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Math program will likely be high on committee's list
At Tuesday's first steering committee meeting, Robert McLuckey, director of secondary education, addressed the high school's low math scores on last school year's Pennsylvania State System of Assessments -- known as the PSSAs.
"This is an example of a weakness that needs to be addressed in a strategic plan," McLuckey said.
The test is part of Pennsylvania's requirements under federal No Child Left Behind legislation.
Only 40 percent of 11th-graders in the district scored proficient or advanced on the test; the statewide average was 51 percent, and the state required that at least 45 percent of students score proficient or advanced.
"It was below the benchmark; it has to improve," McLuckey said.
The high school has not met adequate yearly progress for the last three years and is in Corrective Action 1, which requires tutoring services and school choice.
McLuckey said that this group of students under-performed when they took the math test in eighth grade, too. In 2002, 27 percent of students at Junior High East scored proficient or advanced and 36 percent of students at West scored proficient or advanced. The junior high scores have risen and all elementary schools performed well, McLuckey said.
The high school students did perform well in reading and writing last year, with 68 percent scoring proficient or advanced in reading and 70 percent in writing. State averages were 65 and 69 percent, respectively.
McLuckey called the high school math results "embarrassing, unacceptable," but said that the students put forth an effort on the tests. "They wouldn't have done as well in reading and writing if they didn't try. We have to work on math."
The district offers tutoring, and McLuckey said administrators have called in a group from the University of Pittsburgh to offer short-term solutions that will help this year's 11th-graders prepare for the test, which will be given in the spring.
"We need long-term answers, from elementary school all the way through," McLuckey said.
