Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Tales From the Re-Registration
Now that we're a week into re-registration, are there any stories you have to share?
Grading our schools
From the Towanda Daily Review. Before you dismiss this as just a report on the Scranton area schools, the Review has also provided a searchable database on all 501 districts.
Grading our schools
Published: Sunday, August 10, 2008 4:28 AM EDT
Times-Shamrock’s Grading our Schools project looked at the local districts’ performance on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test for all grade levels and subject areas, as well as on the SAT.
Specifically, Grading our Schools examined the results on 17 PSSA tests as well as each district’s average combined math and verbal SAT score.
Officials from several local school districts objected to the methodology used in Grading our Schools, which focused to a large extent on whether school districts scored above or below the state average for each test.
These officials said school districts should instead be evaluated on whether they met the state targets for proficiency in math and reading on the PSSA, which is the basis for determining if a district is making "Adequate Yearly Progress." Since the state averages on PSSA tests are higher than the state AYP targets, school districts appear to be doing better when evaluated in relation to the AYP targets. The adequate progress guage is included in the report, and is the focus of other stories during the course of the year. State averages are part of the state Department of Education’s listings.
The Sullivan County School District exceeded state averages on 15 of 18 test areas examined – a better performance than any other local school district — and was also the top-ranked district in Bradford and Sullivan counties on seven of those tests areas.
"I don’t know if we have anything different from any other district" that would explain the Sullivan County School District’s success, said Kathryn Gruber, superintendent of the Sullivan County School District. "We just have a high commitment to the state standards and we have high expectations for all students."
The PSSA tests correlate to state educational standards and the school district has incorporated all the state standards into the district’s curriculum and teaching practices, she explained.
The Daily & Sunday Review’s Grading our Schools project analyzed SAT and PSSA scores from the 2006-07 school year for all districts and schools statewide, as well as a dozen other key educational factors. The 2006-07 data is the most recent available.
While a couple of school districts stand out locally, the region’s schools as a rule have a long way to go before they meet the goals of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which requires all students be proficient in reading and math by 2014.
Three local schools, however, did achieve 100 percent proficiency on specific PSSA tests. In Pennsylvania, the PSSAs, which are used to determine proficiency, are taken by third- through eighth-graders and 11th-graders.
In its eighth year of publication, this year’s Grading Our Schools report includes charts on the area’s eight public school districts on page A13, as well as comprehensive online databases with searchable information on all 501 school districts in the state, which are available at www.thedailyreview.com. The databases include educators’ profiles, financial information, district and student demographics and test scores. Users can tailor search results in the databases to compare districts.
The newspaper analyzed how well the state’s 501 districts and more than 3,000 elementary, middle and high schools performed on PSSA and SAT tests and ranked their results statewide.
The results show how far Pennsylvania has come to meeting the goal of 100-percent proficiency, said Pennsylvania Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak. "In Pennsylvania, we’ve seen great results," Zahorchak said. "It’s absolutely going to continue. ... We can count on that."
In order to maintain funding and not fall into penalty, districts must meet the state’s proficiency targets on the PSSAs.
For the 2006-07 year, Pennsylvania’s target was for at least 54 percent of students to score proficiently in reading and at least 45 percent in math. Across the state, 69.2 percent of students are now proficient in math, and 67.7 percent in reading.
The state periodically raises the targets as it seeks to move the state’s students toward 100 percent proficiency by 2014.
[Moderator note: Local district discussion removed]
100-PERCENT PROFICENCY
While no local district had 100-percent proficiency on the math, reading or writing PSSAs at any grade level, each of the following three schools had 100-percent proficiency on a specific PSSA test:
Third–grade reading: Harriet Child Elementary School, Athens District
Third-grade math: Laceyville Elementary School, Wyalusing District
Fourth-grade reading: New Albany Elementary School, Wyalusing District
ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS
All school districts in Bradford and Sullivan counties made Adequate Yearly Progress for the 2006-07 school year, which is based in part on their performance on the 2006-07 PSSA tests, according to the state Department of Education’s Web site.
Adequate Yearly Progress is also based on high school graduation rates, attendance rates, and student participation on taking the PSSA tests.
However, three schools in Bradford County – the S.R.U. Middle School, the Towanda Area Elementary School, and the Troy Area Middle School -- failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress for 2006-07, according to the Department of Education Web site.
The Athens School District’s S.R.U. Middle School did not make Adequate Yearly Progress because its special education sub-group did not meet the AYP targets for either math or reading, said Michael Race, a spokesman for the Department of Education.
The Towanda Area Elementary School did not make Adequate Yearly Progress because its special education and economically disadvantaged subgroups failed to make the AYP target in reading, Race said.
FUNDING AND LAWS
Although the goals of No Child Left Behind "are terrific," some changes need to be made, Zahorchak, the state education official, said.
Those changes include additional federal funding, having flexibility in determining the consequences for districts that do not meet goals, and having flexibility in testing special-education students.
Despite the needed changes, the state can meet the 100-percent proficiency requirement — if the funding is available, Dr. Zahorchak said.
Grading our schools
Published: Sunday, August 10, 2008 4:28 AM EDT
Times-Shamrock’s Grading our Schools project looked at the local districts’ performance on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test for all grade levels and subject areas, as well as on the SAT.
Specifically, Grading our Schools examined the results on 17 PSSA tests as well as each district’s average combined math and verbal SAT score.
Officials from several local school districts objected to the methodology used in Grading our Schools, which focused to a large extent on whether school districts scored above or below the state average for each test.
These officials said school districts should instead be evaluated on whether they met the state targets for proficiency in math and reading on the PSSA, which is the basis for determining if a district is making "Adequate Yearly Progress." Since the state averages on PSSA tests are higher than the state AYP targets, school districts appear to be doing better when evaluated in relation to the AYP targets. The adequate progress guage is included in the report, and is the focus of other stories during the course of the year. State averages are part of the state Department of Education’s listings.
The Sullivan County School District exceeded state averages on 15 of 18 test areas examined – a better performance than any other local school district — and was also the top-ranked district in Bradford and Sullivan counties on seven of those tests areas.
"I don’t know if we have anything different from any other district" that would explain the Sullivan County School District’s success, said Kathryn Gruber, superintendent of the Sullivan County School District. "We just have a high commitment to the state standards and we have high expectations for all students."
The PSSA tests correlate to state educational standards and the school district has incorporated all the state standards into the district’s curriculum and teaching practices, she explained.
The Daily & Sunday Review’s Grading our Schools project analyzed SAT and PSSA scores from the 2006-07 school year for all districts and schools statewide, as well as a dozen other key educational factors. The 2006-07 data is the most recent available.
While a couple of school districts stand out locally, the region’s schools as a rule have a long way to go before they meet the goals of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which requires all students be proficient in reading and math by 2014.
Three local schools, however, did achieve 100 percent proficiency on specific PSSA tests. In Pennsylvania, the PSSAs, which are used to determine proficiency, are taken by third- through eighth-graders and 11th-graders.
In its eighth year of publication, this year’s Grading Our Schools report includes charts on the area’s eight public school districts on page A13, as well as comprehensive online databases with searchable information on all 501 school districts in the state, which are available at www.thedailyreview.com. The databases include educators’ profiles, financial information, district and student demographics and test scores. Users can tailor search results in the databases to compare districts.
The newspaper analyzed how well the state’s 501 districts and more than 3,000 elementary, middle and high schools performed on PSSA and SAT tests and ranked their results statewide.
The results show how far Pennsylvania has come to meeting the goal of 100-percent proficiency, said Pennsylvania Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak. "In Pennsylvania, we’ve seen great results," Zahorchak said. "It’s absolutely going to continue. ... We can count on that."
In order to maintain funding and not fall into penalty, districts must meet the state’s proficiency targets on the PSSAs.
For the 2006-07 year, Pennsylvania’s target was for at least 54 percent of students to score proficiently in reading and at least 45 percent in math. Across the state, 69.2 percent of students are now proficient in math, and 67.7 percent in reading.
The state periodically raises the targets as it seeks to move the state’s students toward 100 percent proficiency by 2014.
[Moderator note: Local district discussion removed]
100-PERCENT PROFICENCY
While no local district had 100-percent proficiency on the math, reading or writing PSSAs at any grade level, each of the following three schools had 100-percent proficiency on a specific PSSA test:
Third–grade reading: Harriet Child Elementary School, Athens District
Third-grade math: Laceyville Elementary School, Wyalusing District
Fourth-grade reading: New Albany Elementary School, Wyalusing District
ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS
All school districts in Bradford and Sullivan counties made Adequate Yearly Progress for the 2006-07 school year, which is based in part on their performance on the 2006-07 PSSA tests, according to the state Department of Education’s Web site.
Adequate Yearly Progress is also based on high school graduation rates, attendance rates, and student participation on taking the PSSA tests.
However, three schools in Bradford County – the S.R.U. Middle School, the Towanda Area Elementary School, and the Troy Area Middle School -- failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress for 2006-07, according to the Department of Education Web site.
The Athens School District’s S.R.U. Middle School did not make Adequate Yearly Progress because its special education sub-group did not meet the AYP targets for either math or reading, said Michael Race, a spokesman for the Department of Education.
The Towanda Area Elementary School did not make Adequate Yearly Progress because its special education and economically disadvantaged subgroups failed to make the AYP target in reading, Race said.
FUNDING AND LAWS
Although the goals of No Child Left Behind "are terrific," some changes need to be made, Zahorchak, the state education official, said.
Those changes include additional federal funding, having flexibility in determining the consequences for districts that do not meet goals, and having flexibility in testing special-education students.
Despite the needed changes, the state can meet the 100-percent proficiency requirement — if the funding is available, Dr. Zahorchak said.
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