PSSA Results Due Thursday

Anyone have info on Morrisville's scores?

Districts celebrate PSSA success

The state education department will release the official standardized test results that determine whether schools achieve Adequate Yearly Progress on Thursday, a PDE spokesman said.

By JOAN HELLYER

The Bristol Township, Centennial, Council Rock and Pennsbury school districts have earned Adequate Yearly Progress status because of their students’ performance on the state’s 2008 standardized tests, according to preliminary results.

Representatives of the four districts provided the preliminary information to the paper in advance of Thursday’s official release of the scores on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment mathematics and reading tests.

Officials of other local school systems either declined to provide the information or didn’t respond to the paper’s request for the preliminary results.

AYP is used to ensure students have the math and reading skills necessary to prepare them for the future, state education department officials said.

It also measures whether schools and districts have met improvement goals established by the federal No Child Left Behind act. AYP has three goals: academic performance; test participation; and graduation rates or attendance rates for schools without a high school graduating class.

Students in third- through eighth-grades and 11th grade take the tests each spring. They can score either below basic, basic, proficient or advanced on the tests.

This year’s goal is to have at least 63 percent of students in a grade level score proficient or better on the reading test and 56 percent of the students earn proficiency or better status on the math tests, education officials said.

Ultimately, the NCLB goal is for 100 percent of students who take the tests to achieve proficiency by 2014.

Bristol Township, Centennial and Pennsbury officials said various techniques, including intensive reading sessions and periodic testing periods designed to mirror the PSSA exams, are being used in their respective districts to ensure AYP is achieved.

Each district has seen improvement because of the efforts:

Harry S Truman High School in Bristol Township earned AYP status after spending five years in one form or another of school improvement status.

Centennial’s William Tennent High School made enough strides with its student achievement, even among its special education population, to earn a “Making Progress” designation.

Pennsbury High School also is in “Making Progress” status for its efforts to improve test scores and the district’s Charles Boehm and Pennwood middle schools achieved AYP this year after being put in “Warning” status in 2007.

Each district, however, still has some work to do, the representatives said.

In Bristol Township, Abraham Lincoln and Lafayette elementary schools received a “Warning” status because not enough English language learners achieved PSSA proficiency, said Karen Hessel. She’s a Pennsylvania distinguished educator who has been working with Bristol Township educators to improve student performance.

Additionally, Clara Barton Elementary School is in School Improvement I status because not enough students at each grade level showed improvement on the tests, she said.

Elsewhere, Centennial’s Log College Middle School and Willow Dale Elementary School are in “Warning” status because of their special education students’ PSSA test results, said Jennifer Foight-Cressman, the district’s director of teaching and learning.

In Pennsbury, Penn Valley and Fallsington elementary schools, not enough students achieved proficiency on the PSSA reading tests, said spokeswoman Ann Langtry.

Council Rock Superintendent Mark Klein confirmed that each district school achieved AYP, but declined to discuss specifics because he wants to provide that information to the school board before releasing it to the public.

In addition to the four local districts, the Center for Student Learning Charter School at Pennsbury reported that it’s in School Improvement II status because not enough of its students achieved proficiency on the PSSA tests.

Elsewhere in Lower Bucks County:

Bensalem declined to release its PSSA information until after administrators review the results during a Tuesday retreat, spokeswoman Susan Phy said.

Neshaminy Superintendent Paul Kadri declined to release information about student performance because administrators are “identifying trends and action plans” in response to the results. In addition, Kadri said, he didn’t want to release the results before he provided the Neshaminy school board and staff with the information.

Bristol Superintendent Broadus Davis, Bucks County Technical High School Principal Connie Rinker declined to discuss their respective schools’ results before the state’s expected release of the information Thursday.

Morrisville,School Lane Charter School and Bucks County Montessori Charter School representatives didn’t respond to the paper’s request for information about the PSSA