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SUMMARY OF 1999 SCHOOL-BY-SCHOOL SCALED SCORES
In an effort to further inform Pennsylvanians about the quality of public schools in Pennsylvania, this report provides 1999 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) scaled-score results for individual schools throughout the Commonwealth.
The PSSA is a test administered statewide that provides data in a wide range of curricular areas to determine academic achievement; help schools further identify strengths and weaknesses and foster improvement in academic programs. Unless excused by their parents, all fifth, eighth, and eleventh grade students are tested in reading and mathematics in mid-February or early March.
This report contains PSSA scaled score and participation rate results, by school, in reading and mathematics. The writing results are not included since not all schools participated. The results for a given grade level are arranged in alphabetical order by county followed by intermediate unit (IU). The IU number is provided in the column headed as IU. Districts are also arranged alphabetically within an IU and schools are alphabetic within the district.
The results are presented as scaled scores. Scaled scores are included because of their ease of interpretation and because they allow comparisons of school results with district and statewide average scaled scores. Scaled scores range from a low of 1000 to a high of 1600. A score of 1300 represents the actual statewide average in 1996.
Because the 1997, 1998, and 1999 assessments were statistically equated with the 1996 assessment reference year, the scaled scores from these years can reflect growth from 1996. The 1996 PSSA, then, serves as the base year. For example, if a 1999 scaled score is higher than 1996 (or 1997, 1998), it can be interpreted as improvement from that year. This could not be done as precisely prior to 1996, since the statewide average was set at 1300 each year. Because of this change, the statewide average in 1997, 1998 and 1999 can vary from 1300. The 1999 statewide averages are listed as follows:
|
1999 |
Grade 5 |
Grade 8 |
Grade 11 |
|
Math |
1,300 |
1,300 |
1,300 |
|
Reading |
1,310 |
1,310 |
1,300 |
The Participation Rates heading indicates the percent of 5th, 8th and 11th grade students in the school who responded to the PSSA and received a score for mathematics and reading.
The Average Scaled Scores heading indicates the school scaled score in mathematics and reading for 5th, 8th and 11th grades, respectively.
In some cases, test data are not listed for a school. This occurs when a school does not have students in the grade(s) tested. For example, an elementary school that does not have fifth, eighth, or eleventh graders would not participate in the PSSA. In addition, some schools serve special populations, such as vocational-technical schools and special-education centers, and should not be viewed relative to schools with heterogeneous populations. Further, the size of the school should also be considered in interpreting the results from year to year. That is, schools with a lesser number of children will tend to show more variability in scores from year to year.
Also, in some cases, schools did not have at least an 80 percent participation rate in one or both subject areas. This 80 percent participation rate is not meant to be an absolute criterion in terms of understanding participation in the school's reading and mathematics programs. Rather, it is suggested as one reference to aid in interpreting the representativeness of the sample of students that were assessed in a particular school.
To receive detailed information on a school's scores and programs, please contact the districts directly.
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NOTE: At this time, participation rates are not yet available in the 29 PDF files which contain the school by school scaled scores. However, the excel spreadsheet contains the participation rates, as well as the scaled scores. | |
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