Superintendent: PSSA proficiency fell in several grades; 15—20% opt-out rate lowers reported performance

Dr. Vitale, the district superintendent, reviewed raw state assessment results and told the board the file they were seeing is the raw roster of students who took assessments, not the finalized, allocated figures that appear on state reports. Dr. Vitale said, "The raw data is every student in our district that took the assessment," and warned that students who enroll after the state's allocation date (Oct. 1) may still appear in the raw file. She said roughly 15% to 20% of the district population opts out of PSSAs and that those opt‑outs are assigned to "below basic" for reporting, which limits the maximum reported proficiency rate when opt‑out levels are high. Using grade‑level summaries and cohort views, Dr. Vitale said third grade proficiency fell by about 11 percent and noted other grade‑by‑grade movements (grade 5 down about 5.5 percent; grade 6 up about 4 percent; grade 8 down about 7 percent). When following a single cohort (the class of 2032 in the presentation), she said proficiency fell from about 53 percent in third grade to about 38 percent in the most recent administration. Dr. Vitale also discussed Keystone results: she said the district's Keystone results rose about 3.2 percent overall, but Algebra I proficiency is low (presentation said about 8 percent proficient/advanced), and she estimated Algebra I proficiency had dropped roughly 10 percent in recent reporting. She emphasized that students who opt out of Keystone testing can lose access to three of five state graduation pathways, and urged better family communication: "If they do not take a keystone, 3 pathways are automatically off the list, and they only have 2 others that they can graduate from." Board member Mrs. Farah asked whether families can opt out of Keystones; Dr. Vitale confirmed they can and said counselors and principals are working to communicate the graduation consequences. Dr. Vitale described LinkIt, the district's data warehouse, as a tool the administration will use to do deeper, targeted analysis and to train administrators and teachers. She also noted that state averages had not been published at the time of the presentation and that comparison to state data will be important to determine whether drops reflect district trends or broader state testing shifts. No formal policy changes were proposed during the presentation; Dr. Vitale said the administration will bring more detailed analysis and comparisons to the EPR committee and to the board once state benchmark averages are available.