A Young Man's Art
by Alex Davis

Few people in the community pay much attention to the PSSA test scores for Cameron County High School students. Simply put, they're not good.

The Pa. System of School Assessment test was created to measure the effectiveness of the state's schools. Students in fifth, eighth and 11th grades are tested in math,reading and writing.

Half of this year's seniors at CCHS failed at least one section (math, reading, or writing) and have to now take remediation in place of a study hall.

Are the standards too tough?

Are our local teachers ineffective?

Are half of our students actually "not college material?"

Or, is the entire testing system seriously flawed?

A Harrisburg Patriot News study found that it's dangerous to draw conclusions from PSSA test scores in smaller schools, such as CCHS. Too many external factors or situations peculiar to a particular district can throw off the test results.

Yet, as questionable as test scores might be, the stakes are enormous.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, schools that don't meet annual progress goals will be forced to allow parents to move their children to other schools at the local district's expense.

After three years, the school must provide tutoring and other services to students. If scores don't improve, the school could eventually be taken over by the state.

There are also calls in the Pa. General Assembly to link teachers' and administrators' salaries to PSSA scores.

As long as we at Cameron County School District have to operate under such a flawed system, it would be wise for the faculty and administration to focus on what has gone wrong and what can be done to raise local students' scores.

That approach extends to the broader curriculum -- we need to adapt. We can't be satisfied with

teaching the tried or true, or penalizing students who "don't get it" with failing grades.

In an economics class recently, half of the seniors failed a test. In another class, almost half the students were graded at 62 percent on a test.

Another class is basing part of its computer training on Microsoft Paint, a technology that has been obsolete for years. Similarly, the overreliance on Microsoft Word is a disservice to the large proportion of students whose needs in this era of technology will be much more advanced once they start college. (On the other hand, the high school is wisely bringing Dream Weaver to one advanced computer class.)

I don't mean to continually find fault with our school district -- for that matter, the district should be commended for enacting an aggressive new anti-bullying policy - but until the citizens realize some of the things that are taking place and hold school leaders accountable, little will change.