From the BCCT:
District-by-district: Encouraging reaction to PSSA scores
By: JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Courier Times
BENSALEM: "Results + exceptional"
The district has "a lot of successes" to celebrate based on the 2009 PSSA results, Bensalem Superintendent William Gretzula said.
Overall, the district of approximately 6,000 students achieved Adequate Yearly Progress for the third straight year. It did so because it achieved all of its mathematics targets in the third-fifth grade span and all of its reading targets in the sixth-eighth and ninth-12 grade spans, a state education department official said.
"The results at the high school are exceptional," Gretzula said. "We had the highest scores ever in reading and math in every subgroup except one."
However, Bensalem's high school and two middle schools did not reach AYP status because of the performance of students in two subgroups.
Not enough special education students who were tested demonstrated proficiency on the PSSA mathematics tests at all three schools and not enough black high school students demonstrated they were achieving at their grade level in math.
Additionally, Samuel K. Faust and Benjamin Rush elementary schools are in School Improvement I status based on the performance of students in their special education subgroup.
Not enough Faust students in the subgroup performed at grade level on the PSSA math and reading tests and not enough Rush special education students demonstrated proficiency on the reading test.
Staff members are analyzing data from the tests to develop ways to improve program offerings for district special education students, Gretzula said.
BRISTOL BOROUGH: "Encouraged with results"
The fourth-grade class at Warren Snyder-John Girotti Elementary School made significant gains on the 2009 PSSA tests, compared to the 2008 fourth-grade scores, Bristol Superintendent Broadus Davis said.
Student proficiency rates in reading improved about 13 percent and 2009 math proficiency rates were about 9 percent better than the 2008 scores.
Overall, the district earned Adequate Yearly Progress status, according to the state education department.
"Although our 11th grade did not meet the performance target in math or reading, we are encouraged with the results of an 8.89 percent increase in math and a 12.78 percent increase in reading (proficiency rates) over scores in 2008," Davis said.
The superintendent said he expects even more improvement for high school juniors on future PSSA tests now that the district has moved its seventh- and eighth-graders to the new Warren Snyder-John Girotti Elementary/Middle School.
"The high school will now be able to just concentrate on (preparing the) 11th grade," he said.
BRISTOL TOWNSHIP: "Made AYP for third consecutive year"
"We are very pleased with the continued improvement we are experiencing at all of our schools. We made (Adequate Yearly Progress) again for our third consecutive year," Superintendent Ellen Budman said.
In fact, Lafayette and Abraham Lincoln elementary schools moved up to AYP from Warning status.
"That brings eight of our nine elementary schools to AYP. Clara Barton Elementary School advanced two levels from School Improvement I to Making Progress," Budman said.
In addition, both Bristol Township middle schools again achieved AYP, she said.
However, Harry S Truman High School slipped to Warning status because not enough of its black students demonstrated proficiency on the PSSA math and reading tests.
"This was particularly disappointing, given the amazing progress the high school made in 2007-2008, when it advanced three levels to make AYP," Budman said.
The district plans to bring in a math coach to work with Truman teachers and implement other efforts to address the weaknesses in student performance," she said.
"We are determined to achieve AYP in all of our schools next year," Budman said.
BUCKS COUNTY MONTESSORI CHARTER SCHOOL: "Could not be more pleased"
"(The school) could not be more pleased with the overall PSSA results from this past school year," said Brian Long, principal of Bucks County Montessori Charter School.
The school made AYP, with a substantial increase in the third-grade scores from last year. Their math rates shot up 12.6 percent and reading proficiency rates increased 9.3 percent.
Though most proficiency rates for grades four through six decreased from last year, Long said teachers will use PSSA scores as just one factor in determining how best to improve each student's skills.
Individually, students performed the same or better than they did in the prior year, he said.
Teachers got together before students took the PSSAs and identified a need to align their teaching method for the lower grades with the upper grades. Instructional methods are more consistent now, and that helps teachers understand student proficiency levels from grade to grade, he said.
"We don't want to use the PSSAs as an indicator of how we performed," Long said. "We want to use them as an indicator of how we want to improve."
BUCKS COUNTY TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL: "We're disappointed"
The comprehensive technical high school is in School Improvement I status because not enough of its 11th-graders who took the 2009 PSSA tests demonstrated they were learning at grade level in math and reading.
Additionally, not enough of its economically disadvantaged students demonstrated proficiency on the PSSA math test, according to the state.
"We're disappointed we didn't make AYP," said Leon Poeske. He's acting administrative director of the school that serves the Bensalem, Bristol, Bristol Township, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school districts.
Poeske said nearly a third of the tech school students who took the test are identified as having special needs.
"If you take out the special education students, we actually scored pretty good, with 54 percent in mathematics and 71 percent proficiency in reading," Poeske said. "Our special education students improved from 2008, but not enough for us to make AYP."
To address weaknesses in student performance, the tech school off Wistar Road in Bristol Township has assembled a fact-finding committee. Panel members will meet with representatives of the Bucks County Schools Intermediate Unit NO. 22 next week.
CENTENNIAL: "We continue to strive"
While Jennifer E. Foight-Cressman, Centennial's director of teaching and learning, said the district has much to celebrate, she also said it has a lot of work to do.
Centennial made AYP for the fourth year in a row, including an elementary and middle school that last year were in Warning status. But William Tennent High School didn't meet state goals because the special education population didn't make significant enough improvement on the tests. The school is back in Corrective Action Year Two.
Advertisement Foight-Cressman attributed her district's success to the following: increased data analysis, periodic benchmark assessments, adoption of intervention tools, a new elementary literacy program, co-teaching and inclusion initiatives, partnership with the Bucks County Intermediate Unit No. 22 to develop a school improvement plan, and requiring PSSA proficiency as a graduation requirement.
"While we continue to strive to meet the needs of students receiving special education services and who are classified as lacking financial resources at home, we are thrilled overall by the performance of our students and the extraordinary level of support and quality of instruction provided by our teachers," said Foight-Cressman. "We are committed to continual improvement of PSSA scores, while acknowledging that the PSSA is only one important indicator of student learning and achievement."
CENTER FOR STUDENT LEARNING: "Focusing on the individual"
Having made AYP, CSL Executive Director Thomas Reiley credited his school's improvement in all areas to students and staff.
"We will continue to focus on the academic growth of the individual student," said Reiley. "We assess student current levels with a benchmark assessment at the start of the school year and target our instruction to where it is needed."
CSL has implemented a new class schedule that increases English, language arts and math instruction time.
COUNCIL ROCK: "Proud of the achievement"
The district and each of its elementary and middle schools all met AYP.
Both Council Rock High Schools - North and South - were placed in Warning status based on scores by students in special education.
"Council Rock continues to be proud of the achievement of our students," said Superintendent Mark Klein. "We will continue to look at individual student data in all schools and in all programs to ensure that our students are progressing against all appropriate academic measures."
MORRISVILLE: "Proactive with tutoring"
While its high school is in Warning status, the district made AYP and students at all grade levels performed well, said Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson. Warning status occurred because of sub-par scores by special education students in grades six through 12.
The district is expecting increasing academic improvement in the new school year, she said.
The high school has switched from block scheduling, which focuses on fewer subjects per semester, to more traditional scheduling, so each core course will last throughout the school year.
A year-long course provides a continuous and "solid foundation" for students, Yonson said. Since many high school students have moved into the district, they don't have the foundation that the district's early grades provides, she added.
Another new initiative is a math academic portfolio, required for all grades so teachers, students and families can track improvement and identify weak points quickly. "We feel it will be very beneficial to see how they're progressing," Yonson said.
"We're very proactive with tutoring and quarterly milestone assessments," said Yonson.
NESHAMINY: "Doing better than average"
After Neshaminy High didn't make AYP last year, Superintendent Lou Muenker said he's pleased with his district's 2009 results.
"All of our schools are doing better than the average at the state level," he said. "We look forward to the challenges in front of us and hope to do as well next year."
The Middletown high school didn't make AYP because its special education population didn't meet targets in math and reading. Because of that, Muenker said there's still work to be done - even though Neshaminy made significant strides overall.
Officials will continue to focus on the district's subgroups, which remains a challenge, said Muenker, adding that he hopes the there's a better and fairer way to treat subgroups.
"It's always been problematic," Muenker said. "The qualifications that place a student in a subgroup are the very things that counter [federal] goals. They could progress six months to a year, but still not be at their counterparts' level. But the federal government suggests that if they're not on par with their classmates, then they should take a hit as far as progress."
Muenker credited the district's improvement elsewhere to teachers and tutors who helped students who needed support and outside consultants. Administrators have also been focusing on the curriculum, specifically reading and language.
PENNSBURY: "We are delighted"
Although all of Pennsbury's elementary and middle schools made AYP, the district's high school missed by one subgroup.
Two elementary schools, Fallsington and Penn Valley, met state goals after being in Warning status last year. But the economically disadvantaged subgroup at the high school didn't reach the required benchmark in math, causing the high school to revert to Correction Action II-second year.
"We are delighted with the successful results of concerted efforts by students, teachers, and administrators at Fallsington and Penn Valley," said Superintendent Paul Long. "The eleventh grade PSSAs have helped us focus on the educational needs of an important but relatively small subset of students at Pennsbury High School, even as we strive to improve teaching and learning in all grades and all schools."
Kevin McHugh, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, cited curricular improvements over the past several years that have helped improve proficiency, including: special coaching for at-risk students; grant-funded software for tutorial programs; and reading proficiency courses in the middle and high schools.
SCHOOL LANE CHARTER SCHOOL: "Our focus paid great dividends"
The charter school off Bristol Pike in Bensalem realized overall four-point percentage gains in its PSSA math and PSSA reading proficiency rates in 2009, said Karen Schade, School Lane Charter School principal and chief administrative officer.
"Our focus on reading instruction and vocabulary development paid great dividends as we saw a dramatic increase in students meeting the proficiency level across all grade levels at the school," Schade said. Schade thanked everyone involved with helping the charter school continue to improve its student performance.
