P.C. students see steady gains in Star, NYS assessment scores
December 21, 2023 at 12:38 a.m.
The Port Chester School District has always had a complex relationship with assessment scores—as an historically underfunded institution with a high-needs population that was then struck particularly hard by the learning loss affiliated with COVID-19.
Student performance on standardized tests haven’t looked great on paper; however, that may be changing, according to a recent presentation given by Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Dr. Tina Wilson.
At the Nov. 16 Board of Education meeting, Wilson gave the most recent presentation on elementary and middle school students’ Star math and ELA assessment results. And in general, the scores seem to indicate progressive movement for Port Chester students.
As opposed to the longer format of the NYS exams for math and ELA, which are cumulative, the Star Assessments only last 15 to 20 minutes and are based on what students have learned so far. Afterwards, the district accumulates those scores and determines proficiency rates for each grade. The test is taken three times a year and is used purely internally for educators to track how students are doing.
In the presentation, Wilson compared the NYS Assessment past scores and future goals with the fall Star Assessment results to get a general idea of how students will perform on the state exams at the end of the year.
This is the third year the Port Chester School District has made a habit of regularly presenting Star Assessment results for the purpose of being open with the community as educators track student progress toward academic goals. For her first presentation as a new Port Chester administrator on Nov. 16, Wilson created charts, visualizing both the district goals for each grade’s aptitude in the subject and what percentage of students are at, above or below proficiency for both assessment types.
This year’s academic goals varied between grade and subject. For example, the goal for sixth-graders on the NYS Assessment is to reach a 46% proficiency rate in math and 42% proficiency rate in reading—up 5% compared to the prior year.
Additionally, Wilson tracked another aspect of student performance that hasn’t been part of the presentation before—each cohort of children as they move through grade levels. And the data shows in most cases, students have been progressing with high proficiency rates over time.
“You should track cohorts of kids,” Wilson said. “It’s just that with the interruption created by the pandemic, we lost data and the ability to track that.”
Deputy Superintendent Dr. Colleen Carroll, who previously held Wilson’s position, added: “For two or more years, that data was just non-existent or unreliable.” Not only did COVID-19 create holes in data but resulted in a dip in scores across all grades.
Wilson’s presentation, which can be found on the Port Chester School District website, also included NYS Assessment proficiency levels dating back to the 2016-17 school year. Across nearly all grades and subjects, less Port Chester students were hitting the benchmark after the pandemic. But that trend is not unique.
“Nationwide, this isn’t just a Port Chester thing,” Carroll said. “Districts nationally are talking about the same exact challenges. They might be a little different in each district, but in general kids lost time.”
And the numbers reflect that. Post COVID-19, ELA proficiency in third-graders dropped by 9% per NYS Assessment results, while seventh-grader math rates dropped by 10%. Wilson attributes the dips to loss of in-person instruction.
“Regardless of how good remote instruction was, it wasn’t equitable for all students, it didn’t work for all students,” she said. “It just didn’t for all students, but everyone did the best that they could, given the circumstances.” But with the days of the pandemic behind them, district administration is looking to make up for lost time.
“We’re making gains,” Carroll said. “And we are making gains quickly.”
The latest round of Star Assessments shows that the district is headed in a positive direction, particularly in math. Across all schools, more students are showing grade proficiency that meets, or is on track to meet, district proficiency goals for the NYS Assessments.
At the fifth-grade level, for example, students are showing a 51.1% proficiency rate in math on the Star Assessment, on track to surpass the 49% goal for the NYS Assessment. The ELA scores, however, show less students currently hitting the benchmark, though Wilson is hopeful that the number will increase as the year goes on.
Included in the presentation were the percentage of students who are considered as “on watch” by the district. Those pupils are on the cusp of proficiency, according to Wilson, and she’s hopeful that most, if not all, will be able to achieve the level by the end of the school year.
“They’re being monitored so that they can strengthen certain skills and maintain others,” she said.
Wilson would like all “on watch” students to reach proficiency levels by the next Star Assessment, as it would push some scores past the district goals. An example would be the third graders’ ELA scores. According to the Fall Star Assessment, the cohort currently sees a proficiency rate of 21.3%, falling short of the 24% NYS Assessment goal. However, an additional 16.7% of students are “on watch,” meaning the next Star Assessment could predict the NYS Assessment goal to be met.
The data shows gains across the district, and although it doesn’t predict this year’s sixth-graders to meet the ELA score goal set by the district, the cohort still showed improvement over last year.
“Whenever a dip occurs, administration teams do a deeper dive to see what’s going on,” Wilson said. She added that each building has data teams that meet at least on a monthly basis and may do so more often based on needs.
“When we may not have the gains that we want to see, we have to be flexible and make changes,” Carroll explained. Both were adamant that it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact causes for the improvements, but they credit it to the district’s philosophy.
“I think, overall, the one consistent thing that you can attribute the gains to is the emphasis and commitment of the district to a data informed culture,” Wilson said. “Everyone is looking at data at the student level, looking at trends and patterns, and it’s what ultimately means growth for our school district.”
Besides being informed by data, they believe some programs have affected improving test results.
The test scores at John F. Kennedy Elementary School show that more than 40% of every third- through fifth-grader is proficient in math, and Wilson has an idea as to what may have contributed to that result.
“JFK had very strong gains in math in the last year,” she said. “They had changed their intervention model and had a dedicated teacher and teacher’s assistant, which allowed teachers to get to know kids more deeply.”
Just as well, the Imagine Learning Program, a software-based math program that was implemented across the district, may have contributed to the improvement of math scores.
“We’ve had a lot of training with it,” Carroll said. However, they’re skeptical as to the impact it had on the assessment results. “There are a lot of things that we can make connections to the gains, but you can’t say it’s causation. I’d say there are more correlations.”
Although it’s impossible to pinpoint the exact reason for the improvements, Wilson is excited about what the assessments have shown. “The kids did well on the fall screening,” she said. “And that’s without having contact over the summer and now they’re seeing their teachers and are engaged.”
She’s hopeful that the next benchmark test will continue to show the district’s upward trend.
The next phase of Star Assessments will be administered sometime in January, with another presentation following shortly thereafter.
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