Page 11 - AAR 2018

Table of Contents

PSSA: Pennsylvania System of State Assessment

Overview of Achievement and Growth
Summative assessment of learning is an important element in monitoring the achievement of our students. In
addition to curriculum and instruction, assessment data provides information on the effectiveness of the overall
educational program. PSSA data for Pine-Richland students within this report is compared generally to other
students in the state and particularly to students scoring in the top decile, as it is the most relevant and
challenging comparator group. These comparisons provide a context for understanding how well we are
educating our students. The performance levels of our students on the PSSA tests for 2018 and several years
prior is presented. This is the second year since the adoption of the PA Core Academic Standards for the 2015
PSSA that trends in the achievement of different cohorts of students can be analyzed given the collection of four
years of data points. An adjustment in the format and number of sections for each content area was made in
2018, leading to a reduction in the number of maximum points per anchor and eligible content section. In
capturing the scores for the 2017 report, great care was taken to ensure consistent data points were rerun
utilizing eMetric for the past years and this attention to detail persisted into the 2018 analysis. For example,
when analyzing data at the 4-6 grade level, one could select either “Eden Hall Upper Elementary School” or
“Pine-Richland School District”. The “school” data points were utilized in both last year’s and this year’s
version of the report to reflect students taking part in our daily instruction at our school, as opposed to students
attributed back to the district from other instructional settings. Since these updates have been made, one might
notice slightly different percentages when comparing the 2017 and 2018 reports to past reports.

The PSSA tests are scored according to the performance levels of:

● Advanced: The advanced level reflects superior academic performance. Advanced work indicates an
in-depth understanding and exemplary display of the skills included in the Pennsylvania Core Academic
Standards.

● Proficient: The proficient level reflects satisfactory academic performance. Proficient work indicates a
solid understanding and adequate display of the skills included in the Pennsylvania Core Academic
Standards.

● Basic: The basic level reflects marginal academic performance. Basic work indicates a partial
understanding and limited display of the skills included in the Pennsylvania Core Academic Standards.

● Below Basic: The below basic level reflects inadequate academic performance. Below basic work
indicates little understanding and minimal display of the skills included in the Pennsylvania Core
Academic Standards.

For PSSA Math and ELA, data is presented for 2015-2018, the four years in which the revised standards were
assessed through the PSSA administration. The standards assessed on the Science PSSA have not been revised

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