2%, respectively.

The Keystone Exam scores from Jersey Shore suggest a district in its prime.

Dr. Kenneth J. Dady Jr., assistant superintendent at Jersey Shore, offered comments the district’s test scores.

Jersey Shore’s superintendent could not be reached in time for comments.

Jersey Shore Area, he said, “experienced at least a 10% increase in students scoring Proficient or Advanced. While we are looking for further growth in all areas, this increase that occurred in all three areas (Algebra, Biology and Literature) is a positive step. We are very proud of the students, teachers and staff for their accomplishment in achieving this growth in the scores.”

Asked what the district is doing to prep for the tests, Dady said “personalization” is key.

“As we look at these scores in conjunction with other assessments, screeners and student work, our teachers and staff are finding ways to personalize instruction to the individual learner. We initially started with an analysis of the curriculum. The teachers conducted a gap analysis in each area in order to find areas that were not currently addressed sufficiently. They then developed ways to fill these gaps. The teachers also did an analysis of their tests in order toproduce assessments that required higher depth of knowledge responses.”

“Good instruction means that understanding is assessed throughout instruction in order to have a good pulse on what students can do and know, and where there are opportunities for growth. We are excited to see the increase in our scores, but the Keystones/PSSAs are a once-a-year measurement that is an overall barometer. What is happening every day in the classroom is what is important. When good instruction and learning are occurring in the classroom, positive results will follow,” Dr. Dady concluded.

KEYSTONE CENTRAL

The Keystone Central School District received Keystone Exam scores for two schools, due to its two testing high schools at Central Mountain and Bucktail. As such, these two schools will be taken separately.

r CENTRAL MOUNTAIN

By far the largest testing body amongst local districts, with over 250 students in each subject, Central Mountain performed better than average in all three Basic categories, as well as Below Basic Algebra I, and was within .4% of the state average in Advanced Algebra I.

This comes at the cost, though, of being slightly worse than average in the remaining seven categories. Most of these were within 5% of state average, with Advanced Biology and Proficient Literature representing the highest disparities, at 20.8% for Central Mountain vs 27.6% for Pennsylvania and 56.6% for Central Mountain vs 63.9% for Pennsylvania, respectively.

Compared to last year’s Keystone Exams, Central Mountain actually saw a noticable drop in student population, ranging from 25 to 30 fewer students in all three subjects. Despite this, however, Central Mountain shows appreciable growth across the board.

All Advanced subjects are holding steady or improving, with Advanced Algebra I improving by a full 5%. Proficient Algebra I and Literature show growth, as do Below Basic Biology with a 9.1% increase, and Below Basic Literature with a 4.4% increase.

These results suggest that Central Mountain is experiencing an educational improvement.

See the end of the Bucktail section for the response from Superintendent Kelly Hastings.

r BUCKTAIL

Renovo’s Bucktail High School is the smallest school on this list, fielding just 19 11th graders in each subject for the Keystone Exam. As with its sister, Central Mountain, all three subject performed better than average in the Basic category, but unlike Central Mountain, Bucktail also performed at or better than average in two of the Proficient categories, Biology and Literature.

Bucktail’s Advanced population was much lower than average, however, with just 10.5% of students scoring Advanced in Algebra I or Biology, compared to the state average of 22.2% and 27.6%, respectively.

Perhaps Bucktail’s greatest boast comes from the Below Basic Literature section, which achieved 0% population.

Compared to last year’s exams, Bucktail also saw substantial loss in its population, at -9 students in Algebra I and Literature, and -10 in Biology. With such a small body of testing students, this loss represents roughly a third of its population.

Overall, Bucktail saw some slight losses compared to last year. The school did make some very small gains in its Advanced Biology and Literature scores, as well as in Proficient Literature and Basic Algebra I. However, it also took a 14.5% decline in Advanced Algebra I, with small losses in Proficient Algebra I and Biology, as well as Basic Biology and Literature.

This suggests that Bucktail is holding roughly steady overall, with a strong Literature program.

Keystone Central Superintendent Kelly Hastings prefaced that the exams “are only one piece of data and require deep and thoughtful analysis to determine areas of need.”

She also cautioned that, “The comparison is not apples to apples,” as “the students who take these exams differ from year to year.”

Keystone is attempting to find ways to integrate more support for the three areas into their other classes, Hastings said.

“For example, we have a coach working with our Career and Technical Center teachers to determine ways they can support the instruction of Algebra concepts in their area of study, free of charge to the district,” she mentioned.

Hastings also said that Keystone has already taken several steps towards improving their scores in recent years, which will begin to show results as students mature in the district. Among those listed include working with an Intermediate Unit, professional development provided to teachers and principals in the district, extra assistance and progress monitoring for their special education students, and the Pre-K program, which Keystone hopes will help growth over time.

“Currently, the exams are not a graduation requirement,” Hastings said, “so many students did not opt to retest.”

This may have influenced scoring somewhat.

“While like every district we would love to have high scores in all areas, we know that our students and our schools are much more than a test score,” Hastings closed. “We are fortunate to have a committed faculty and staff who are dedicated to working toward improvement in all areas,” she said.

SUGAR VALLEY CHARTER

The Sugar Valley Rural Charter School had just over 30 students in each subject take the Keystone Exam.

Test-taking students at the Charter School bested the state average in the Basic level in all three subjects by as much as Basic Algebra I’s 40 percent. Sugar Valley also saw significant gains in the Below Basic category.

Not everything was good news, though, as the school was also below the state average across the board in all Advanced and Proficient categories, with none of the tested students achieving Advanced results.

Compared to 2016’s student population, Sugar Valley saw notable growth in the number of students taking the Keystone Exam, ranging from +10 to +12 students across the three subjects.

Sugar Valley has seen growth in numbers in its Proficient Literature and Basic Algebra I categories, with both over plus-20% from 2016, as well as a host of small gains elsewhere.

In addition, Sugar Valley saw improvement in all three Below Basic categories, with 15.7%, 7.1%, and 4.8% fewer students scoring here across Algebra I, Biology, and Literature, respectively, compared to 2016.

Sugar Valley did score lower in a couple of categories than they did in 2016, however, some of these losses are likely due to the gains noted above: For example, Proficient Literature gained 24.1%, but Basic Literature lost 19.2%. It can be inferred that much of that Basic population likely improved to the Proficient category.

As such, while Sugar Valley appears to currently be struggling at the Advanced and Proficient levels, it does appear that growth is surging, especially at the Basic and Below Basic levels.

Superintendent Tracie Kennedy was able to be reached in time for comments.

Although she is “reluctant to draw much meaning” from the categories, Kennedy does agree that, “Since the state makes these numbers public, we must examine them along with everyone else.”

Kennedy focused on the Below Basic category, stating that “we take great pride in the significant reduction in the number of students who scored in the Below Basic category. This shows that we are having growth among the students who had the most difficulties.”

With regard to steps taken, Kennedy mentioned that Sugar Valley has spent a substantial amount of time reviewing and rewriting curriculum, especially in math and language arts.

“In addition, we have provided professional development opportunities for our teachers to improve their ability to instruct our students,” she said. “Our goal is to reach students individually, and provide targeted assistance tailored to their specific needs. This is one of the primary concepts in our charter and is foundational to everything we do here,” Kennedy stated.

In an attempt to further help students, the school offers remediation courses for students who have struggled with the assessed content.

“During the school day, the students have access to teachers that provide them additional assistance in a study hall setting or math help activity period. We also provide an after school tutoring program,” according to Kennedy.

Kennedy also acknowledges the fluctuating student populations at Sugar Valley as being some of the cause for the “volatility” of the school’s scores.

She said, “in a given year, many of the 11th grade students reported in our scores may have only been here for a year or two. Also, the small number of students assessed each year (20-30) makes it a challenge to gather much significance from the results.”

With regard to the usefulness of the tests, Kennedy echoed Hastings: “Ultimately, the biggest difference is that these are different students than took the exams last year. It is difficult to gain much knowledge from year to year comparisons when the scores represent an entirely different group of students.”

Kennedy closed by noting that, “We know that our students come from different areas with different educational backgrounds. We will use the results of these assessments to help plot an individual course of action that is in the best interests of each of our students.”