PSSA scores down? Yes, but…

If they haven’t gotten the letter yet, parents of students in the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District soon will. The letter is from Superintendent John Sanville explaining why their children’s PSSA test scores are lower than anticipated.

The letter accompanies the scores from the 2014-2015 school year and says, “The [Pennsylvania State System of Assessment] was updated to align to the new Pennsylvania Core Standards. As part of this update, ‘passing’ scores were raised significantly. The new threshold has meant that fewer students are receiving advanced and proficient scores.”

Sanville explained that the “momentary shift was expected,” and he reassured parents that U-CF students will still score well above state averages.

The district adopted new curricula in both reading and math in preparation for the new state standards. Sanville said early feedback from teachers is “positive” and there will be ongoing monitoring to provide the district with necessary information to “provide all students with focused and relevant educational experiences.”

“We continue to offer a world-class learning environment that emphasizes the role of our students as successful members of society,” he said.

Sanville’s letter is one of three recent letters explaining the lower scores. One of the other letters was from the Chester County Intermediate Unit, which said the shift was a result of the “first-time administration of a Pennsylvania State System of Assessment aligned to the Pennsylvania Core Standards, which were adopted in 2013.”

The CCIU letter also said, “Preliminary results indicate that 70 percent of the commonwealth’s eighth-graders are no longer proficient in math, which will undoubtedly come as a surprise to over 50 percent of parents whose same children were proficient or advanced in mathematics as seventh-graders on the PSSA.”

That letter also included a message from Michael Christian, superintendent of the Owen J. Roberts School District, who told parents that their children should not feel discouraged and that “this year’s scores are a baseline for a new state-mandated assessment and are just one data point of our children’s academic achievement.”

Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera said the same thing in a letter to parents. He noted that the scores represented merely a snapshot in time that determines a baseline for future growth.

“Comparing your student’s scores and levels of performance on the new assessment with those from previous years is not a valid comparison and may not provide an accurate depiction of their learning,” Rivera said.

All the letters referenced were dated in September, with no specific day mentioned.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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