PENNSYLVANIA Schools appeal state test results

Union and Wilmington were deemed proficient in math and reading, but failed in another category.
By LAURE CIOFFI
and HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
Administrators in two Lawrence County school districts are considering appealing being put on a "needs improvement" list by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Union Area Superintendent Dominic Ionta and Joyce Nicksick, superintendent of Wilmington Area Schools, say their districts were not first placed on a warning list -- something that should have been done before getting the other designation.
"I was never contacted that we were on a warning list. It would have been nice to have a year to be advised," Nicksick said.
Ten other districts in Lawrence County did end up on the state's warning list. They face no sanctions and have a year to improve test scores.
The designations are the results of statewide proficiency tests given last school year to fifth-, eighth- and 11th-graders.
The tests and designations are part of the state's compliance with mandates of the "No Child Left Behind" law signed by President Bush last year. The law requires all pupils to be proficient in math and reading by 2014.
Evaluations
Both Wilmington and Union were found proficient overall in math and reading, but failed the state's expectations in a category for subgroups in which children were placed in various categories and their scores were examined.
Ionta said Union Middle School's scores were deemed low in the subgroup for low-income pupils. Nicksick did not want to name the subgroup in the Wilmington district that fell under the same category.
Both said they are evaluating their programs and will take steps to make improvements.
Ionta said that could mean tutors or summer school programs.
Nicksick said her district is also looking at making some changes, but had no specifics yet.
"We're using this as an opportunity to examine our programs and determine if there are weaknesses," she said. "I don't believe we have to completely revamp everything we are doing."
Mercer complaints
The superintendent of Mercer Area School District in Mercer County, meanwhile, said it's unfair to put the Mercer Junior/Senior High School on the "needs improvement" list because the state used old data in reviewing graduation rates.
"We're filing an appeal on it," said William Gathers, charging the state used 2001 graduation information that showed only 84 percent of the seniors earned diplomas that year.
There were an unusually high number of dropouts that year, Gathers said, noting the 2002 graduate list showed 97 percent of the seniors earned diplomas.
That's the same percentage of graduates recorded in 2000, he noted.
Mercer never received any notification or warning before it was put on the list, he said.
Minority group
Gathers said the school as a whole scored well on the standardized achievement tests but that one particular group -- economically disadvantaged students -- did not.
Mercer had 45 students in that category out of its 755 overall junior/senior enrollment, Gathers said.
"That's not a very statistically significant number," he said, adding that the district will work with that group to improve its score next year.
Farrell Elementary and Lower Middle School and the Keystone Education Center near Greenville, Pennsylvania's first charter school that opened in 1997, made the "needs improvement" list as well.
Officials in those districts weren't immediately available for comment.
Thirteen Mercer County schools made the warning list.