Posted: Thursday, September 26, 2013 6:15 pm | Updated: 7:04 pm, Thu Sep 26, 2013.
HARRISBURG -- At the request of school superintendents, the state Department of Education has delayed the launch of a website that will reveal new school performance scores until Oct. 4, education spokesman Tim Eller confirmed Thursday.The Pennsylvania School Performance Profile, initially scheduled to go live on Monday, is a new online report card that will include a variety of data on public schools, including standardized test scores, student demographics and school graduation rates. The profile will assign schools a score based on a 100-point scale measuring performance, academic growth and success in closing achievement gaps.State education officials tout the new accountability tool as a way to jump-start dialogue about school quality and identify areas for improvement. Some local officials have cited concerns the public will brand schools as successes or failures too quickly based on scores that heavily rely on standardized test results.
The state granted local school districts access to their profiles on Wednesday.
"Some superintendents had asked for a delay in the public roll-out so they have time to get accustomed to and make sure that their data is correct," Eller said. "So we've allowed them a few additional days to do that."
Once they saw their profiles, some districts raised concerns with the data about to be released on the Keystone Exams, the new test for 11th-graders unveiled last year. Starting with the Class of 2017, students will have to pass the Keystone Exams in order to graduate.
In some cases, the profiles reportedly underrepresented the number of students who took the tests last year. That's because some students didn't fill in the bubble to identify whether they were taking the exam for end-of-course assessment or federal accountability purposes, Eller said. School officials are working on providing that information so the exams get counted.
The department has given school districts until the end of business Monday to decide if they want Keystone exam data excluded from the website until the corrections can be made.
The reporting issues will not affect the release of results from the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, the test taken by third- through eighth-graders.
The website, paperformance.org, is set to go live mid- to late-morning on Oct. 4.
The state granted local school districts access to their profiles on Wednesday.
"Some superintendents had asked for a delay in the public roll-out so they have time to get accustomed to and make sure that their data is correct," Eller said. "So we've allowed them a few additional days to do that."
Once they saw their profiles, some districts raised concerns with the data about to be released on the Keystone Exams, the new test for 11th-graders unveiled last year. Starting with the Class of 2017, students will have to pass the Keystone Exams in order to graduate.
In some cases, the profiles reportedly underrepresented the number of students who took the tests last year. That's because some students didn't fill in the bubble to identify whether they were taking the exam for end-of-course assessment or federal accountability purposes, Eller said. School officials are working on providing that information so the exams get counted.
The department has given school districts until the end of business Monday to decide if they want Keystone exam data excluded from the website until the corrections can be made.
The reporting issues will not affect the release of results from the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, the test taken by third- through eighth-graders.
The website, paperformance.org, is set to go live mid- to late-morning on Oct. 4.
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