The Bethlehem Area School District received its 2015 PSSA scores and announced the results during its Curriculum Committee meeting Monday.

“Our grade levels on reading and math tracked similarly to the state,” said Jack Silva, the assistant superintendent for education and chief academic officer for BASD.

Statewide, the proficient or advanced PSSA test results for English language arts, also known as reading, decreased 9.4 percent statewide. For BASD, the drop was 11.75 percent. In math, the overall drop in scores statewide was 35.4 percent. In Bethlehem, the drop was 34.7 percent.

The decrease in test results is partly due to how the test questions are worded. The changes were made in order to make the test in line with the federal Common Core standards.

Silva pointed out that Bethlehem saw a far less dramatic drop in math scores among fifth graders than did other schools statewide. For Bethlehem, the drop was 20.5 percent. The statewide drop was 34.4 percent. Silva credits the positive result to changing the fifth-grade math program to one in line with Common Core. The program change was made a year before the students took the new PSSA test last spring.

According to Common Core’s website, the new tests require students to truly understand a subject, not just be able to guess the answer correctly. For example, the PSSA tests used to ask an elementary math question involving fractions as: “Which number names the point on the number line?” The new test says, “Drag each fraction to the correct location on the number line,” the website stated. The student has to use critical thinking in order to get the correct answer on the newer test.

“We need college- and career-ready standards, because even in high-performing states, students are graduating and passing all the required tests but still need remediation in stheir postsecondary work,” the website reads.

Silva said the Scholastic Reading Inventory is a better predictor of a student’s success in college, and is a tool that helps students find their best career fit. The test compares the student’s reading level to careers that require that reading level. For instance, if a student has a high capacity for being able to read and comprehend technical material, then he or she may find success in a science major, such as physics. Someone with less capacity for technical material may find greater success pursuing a non-technical field.

BASD uses the SRI tests in grades three through 10. Silva said the students’ reading level is tested three times a year.

Silva thinks that if the SRI test results for BASD students were compared to the new PSSA tests, that SRI would show a high competency in the district’s students.

Nevertheless, BASD is committed to analyzing the PSSA/ core learning growth trends and addressing its students’ needs.

“I think we know our approach to it,” Silva said. “Our teachers and principals know the core standards. The question is how much of the materials are aligned with Common Core?”

The school district tried to find materials for sixth, seventh and eighth grade that aligned with Common Core a year ago, but couldn’t find what it needed, he said. Aligning with Common Core is going to take some time, but he has an academic action team. The team will look deeper into how the school district can address the academic needs of each student.

BASD also has joined 15 other school districts in a program that pursues excellence through equity.

“More test preparation isn’t going to do it,” Silva said.

Equity means getting the right programs and teaching approaches, “so that all students get what they need to show growth,” he said.

“The good news is we are on it. The bad news is it’s going to take time,” Silva said.