School develops plan to meet federal guidelines
School develops plan to meet federal guidelines
By: CHRIS ENGLISH
Bucks County Courier Times
bucks county technical high school
Increased math and reading instruction for ninth-graders who need it is part of a freshman academy being created at the school.
Bucks County Technical High School is changing the way it does business in an effort to improve academic performance and reverse a trend that has seen the school in Bristol Township fail to meet federal Adequate Yearly Progress standards the last three years.
At Monday night's joint school board meeting, Principal Connie Rinker and a team of teachers gave a presentation on the creation of a freshman academy at the comprehensive technical school starting next year.
The idea behind the academy is to provide intensified instruction in reading and mathematics to freshmen who did not score at a proficient level in their eighth-grade PSSA exams in those subjects.
"They will be getting 90 minutes of math and 90 minutes of reading every day," said Rinker. That's about twice the amount freshmen who need remedial help in those subjects are getting now, she added.
Those who have scored at a proficient level on their eighth-grade PSSAs will move into the regular freshman schedule at the school, she said.
The plan is to have about 12 academic teachers at the school work exclusively with freshmen, Rinker said.
"If they are not proficient in their eighth-grade PSSAs, we will give them extra support as freshmen," she said. "What we're trying to do is make this AYP thing go away by filling in gaps these students come to us with."
The school is a full-time educational facility where students drawn from the Pennsbury, Neshaminy, Bristol Township, Bensalem, Bristol and Morrisville districts receive both academic and vocational instruction. The technical school gets students from 27 different public, parochial and private schools within those districts, said Rinker.
About 48 percent of incoming freshmen at the technical school are reading at a level at least two grades below the grade they are in, said Rinker. About 51 percent do not meet proficiency standards in math, she added.
"So this will be an intensified academic experience to build a base?" asked joint school board member Gene Dolnick.
Yes, said Rinker.
Bob Harvie, a teacher and chairman of the social studies department at the technical school, said the team that developed the freshman academy idea is also working on a school homework policy it will be submitting to the joint school board for approval in May or June.
"There has been a lot of attention paid to how we can help our students improve," he said.
A meeting to explain the new freshman academy for parents of students who will be ninth-graders next year will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at the school, 610 Wistar Road, Fairless Hills.
Chris English can be reached 215-949-4193 or cenglish@ phillyBurbs.com Follow Chris on Twitter at Twitter.com/courierc
March 01, 2011 02:01 AM
