KC Board hears end-of-year data academic data, presentations

By Christopher Miller

BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – The Keystone Central School District board heard end-of-year presentations last week as part of the “wrap-up” of the 23/24 school year.

Multi-Tiered System of Support, or MTSS, helps educators provide academic and behavioral strategies for students with various needs.

“We believe 80% of our students will be successful in tier 1 of social-emotional, academic and behavioral health & attendance,” a district presenter said. “We know that about 15% of students will need something additional in tier 2, like extra classroom support or additional people (educators) in the classroom to assist, and there is a small percentage, 5%, that may need tier 3 supports, the most rigorous of the tiers, just to help set students on the right park.” The mantra for MTSS is: evaluate – define – analyze – implement.

The academic data portion of the presentation was the largest and most time-consuming of the presentation to the district board giving data sets on Science of Reading, English/Language Arts (ELA), Math, Gifted, Special Education, Career/Technical Education (CTE), Civics, graduation data, student referrals, and attendance.

Science of Reading

The available data shows that KCSD students are becoming successful and skilled readers. All teachers have been trained on the best practices aligned with science of reading, the foundation of why it is important, and all of the necessary skills to implement this in the classroom have been provided to educators.

English/Language Arts (ELA)

In the English/Language Arts department, a need was presented to the board for a new ELA resource that is aligned to the science of reading. Teachers visited their colleagues in South Williamsport who utilize the new curriculum that was just approved at Thursday night’s voting meeting, and their data is “impressive.”

“Two to three years ago they were running our same 60/40 split in some grade levels but now they are creeping into the 80-90% mastery area,” a teacher explained to the board. “Their data shows that mastery of the subject is improving.”

Mathematics

“We do not teach to the assessment,” was a message sternly announced to the board and those present.

Math data for school year 21/22 went from 70% mastery in kindergarten, 60% in 1st grade, and 36% in second grade, but is currently on a much different, upward trajectory.

“Now you see the opposite, every year the students are getting stronger and stronger in learned math skills, with substantial work being done in the middle level grades which is where we want it to be.”

Gifted Growth

The gifted program will have nearly doubled in the 24/25 school year from the 23/24 school year level, and will have increased six-fold from the 21/22 school year.

“In 21/22 we had 11 students enrolled in the gifted program, 36 students in 23/24 and now we have 60 students enrolled for the 24/25 school year,” the teacher in charge of the program told the board.

“This program is to have things go above and beyond what some students are already receiving in the classroom,” they said, “we use multiple prongs than just IQ when we evaluate and consider a student for the gifted program.”

Special Education

19.6% of students enrolled in KCSD schools are also enrolled in the special education program, with the state average sitting at 19.3%. This accounts for 687 students of the 3,500 student population of KCSD.

“All elementary schools in the district, aside from Mill Hall, will have autistic support in the 24/25 school year,” a teacher announced to the board.

Of those enrolled in special education, 11.2% are on the autism spectrum, 8.4% are on the emotional disturbance level, and 17% have speech or language impairment.

At the high school level, transition meetings take place with the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team and community agencies to work out these students post-secondary goals like independent living, transition skills, daily living, social skills, the employment and career pathways course in CTE which sees students entering programs such as auto tech, construction, agriculture mechanics, natural resource management, homeland security, or the pathway to human services in business, drafting and design, health assisting, cosmetology, food service, and general education.

Currently there are seven students in the school-to-work program and 77 of our students enrolled in the CTE courses.

Career/Technical Education

National Occupational Competency Testing Institute, or NOCTI, is a certifying body that tests students on their abilities to perform the skills needed in a career. Of the students enrolled in KCSD’s CTE program, 91% of them have scored at an advanced and competent level for technical education.

“We currently have 252 students dual-enrolled, taking classes through a variety of local universities and Penn College, with 1,108 post-secondary credits awarded, for a cost savings for families of $852,672,” the CTE teacher said.

Civics

“In 2018, it was written into state law that every school across the state must create their own civics examination on government, United States history, and civics,” a teacher announced to the board. “This test is embedded into the 11th grade curriculum.”

In the 23/24 school year, of the 241 students who took the test, 35 of them received a perfect score of 100%, three students received below 70%, and the test average was 89%. This data was an increase of the 22/23 school year which only saw 25 students receive a perfect score, four dropped below 70%, and the test average was 87%.

The exam is modeled very closely after the naturalization exam for becoming a United States citizen.

“Many questions are used almost verbatim,” the teacher explaining the data results said. “It is important to understand the factual information and a good portion of our test is aligned to the true naturalization exam.”

Graduates Data

Of the total student body for the 23/24 school year, 95.67% have graduated, of those, 67.4% are attending post-secondary schools, with 36 schools represented, 4% went into the military, and 29% are entering the workforce.

Referral Data

The total number of elementary referrals in 23/24 increased by 127 to 2,700, but the numbers significantly dropped in middle and high school.

“We had a decrease of 574 in referrals for the middle school, for a total of 2,498, and a decrease of 510 for the high school, bringing that to 1,938,” a teacher explained. “We think the decrease took place in the high school because of the newly implemented Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) which helps to model what positive behavior looks like.”

“Problem behaviors” in the elementary school were physical aggression and generally took place around 11:15, 11:45 and 12:45. The middle school saw “abusive language, inappropriate language, and profanity” as the main problem behaviors, taking place around 1:45, 2:00, and 3:00. Problem behaviors were different time-wise for the high school, generally taking place in the late afternoon hours of 2:45, 3:00, and 3:15, also known as “escape task” most likely trying to leave school early.

Attendance Data

During the school year, the district had a 91.17% overall attendance average. The national average for “chronic absenteeism” is missing 10% of school days, or 18 days in a year. This figure nearly doubled between the 18/19 school year, and during the 21/22 school year it sat at missing 28% of days.

During the year, 505 student attendance improvement conferences were held with students and parents, and these conferences begin taking place when a student accumulates three unlawful absences.

63 students were placed on a “Motion to Compel” by the courts to attend school, and 295 citations were filed in regards to truancy.

Summary

In total, teachers agreed that the schools and school district are making progress in the right areas, and that KCSD is a great “comprehensive school district.”

Based on student feedback, students feel they are receiving meaningful assigned work, they enjoyed being in school, they have ample opportunities to meet with teachers as needed, they feel safe in school, they receive praise from their teachers, and there are plenty of activities for them to choose from.