Scores, Renovation Update and Tuberculosis

Photo by Evan Brandt

Construction equipment and materials at the site of the Pottsgrove High School construction and expansion project.

Last night's Pottsgrove School Board meeting, as the headline suggests, dealt with three major subjects.

The first, and dealt with the most quickly, was whether or not to require volunteers in the schools get a tuberculosis test. After some hemming and hawing about what other districts do, the board voted unanimously to no longer require it.

That is no doubt a big relief to those who have already borne the cost and bother of complying with the state's new background check requirements for those who are only trying to help.

The second major issue is whether or not the high school's second summer of renovations will be done in time for a timely start of school.

Obviously, the answer to that question remains to be answered as the clock ticks down, but the board decided to first, forgive the first three days of delay for students and staff in terms of classroom days.

They also tried to assure students taking AP classes that the subjects will be covered adequately to allow them to score well on their tests next spring.

And finally, the board and administration delved into the tricky and touchy subject of test scores; which dropped around the state as the result of a shift in material being tested.

Everything from the state's culpability in the results, to new math curriculum, to the administration's plans for improvement were all on the table for discussion.

To read about that discussion, in Tweet form, we present, last night's Tweets:

High School Roof Leaks and Lower PSSA Scores

Photo by Evan Brandt

Lots of work being done to the entrance of Pottsgrove High School during summer construction.

What started off seeming like a quick summer meeting of the Pottsgrove School Board stretched out a bit Tuesday night when the subjects of high school renovation and PSSA scores came up.

Superintendent Shellie Feola told the board that although construction on the high school was coming along well, that a few problems had cropped up.

Tuesday afternoon's driving rain revealed rood leaks over two classrooms, both in the choral area. One of the romms had computers in it and another sustained water damage to the wall.

She said the consultant had warned the contractor to patch the spots but it hadn't been done before the rain and she she is "very upset" about it.

Feola also said its unlikely the cafeteria and library and a few other of the areas in the building will be completed when school opens, but it will still open on time.

She also addressed the letter she sent out to parents warning them that the state's movement of standards on the PSSA tests and changing of the tests would lower scores.

The board approved a resolution calling on the state to reduce standardized testing as much as possible.

Here are the Tweets from the meeting.

Access to Information and Training in its Use Means Better Test Scores and Informed Citizens? Well We Can't Have That Can We?

New study shows in-school librarians help test scores improve.

So I've posted before about how fond I am of libraries, but now it turns out I was right.

(So rare I have to make note of it.)

It turns out that a new study, which arrived in my in-box from several sources, finds that one of the things that boosts student achievement (read: test scores) most, is having an in-school librarian.

And here's what doesn't: School choice.

This according to a study just released by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.

The study found that after 10 years of school choice and expanding high school options in New York City, "college readiness rates are still largely predicted by the demographics of a student's home neighborhood." It concludes, "choice has not been sufficient to increase systemic equity of opportunity."

(Full disclosure, the study looked only at high schools and so the impact of school choice on the lower grades is not part of the above study.)

Anyhoo, that's a blog post for another day. Let's get back to libraries.

According to new research from the Colorado-based RSL Research Group, gleefully reported in the education advocacy press I might add,  "having access to a full-time, certified school librarian means better outcomes for Pennsylvania’s public school students."

The above and below is courtesy of an Oct. 23 press release from the Education Law Center.

The researchers examined the 2010-11 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) tests in reading and writing for students in grades three through 11, and tracked outcomes for students based on five school library factors: staffing, collections, digital resources and technology infrastructure, library access, and funding.

Overall, the greatest impact on student test scores was seen from having a full-time, certified librarian.

Tests scores in schools with full-time librarians improve
regardless of race, disability and household income.

• Students who have access to a full-time, certified librarian scored higher on the PSSA Reading Test than those students who do not have such access. This finding is true for all students, regardless of their socio-economic, racial/ethnic, and/or disability status. (Emphasis mine.)

• For several student groups that tend to experience achievement gaps—economically disadvantaged, Hispanic, Black, and those with IEPs (Individualized Education Programs) — Reading and Writing results are markedly better when those students attend a school with a librarian and library support staff, according to the research. In fact, they benefit more proportionally than the general student population.

"This was the first comprehensive school library research conducted in Pennsylvania in more than a decade, and the first time student writing tests have been examined," according to the Education Law Center.  

Access to a full-time, certified librarian dramatically impacted student scores on the PSSA Writing Tests, particularly for high school students, according to the results, the ELC said.

"• Nearly twice as many high school students who have access to a full-time, certified librarian scored Advanced on the PSSA Writing test as those students without access to a full-time, certified librarian, according to the report.

• Considering all students, those students with access to a full-time, certified librarian are almost three times as likely to have “Advanced” scores on the PSSA Writing Test as those students without access to a full-time, certified librarian."(Emphasis mine).

Needless to say, the PA School Library Project was delighted with the study results, noting: "a school library helps teachers teach and students learn; it promotes information literacy and digital citizenship; it fosters in students a love of and enthusiasm for reading and encourages students to become life-long learners.'

"In the school library, students learn to access resources in many formats, become critical evaluators of information they need and use information technology effectively and ethically."

Again, from the Education Law Center release:

An empty school library helps no one and is a waste of
a valuable educational resource.

“The overall findings fit with research we’ve seen in other states—access to a full-time, certified school librarian significantly impacts students achievement in reading,” said Debra Kachel, Pennsylvania School Librarians Association Legislation Committee Co-Chairperson. “What stands out to me is the impact on writing scores,” she said. “We haven’t seen that data before, and it underscores the larger impact having a full-time, certified school librarian has on skills, such as writing, that prepare students for college and the workforce.”

Eliminating or diminishing school library resources and access to a full-time, certified librarian has extreme consequences for Pennsylvania’s public school students, especially the most vulnerable students, said Nancy Potter, Education Law Center Attorney.

As I may have said once or twice before, let's make policy decision based more on evidence and less on ideology.

In other words, show me it works, and that its not unfair, and I say have at it.

But I'm not holding my breath that Pennsylvania - where the attitude toward public education seems to be "how can we next undermine it and then label it a failure?" -- will act on this information any time soon.

According to the Pennsylvania Education Association (Yes, it's a teachers organization), an Institute of Museum and Library Services grant-funded research project underway is designed to study what school library infrastructure contributes most to student achievement, and to examine the gap between what exists in Pennsylvania’s school library programs and what students need.

Preliminary research results from examining library staffing, and PSSA reading and writing scores show:

• Consistently, reading scores are higher for students who have a full-time certified librarian than those who do not. This is true of all students, regardless of their socio-economic, racial/ethnic, and disability status
• Students who are economically disadvantaged, Black, Hispanic, and have disabilities benefit proportionally more than students generally
• Writing scores are three times higher for students who have a full-time certified librarian than those who do not.

And so what are we doing in Pennsylvania? Supporting elements of public education which help children succeed?

Nope.

In Harrisburg, coming with new ways to label public
education a failure is a contact sport.

That doesn't match the narrative that competition will make schools better.

Instead, in 2011-2012, 198 PA schools (7%) eliminated or severely curtailed library services to their students., In 2012-2013, 117.5 librarian positions were eliminated (5.8% decrease).

This seems even more counter-productive when viewed in the face of yet another study, this one by the Pew Research Centery, which finds that -- Shazam! -- teens like libraries.

This from the New York Times Media Decoder blog:

"According to a study released Monday by the Pew Research Center, 60 percent of Americans surveyed in this age group said they still visited the library. They use libraries to conduct research, borrow print, audio and electronic books and, in some cases, read magazines and newspapers.

Wow, so studies show teens like school libraries, which help them
achieve. But school choices does not. I wonder which option
Harrisburg will pursue....can you guess?

That finding would seem to clash with the popular notion that young readers have turned away from libraries and print books as the source of their reading material, said Kathryn Zickuhr, research analyst with the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project. “A lot of people think that young people aren’t reading, they aren’t using libraries,” Ms. Zickuhr said. “That they’re just turning to Google for everything.”

I guess we can't say this often enough.

Libraries are not just books. They are magazines, computers, games, classes, tutorials.

Why at Pottstown Regional Public Library in just the past year, we have told you about a Civil War history class taking place at the library and on-line tutors ready to help the student in your house with a broad range of subjects.

Does an active and popular public library obviate the need for one in the school?

That we don't know yet, particularly given that there has been no research done on that. Were it proven to be the case, I think it would be worth exploring if it is shown to work.

But until that happens, the only thing we know for sure works, that improves the test scores with which Harrisburg is so obsessed, is a full-time librarian in the schools.

If we valued evidence in this over-politicized nation of ours, we might act on that -- that is if our goal was actually the improvement of public education.

Living and Dying By the Test

Pottstown High School

Pottstown High School's inclusion on the state's list of "under achieving" schools is certainly nothing to ignore, but it's also something that requires a little more understanding than simply acknowledging its presence on the list, Superintendent Reed Lindley explained to the school board Thursday night.

In other words, what does the school's presence on the list say about the school?

In measuring school performance in Pennsylvania, the line everyone wants to cross is called AYP.

This stands for Adequate Yearly Progress and it is the measure of success set up in the federal No Child Left Behind law enacted during the presidency of George W. Bush.

In Pennsylvania, scores on the PSSA test, or Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, are used to measure AYP, a definition of success which requires higher score each year in order to meet the goal.

In addition to the school's overall scores, sub-groups of low-income and minority students also must meet these goals in order for the school to be considered to be making AYP.

While Pottstown High School' math scores did not meet the bar on the PSSA test conducted in 2010, which is the basis for the school's inclusion on the list, it does not mean student scores are not improving, Lindley said.


Equally as important to whether the students are earning "advanced" or "proficient" ratings on the PSSA, Lindley said, is whether Pottstown student are making progress -- whether their scores are improving from one year to the next.

According to information he presented to the board Thursday -- they are.

He noted that despite falling short of the math mark, Pottstown's PSSA scores would have crossed the line into "achievement" territory with the difference of "just a few students' scores."

Lindley then presented a series of charts with each PSSA "data point" mapped in relation to the PSSA score which determines AYP, shown in this chart as the horizontal line, and the expected improvement from previous year's scores, represented by the vertical line.

The "expected improvement" is measured by the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment Score, or PVAAS.

This chart, which shows state-wide test results of
students the same age as the Pottstown students
taking the PSSA, shows scores in all  four quadrants.

As the chart shows, in the top left corner, it is possible to be a "high-achieving" school but still have your scores not improving, or even getting worse.

That is not the case in Pottstown, Lindley said.

In Pottstown, the scores show students making progress, or to the right of the "growth index" line, but falling short of the PSSA achievement bar, or the horizontal line.

In other words, Lindley said, while PSSA scores are certainly useful in helping to paint the assessment picture of how any district or school is doing, "they don't tell the whole story."

For example, part of the story not told by looking only at PSSA scores is the fact that Pottstown's career and technical students currently have a 100 percent graduation rate, Lindley said.

This chart shows test results for Montgomery County
students the same age as the Pottstown students taking
the PSSA. It shows most making AYP, but many with
little improvement, even among those passing.

As The Mercury reported earlier this month, Lindley  also pointed out when compared to other career and technical students statewide, Pottstown's scores are between 15 percent and 20 percent higher than their peers statewide.

"The PSSA is not the only definition of quality," Lindley said.

"Yes, it's correct to say we did not score well on math in that year, but what it doesn't say is we have students who are scoring exceedingly well and going on to do great things," Lindley said.

"We know that it was our math scores that got us in trouble, and we were already moving aggressively to address that before" the high school was put on the list, Lindley said.


But despite those efforts, its possible Pottstown High School will be off the "under achieving" list next year, before those efforts get a chance to be tested in the PSSA arena.

"That is the dot that got us in trouble," Lindley told the
School board when he showed this graph, which
illustrates that Pottstown's scores are improving more
than expected given its demographics, but not enough
to make Adequate Yearly Progress on the PSSA.

"We already know we did better in the next year" on the PSSA tests Lindley told the school board.


The test itself, Lindley said, "was never designed to compare schools. I remember quite clearly when they announced the test, and they said it would never be used to compare schools, but instead to give teachers the information they needed to help students."

"And now, look where we are today, using it to compare schools," Lindley said.

Lindley said he is not arguing that educators should not be held accountable; quite the opposite. But Lindley said he would like that accountability to be based on an accurate assessment of educational success.

"And that is a fault of educators, that we have not come up with an assessment method that we can all agree is a fair measure of success," he said.

Franklin Elementary School teacher Lindi Vollmuth also reminded the board that several years ago, the district conducted a study of its PSSA scores and tracked students who had been part of the Pottstown School for their entire school career "and they did very well on these tests."

However, she said, because of Pottstown's high transient rate -- students who enter or leave the district in any given year -- "we are held accountable for gaps in their learning that may have occurred elsewhere," Vollmuth said.

Lindley noted that this year, students will take the state "Keystone Exams" in math and science. "It's an end of course exam, this year it's in biology, but it will be given to students who took biology last year. So the students who took biology last (school) year, will take the final this year. I don't know about you, but I think I would have forgotten some things" from the last day of school in June to taking the test in September.

"I can see why there is such a focus on being ready for exams," said board member Andrew Kefer. "I wish there was a better way to measure, but like Winston Churchill said about Democracy, it's the worse form except for all the other forms we've tried."

Are PSSA's Pie in Your Face, or Pie in the Sky?

Teacher Allen Ferster smiles through the whipped cream

Blogger's Note: This was put together with the help of another submission from our prolific friend, John Armato: 

Rupert Elementary students’ recent efforts during the state standardized testing program (PSSA) earned them a “pie reward.”

They were very enthusiastic about the whipped cream pies that they were permitted to throw at their Principal, Matt Moyer and volunteer teachers.

The pie throwing was a reward to the students who had perfect attendance during all six days of the math and reading PSSA testing program and demonstrated outstanding effort.

A pie in the face is in Jamie Fazekas' future

Teachers volunteering to be “pied” were Max Donnelly, Debbie Wilson, Allen Ferster, Sherry Shank, Jamie Fazekas, and Britney Oxenford.

Another way students were motivated this year was through assemblies held before hand, such as the one at Lincoln and Rupert with football stand-out Rian Wallace and Pottstown alum David Charles from High Street Music Co. 

"The kids seem to really enjoy the message.  I've had many requests from faculty and students for a song I wrote and performed at both pep rallies titled  'Get Into The Zone," Charles wrote in an e-mail.  

Franklin Elementary teacher Lindi Vollmuth played that song and accompanying video for the school board at Thursday's school board meeting.

Sherry Shank says 'no more pie please. I've had enough.'

Click here to hear the song.

Assistant Superintendent Jeff Sparagana told the school board recently that the PSSA testing time is a high-pressure period for both the students and teachers in Pottstown.

In March, I reported about how security measures surrounding the test have become draconian, in the opinion of many Pottstown educators.

“We all know these tests are already over-emphasized, but now the process of giving the test is becoming more important than the test itself,” Vollmuth told the board during the March 15 board meeting.

As far as Superintendent Reed Lindley was concerned, Vollmuth was preaching to the choir.

“It’s unbelievable all the things we’re dealing with to make sure there is no cheating,” Lindley said. “At this point, we are up in the ozone layer in terms of compliance,” he said.

Teachers Terry Shank and Max Donnelly took their lumps
along with Principal Matt Moyer, right.

At Thursday's meeting, Sparagana told the board "the difficulty for teachers also comes after the testing period is done when there is a "let down and the teachers have to try and pick the students up and keep them enthusiastic about getting through to the end of the year."

Meanwhile, according to this article in the Washington Post, "in Texas, New York, Illinois and other states, protests by parents and educators are getting louder against school reform that insists on using standardized test scores as the basis for evaluating students, educators and schools."

As Valerie Straus reports, part of the irony of this growing movement is that it is strongest in Texas where  some 345 school districts — out of about 1,030 districts — "have adopted a resolution that says that standardized tests are 'strangling' public schools and asking the state board of education to rethink the testing regime. Those school districts represent more than 1.6 million students."

The irony part comes in that that "it was in Texas where the era of high-stakes testing was born. George W. Bush started a test-based accountability program when he was governor and then blew it out into a national education initiative known as No Child Left Behind during his presidency."

And in New York, the latest flap about standardized tests has to do with whether or not a pineapple wears sleeves. Confused? So were the children. Read about it here.