More on the Notebook/NewsWorks PSSA investigation

This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.

Notebook contributing editor Dale Mezzacappa will be on WHYY’s NewsWorks Tonight, Friday at 6 p.m., discussing the Notebook/NewsWorks investigative report about the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s delayed release of the 2014 PSSA results. (Listen to the show live at WHYY.org or by tuning into 90.9 FM. A recorded version will also be available at WHYY.org.)

The article, published Thursday evening, also discussed an across-the-board decline in statewide PSSA scores in reading and math in 2013 that had not previously been reported in the press.

The delayed release of 2014 test results has been a topic of discussion in education circles this fall. Detailed statewide reports have generally been out by the end of September in past years. Last year, though, the state unveiled the new School Performance Profiles, based on multiple measures of performance, on Oct. 4.

But what prompted the investigation was a discovery last week by the Notebook/NewsWorks reporting team that 2013 PSSA results were not available on a state website that has links to 18 previous years of test-score data. That prompted staff members to ask questions about 2013 PSSA results. They soon found that the statewide trends included in the 2013 "state report card" had never been announced or reported in the press.

Some argue that the 2014 release has been delayed for political reasons — because declining or lackluster scores would hurt Gov. Corbett’s re-election chances. The Department of Education counters that it is just doing its due diligence to ensure accurate results.

At least one study has attempted to argue that cuts in education funding under the Corbett administration are linked to declining test scores.