Late Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) was alerted to a data accuracy issue with the PVAAS scores, which are part of the school performance profile (SPP) growth measure. The data in question was supplied by SAS-EVAAS, the Department’s contractor for PVAAS reporting for Pennsylvania’s Local Education Agencies (LEAs).

While it appears that a small number of schools will see a modest change on their overall SPP scores, ensuring the accuracy of the data PDE shares with the public is paramount for the agency, and the Department is working with SAS to take the steps necessary to correct the data and calculate new SPP scores, where required. The nature of the data issue is such that only LEAs administering Keystone Exams (end-of-course assessments in Algebra I, Literature, and Biology) are impacted.

The Department is in the process of communicating with all stakeholders – school administrators, teachers, policy makers, and the public – who rely on the Department for informed and accurate data, to notify them of the data inaccuracies, and provide them with a timeline of when updated data will be available.

Supporting our schools, students and communities is the Department of Education’s top priority, and we know collecting, synthesizing and releasing accurate data is essential in meeting that objective. The Department takes these issues seriously and believes a swift and transparent response best serves our schools and communities.

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Matthew S. Stem | Deputy Secretary

Department of Education | Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

333 Market Street | Harrisburg, PA  17126

Phone:  717.787.2127  | Fax: 717.214.2786

mastem@pa.gov | www.education.pa.gov