With just a couple exceptions, South Middleton School District students scored above the state average on Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests administered last year.

Only the fifth grade in math and the sixth grade in English/language arts scored below the state average at the proficient and advanced level, according to Joseph Mancuso III, assistant superintendent.

Year-to-year comparisons of test results show improved scores in both math and ELA among students in the fourth-, seventh- and eighth grades. However, PSSA scores in the sixth grade fell off slightly in both subject areas while math scores declined at the fifth grade and ELA scores at the third grade.

Mancuso along with the building principals briefed school board members Monday on the test results and plans underway by staff to address deficiencies and improve scores. Other school districts in the area are expected to do the same in the coming weeks.

W.G. Rice Elementary School

About 68.4 percent of third-graders taking both tests at this building scored at the proficient or advanced level compared to the statewide average of 54.4 percent for math and 60.9 percent for ELA.

In a year-to-year comparison, the percentage of third-graders proficient or advanced in math was up slightly from the 65.9 percent who scored at the same level in 2015. However, the percentage proficient or advanced in ELA went down over six points from 74.7 percent to 68.4 percent.

When it came to math, Rice students showed a lot of improvement in the measurement of data — a problem area in the past, Principal David Boley said. He added that while third-graders last year scored high in finding the area of a plane figure and problem solving with multiple operations, they scored low on questions involving the interpretation of data from graphs.

“That was a surprise to us because the teachers felt the students did well in the classrooms leading up to the test,” Boley said. The plan going forward is to work with the Capital Area Intermediate Unit on professional development on assessment tools that could help faculty better pinpoint areas of individual need.

As for ELA, Rice students did well in vocabulary acquisition in literature and information text, Boley said. “We need to continue to look at how we can improve writing.” A goal going forward is to improve writing skills in not just ELA lessons, but in science and math, according to him.

Iron Forge Elementary School

About 65.7 percent of fourth-graders taking the math test last year scored at either the proficient or advanced level. This is almost 20 percentage points above the statewide average for fourth-grade math of 46.6 percent and a gain of almost 12 percentage points over the 54.4 percent Iron Forge fourth-graders scored in 2015.

As for ELA, 69.8 percent of fourth-graders taking the test last year scored proficient or advanced compared to 58.7 percent of fourth-graders statewide and 65.5 percent of Iron Forge fourth-graders in 2015.

Turning to the fifth-grade at Iron Forge, only 42.6 percent scored proficient or advanced in math but 70.4 percent scored proficient or advanced in ELA. This compares to statewide averages of 44.4 percent and 61.5 percent respectively.

In 2015, the percentage for Iron Forge fifth-graders was 48.6 percent for math and 66.7 percent for ELA.

Lastly, 45.3 percent of Iron Forge sixth-graders scored proficient or advanced in math in 2016 while 59.1 percent of that same population scored that well in ELA. This compares to statewide averages of 41.1 percent in math and 61.7 percent in ELA. Year-to-year, the math score among Iron Forge sixth-graders slipped less than four percentage points from 49.1 percent in 2015 while the ELA score dropped almost 10 percentage points from 68.8 percent in 2015.

“We’re not too happy with the fifth-grade math score,” Principal Tricia Reed said. “Some of the changes in the test that students are adjusting to are multi-step problems where they are expected to go back and use something from A to solve B.” The change in rigor requires the students to grasp the whole picture of the problem.

Iron Forge staff plans to partner with the CAIU to take a thorough look at the math curriculum to make sure it meets expectation, Reed said. “We are buckling down already.”

As for ELA, the biggest change in the test is questions requiring text dependent analysis, Reed said. This type of format requires the students to not only answer questions, but to provide evidence from the text to support their conclusions.

“We are still working to get that piece secure,” Reed told board members Monday. “We are partnering with the IU to do some professional development with staff on text dependent analysis training.”

Yellow Breeches Middle School

About 38.4 percent of seventh-graders taking the math test in 2016 scored proficient or advanced compared to the statewide average of 37 percent. That same group of students scored 10 percentage points over the state average in ELA with 71.9 percent compared to 61.5 percent.

In math, the seventh grade of 2016 scored almost five percentage points better than the 33.5 percent of seventh-graders who were proficient or advanced in 2015. As for ELA, the seventh grade of 2016 scored 12 percentage points better than the 59.5 of seventh-graders who were proficient or advanced in 2015.

Turning to the eighth grade, 41.9 percent of Yellow Breeches students scored proficient or advanced in math while 62.8 percent scored that way in ELA. This compares to statewide averages of 31.2 and 58.4 percent respectively and year-to-year averages of 29.9 and 61.2 percent.

The percentage of Yellow Breeches students scoring at “below basic” is well below the state average in both subject areas and both grades, Principal Jesse White said.

In eighth-grade math, for example, 40 percent of students statewide scored at that level compared to only 28.4 percent of local students. Only one of the 164 Yellow Breeches seventh-graders who took the ELA test last year scored “below basic” compared to 45 who scored basic and 92 who scored proficient.

When it comes to math, Yellow Breeches has a math remediation teacher who works with small groups of students who are struggling with particular lessons, White said. One area of emphasis is on making sure students understand the need to read each question thoroughly and make sure they answer precisely what is asked of them.

As for ELA, the focus there is on developing text dependent analysis skills, White said. “One push this year is ELA won’t get fixed in just the ELA classroom. Students have to write and read all day long to improve.”

This push is taking the form of lesson plans and test questions in science and social studies that focus on reading text to find important information, White said.