WAHS seeks to improve test scores

Article Photos

Teachers, counselors and administrators at the Williamsport Area High School say they are keenly aware that the school - for the second straight year - failed to meet academic benchmarks established under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

For 2007-08, the high school did not make adequate yearly progress as measured by the guidelines. That forced it into a "Corrective Action II, Second Year" category, the lowest of the six main classifications under NCLB that schools and districts enter only after five years of poor test scores.

For school principal Bruce Elliott, it just means everyone has to work harder because, he said, "it really is important that no child is left behind."

Ensuring all students succeed academically, Elliott said, is the mission of all at the school, regardless of opinions on the academic mandates of NCLB and its goal of 100-percent student proficiency on state tests by 2014.

According to the state Department of Education, if a school or district does not meet adequate yearly progress, or AYP, for five consecutive years, it is subject to governance changes such as reconstitution, chartering and privatization. It also must continue any repercussions implemented from previous years, such as developing school improvement plans and offering school choice and more supplemental education services.

What this means at the high school, according to Dr. Don C. Adams, district assistant superintendent, is more revision to its school improvement plan and implementation of a school restructuring plan.

Adams said the school is not mandated to offer school choice and more supplemental education services because it does not receive federal funding that is connected to those penalties.

"We do take that assessment (the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, the state tests used to measure AYP) and our progress very seriously," Adams said. "We're directing a lot of effort to ensure all our students succeed."

Elliott said before the 2007-08 scores were released, efforts to kick up scores already were under way.

During the 2007-08 school year, the school received assistance from the state education department to develop a two-year school improvement plan, Adams and Elliott said, that will be continued, with improvements, where needed, this year.

One highlight, Elliott said, is developing and implementing inclusionary practices for placing students with special needs and regular education students together in the classrooms, and equipping teachers to teach to all of them effectively.

"Every student matters," Elliott said.

To help teachers meet the needs of all students at various levels in the classrooms, he said, inclusionary practices will include co-teaching - pairing a special education and regular education teacher - and differentiated instruction, in which the co-teachers work together to develop lesson plans to accommodate all students.

Another highlight, Elliott said, is increased evaluation of data, specifically 4Sight Benchmark Assessments, to identify students' instructional needs. Elliott said the tests, which provide a "snapshot" on how students would do had they taken the PSSA at that time, are given three times a year in grades 9, 10 and 11.

"We're using those also to effectively place kids in classes," Elliott said, saying course grades, 4Sights and PSSA results all will now be used to guide appropriate course selections for students to best place them in courses where they'll learn the skills they need at the level of instruction they need.

A team of teachers and administrators monitor data to look for trends and look at where students are striving and where they're falling short, Elliott said. They're also responsible for presenting that data to district-level administrators for review, he said.

Interventions implemented in the plan, Elliott said, include computer-based Web Achiever, Read 180 and the I Can Learn mathematics classroom where headsets are connected to computers allowing students to complete lessons and tests at their own pace.

Also this year and part of the school improvement plan are some new courses and some modifications, Elliott said.

Embedding additional reading instruction in English courses for non-proficient students, Elliott said, is a "major focus" in looking to improve PSSA reading scores. Elliott also said a new reading course for non-proficient freshmen will provide more targeted instruction for students who need it so they're ready to test in 11th grade, the only high-school grade that takes the PSSAs.

Because algebra is a large part of the PSSAs, Elliott said a new math course sequence to ensure student access to Algebra 2 by their junior year has been laid out.

"It's important to have a sequence to be successful," Elliott said.

Also during the 2007-08 school year, the high school began developing a school restructuring plan, Adams said. Many of the new curriculum courses and sequencing fall under that, as well as the efforts to more appropriately place students in courses.

Also with restructuring last year, which will continue this year, activity periods were alternated instructional periods were lengthened, Adams said. The school's "ELO" - or extended learning opportunity - afternoon period started as a means to better use "study hall" time. During that period, students go around to their teachers, in whatever subject, and get help for their class or make-up work.

Elliott also said a significant change, not required by any law, but one the staff felt important to implement for the first time last year, was an improved testing environment for taking the PSSAs.

Juniors were greeted with breakfast from the school's parent-teacher organization, Elliott said, and with support from district administration, the juniors tested alone, as the rest of the school was on a delayed start so staff could focus on the juniors.

A bonus were some incentives for attendance, such as gift certificates to local establishments, prom tickets and school clothing.

Elliott said that rather than taking the test as a large group in the cafeteria as was standard in past years, staff this year broke up the juniors into small groups of only about five or six students and tested them in classrooms with a teacher with whom they have a positive relationship and feel comfortable testing.

Teachers sent cards of encouragement to juniors before the test, Elliott said.

"The testing environment was a big push," Elliott said. "It should go hand-in-hand with the new courses."

Adams said though the students are the focus, the staff also is receiving additional training regarding state reading assessment anchors for the state test standards and is developing tools to help teachers in all content areas to address PSSA eligible content and vocabulary in their classes.

"We're really trying to empower them to be involved (in this process of improving scores)," Adams said. "We want to empower teachers to help us move forward."

Elliott said it will take "a team effort" from teachers, staff and students' families to bring the scores up.

"We need your help," Elliott said. "The (PSSAs) are important. They're important for the students. They're important for the school. They're important for the community."