As the 2015 PSSA scores rolled in, reactions from educators and parents also rolled in.

Neither was stellar.The scores indicate how students did in the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exam, which measures mastery of English and math at each grade from third through eighth. This is the first year the tests were aligned with the more rigorous PA Core standards, adopted in 2013.Released Tuesday, the scores appear to reflect significant drops in both subjects."We're not happy at all," said Panther Valley Superintendent Dennis Kergick. "But I really don't believe it's our kids. We have intelligent students and they work hard. We have some really outstanding students; they could easily match up with any other students from across the commonwealth. Our staff and students worked very hard last year toward making progress and propelling our scores upward. It was not an easy task and the students and staff are to be recognized for their efforts."A PSSA score is not a good measure of how a student will do in life," he said.Kergick said he is waiting for the district's principals to finish analyzing the results to speak specifically about how Panther Valley's scores compared to state averages.The state has said it won't use this year's results to evaluate schools.Kergick called the move "disheartening.""The state put so much pressure on, and then said nevermind. It questions the reliability and validity of such an assessment," he said.The test itself concerns him. Kergick pointed out that in some districts, students did very well on the Keystone exams, required for graduation. But they did poorly on the PSSAs.The PSSA is "not properly aligned to what is being taught in these districts," he said."It is obvious that the current assessment system has certain inadequacies that are reflected in the disconnect between the PSSAs and Keystone exams. Many eighth-grade students achieved proficient or advanced status in the Keystones and yet were unable to score proficient or advanced in the 'new' PSSAs," he said."Can we do better on these tests? We'd love to," Kergick said.When the principals roll out their analyses in a few weeks, "We retool from there, we move on and do what we need to do," he said. "We are striving to provide a goal-oriented program of study for our students and we are making progress. It may not be as quick as some may like but we are constantly moving forward."Jim Thorpe Area School District Superintendent Brian Gasper said faith in his district was not shaken by recent PSSA scores."Our students try really hard. The problem wasn't them. There was an overwhelming drop in scores for everyone this year. We are looking to adjust for next year," he said.He, too, sees the state's decision to not use the scores this year as an indicator that all is not well with the test."If they are not even counting it, there's a problem," Gasper said. "We have done well in the past and we will continue to adjust. We have some work to do but we are on the right track."But he believes another year of PA Core teaching may achieve results."Districts were sort of scrambling to incorporate the common core standards. Change takes a little while," Gasper said. "Next year might be a better indicator."In the Tamaqua Area School District, Superintendent Carol Makuta said it's difficult to determine how well students learned by comparing this year's scores with last year's."Because new standards were set, it is my opinion that it is not meaningful to directly compare students' scores on the new assessment to student scores from previous year's. The 2015 PSSA measures different content than the previous years' PSSAs," she said."Moving forward, the Tamaqua Area School District continues to examine and realign the content of all curricula and deliver the content to the most appropriate grade level," Makuta said.The scrutiny is aimed at figuring out how to better impart PA Core standards to students."Since the new standards require deeper knowledge, stronger problem solving and critical thinking skills, the administration and faculty (will) work together to improve instructional strategies, techniques and delivery of material. The result of this improvement should result in enhanced student performance and academic growth," she said.Tim Tkach, Lehighton Area School District coordinator of curriculum instruction and grants, said the new PSSA content was not well thought out."You can't compare 2015 with prior years because it was a totally new test. Some of the information was given to students just a month before the test," he said. "Why were they doing it this year instead of next year, or why could they not have given us more notice?"Tkach, too, cited the disconnect between doing well on the Keystone exams and poorly on the PSSA. He said some eighth-grade students passed the Keystone exams in algebra with flying colors, but were deemed deficient in the PSSA math test."It seems like a lot of it was a knee-jerk reaction on the state's part," Tkach said.He said the district will work to better prepare students."We're telling teachers, students and parents to hang in there. We'll be getting on track," Tkach said.Some parents say the test puts too much stress on children."I think there should not be so much pressure on these tests. They go on forever so the kids get bored and stop caring. Also, the younger kids don't understand (that) it doesn't reflect on them, and get beyond stressed, which causes their thought patterns to not be cohesive," Times News Facebook page reader Amber CJ Everett wrote in response to the tests.The state department of education sent letters to parents about the test. It said the test's "more rigorous standards included more complex, multipart questions, and required more thoughtful reasoning."It also explains that if their child's scores differ from last year's to this year's, it's because he or she is being "measured by a different assessment."The letter includes a tutorial on how to interpret the test scores.Reporter Kelly Andrade contributed to this story.