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By SANJAY BHATT; Times Leader Staff Writer
Sunday, November 24, 1996     Page: 1C

When it comes to mediocre schools, Luzerne County’s are not all that bad.
   
That is what the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test results say
— and that’s what is wrong with the test, educators and critics agree.
    The statewide test, in its second year, will soon be replaced because it
does not really tell teachers and parents what their kids know. It does
provide a ranking of schools’ scores in math, reading and writing skills
compared to the state average and schools in similar neighborhoods.
   
When students fare poorly, local officials can paint it in “a positive
light,” critics say, because their scores fall within an acceptable range
determined by similar schools’ scores.
   
Schools are grouped by whether they are urban, rural or suburban and by
their percentage of low-income students.
   
For example, Nanticoke’s reading score for 11th-graders seems acceptable
when compared to similar schools, but is the worst in the county and 220
points below the state average of 1,300. Scores range from 1,000 to 1,600.
   
That is why Gov. Tom Ridge appointed a commission to study and recommend
new standards that would set basic proficiency levels. Proponents say
standards would allow parents and teachers to judge schools based on how much
their children learn, rather than how well they do against similar schools.
   
“If all you do is compare a school with similar poor schools, you tend to
create a scenario of excuses,” says Sean Duffy, a state education department
spokesman. “We’re trying to provide information that encourages comparisons
that ultimately promotes parents getting involved.”
   
Duffy’s point becomes clearer after a brief overview of Luzerne County’s
math and reading scores:
   
In math, 11th-graders in eight schools scored the same as or above
11th-graders in similar schools, while four schools scored below them.
Compared to the statewide average, however, few were even close. Only four
high schools — Crestwood, Hazleton Area, Lake-Lehman and Wyoming Area —
scored above the state average. Northwest Area School District did not release
its scores.
   
In reading, 11th-graders in 11 schools scored the same as or above their
counterparts, with one school below. But only six scored above the state
average.
   
And the picture is worse for eighth-graders: While 12 schools scored the
same as or above their counterparts in math and reading, only two schools
scored above the state average in math and only four in reading.
   
But fifth-graders did well: In math, 22 schools scored the same as or above
their counterparts, while 17 schools scored above the state average. In
reading, 21 schools scored the same as or above their counterparts, while 13
scored above the state average.
   
Some districts, including Wilkes-Barre Area, already conduct their own
testing for basic proficiency in reading, spelling and other areas.
   
Superintendent Jeff Namey says the tests give the district a chance to tell
parents what their kids are learning and to measure the quality of teaching.
   
While some support changes to the state’s test, others say it won’t remedy
poor learning or low scores. “We have a tendency … to test and test and test
our students, but we don’t tend to use the test results we have and spend the
time to interpret them to improve instruction from one year to the next,” says
Douglas Lynch, chairman of the education department at Wilkes University.
   
More teacher in-service time should be devoted to interpreting state
assessment scores and learning more about how to assess students’ learning
accurately, says Lynch, who teaches a graduate course in testing and
measurements.
   
Namey agrees. “There’s been a tendency on the part of school districts to
get the scores, put the sheet in the student’s folder and move on from there.”
   
Part of the reason for this, Namey says, is that the state’s educational
objectives and district objectives are not always a perfect match.
   
For example, Wilkes-Barre Area’s 11th-graders never performed well on the
state math tests because the district’s business education, vocational
technical and general education students are not taught advanced math. Namey
says he will recommend to the School Board in January that algebra and
geometry be mandatory.
   
Still, Namey thinks the state tests are important. “It makes us take a very
hard look at the curriculum, but over a period of time.”
   
And with impending changes to the statewide assessment — the
standards-based test could be given as early as 1998 — Namey and other area
superintendents say they are concerned about losing the long view.
   
Namey’s staff has only given the test twice. He has asked teachers to teach
concepts measured by the tests. “Anything we can do to familiarize students
with the Pennsylvania assessment tests we’re going to do.”
   
Whether students should be taught according to the state’s criteria is
another issue, Namey says.
   
But for now any changes to the state’s test could confuse efforts at
improving the curriculum. “You have to look (at scores) over a period of years
and determine what the curriculum is doing and what it should be doing,” Namey
says. For example, how fifth-graders fare this year could be compared to their
results three years from now as eighth-graders.
   
Grades 11, 8 and 5 take the math and reading sections, while grades 9 and 6
take the writing section. Writing scores were not compiled because only
one-third of school districts are tested statewide.
   
TIMES LEADER/RICHARD SABATURA
   
Math teacher Joan Egan helps junior Brandi Morris, 16, work through an
algebra problem during class at Pittston Area Senior High School. Next spring,
11th-graders across the state will use their math and reading skills when the
district gives the state-mandated Pennsylvania System of School Assessment.