The Warren County School District is going beyond state targets in an effort to bring below state average testing scores up faster.

The focus of the district’s 2023-26 comprehensive plan is meeting goals of 10% increases each to scores on Pennsylvania System School Assessments and Keystone Exams in English/language arts, math and sciences.

“We are looking at 3% increases each school year with a four percent increase the final year of the plan,” district Director of Curriculum Instruction & Assessment Eric Mineweaser said. “These percentage increases are actually higher than the PA Future Ready Index Statewide 2030 interim targets, and the reasoning is to increase our overall proficiency level percentages quicker since we are currently below the state averages, as well as to fill in the educational gaps in various grade levels and subject areas.”

According to Mineweaser, decreased scoring is common post-pandemic.

“These may seem like ‘common sense’ priority areas,” he said. “But since the post-pandemic of COVID-19, we have seen educational gaps of our students widen. This is certainly common across the commonwealth and our nation.”

Numbers are still being finalized to finish out the previous comprehensive plan, which ran from 2020 to 2023, and to finalize the new three-year plan.

“The WCSD had to wait for 2023 spring PSSA and Keystone scores to finish up our previous plan, and to finalize the 2023-2026 plan in its entirety,” Mineweaser noted. “Now that we finally have the 2023 scores, we can enter the final data into the old plan and see where we begin with year one of the new plan.”

The score increase goals will be measured on an individual school basis. According to Mineweaser, the district is working to calculate proficiency levels at each school and compare new scores to the previous year.

“Once our data analysis is complete and deficits have been targeted, we’ll see where we land in target year number one for the district and respond accordingly,” he said.

According to Mineweaser, changes to core curriculum, including changes to the “scope and sequence,” to address scoring issues are being implemented following a more than two-year analysis.

“The content, skills, and standards are aligned within the various grade levels and curriculum specialists were brought in to begin creating common assessments across the district each quarter,” he said. “Along with a new aligned curriculum map, teacher checklists have been created to act as a guide on the pacing of instruction throughout the school year.

“Each of our priority areas includes action plans with specific steps to follow in order to monitor and evaluate the comprehensive plan’s effectiveness,” he added.

“Included within the plan are anticipated start and completion dates, lead persons, materials and resources, and in most cases professional development and instructional best practices.”