Yesterday we learned that PSSA scores for all students declined by 48 percent between 2017 to 2022.
Today we're going to reexamine the same data, but for students who are identified as *Historically Underperforming. Fewer than half of these students were advanced/proficient in 2017. But by 2022, only ten percent were scoring advanced/proficient in math. How can it be that a highly rated district like West Chester can have such devastating test scores?
*The state defines Historically Underperforming students as "a non-duplicated count of students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, and English Language Learners enrolled for a full academic year taking the PSSA/Keystone Exams."
We're going to follow the Historically Underperforming students for the class of 2026 (current 9th graders) through the years to examine their PSSA scores.
In 2017, 43.7% of Historically Underperforming WCASD 3rd graders scored advanced or proficient in math. (It should be noted that ZERO PERCENT of students scored advanced at Mary C. Howse.)
In 2018 38% of Historically Underperforming WCASD 4th graders scored advanced or proficient in math. (It should be noted that ZERO PERCENT of students scored advanced at the following schools: East Goshen, Exton, Hillsdale.)
In 2019, 37% of Historically Underperforming WCASD 5th graders scored advanced or proficient in math. (It should be noted that ZERO PERCENT of students scored advanced at Hillsdale.)
In 2020 PSSAs were canceled due to the pandemic.
In 2021, 10% of Historically Underperforming WCASD 7th graders scored advanced or proficient in math. (It should be noted that ZERO PERCENT of students scored advanced at both Fugett and Stetson.)
In 2022, 10% of Historically Underperforming WCASD 8th graders scored advanced or proficient in math.
Are we, as a community, ok with the fact that only TEN PERCENT of historically underperforming students are proficient/advanced in math?
This means that of our current freshman class, 90 PERCENT of historically underperforming students and 75 PERCENT of all students are not proficient in math.
