PSSA, Keystone Exam Results Are In: How Did Council Rock Students Do?

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has released school-level results of the 2016 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test as well as the Keystone Exams.

Click here to see specific results from the Council Rock School District by downloading the "school level data" Excel document. Scores indicate which of the four performance levels (advanced, proficient, basic, and below basic) a student has met. Proficient is considered to be “on grade level.”

Council Rock School District Superintendent Robert Fraser released a statement to parents about the testing results.

In part, the statement said: "We are proud of the hard work and dedication of our students, their teachers, and all CR stakeholders. We have results to show that the hard work paid off, and yet I will caution everyone to accept these results as another data point to be interpreted alongside numerous other data points, as well as a multitude of other indicators, of how our students are performing in our classrooms. It is our pleasure to teach our CR children every day, and that is something that can never be quantified."

The PSSA is administered to students in grades 3 through 8 in English language arts and mathematics.

State-level data indicates more students are scoring proficient or advanced than in 2015 in nearly all categories of ELA and math.

"Proficiency in math grew in every grade level, and 2016 was the first year there has been significant growth in math year over year since 2011. However, the statewide results also show there is more work to do to help the students scoring in the basic or below basic levels," the state Department of Education said in announcing the results Thursday.

"While the PSSA can be a helpful tool for teachers and parents, Governor Wolf and I agree that Pennsylvania needs to consider options for a more comprehensive approach to measuring student achievement. There are many pathways to postgraduate success, and our measurement should reflect a broader array of those pathways," State Education Secretary Pedro A. Rivera said in a statement.

Student proficiency also rose on the state’s three Keystone Exams, data shows.

The Keystone Exams are end-of-course assessments in Literature, Biology, and Algebra I, and students’ best scores are “banked” and reported in statewide data when the student is in 11th grade, according to information from the state.