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NORTH ALLEGHENY SCHOOL DISTRICT
DISTRICT REPORT CARD
The No Child Left Behind Act
and the Pennsylvania Accountability System mandate that school
districts provide their communities with a Report Card of
Student Achievement indicating student achievement as assessed
by the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). The
focus of the assessment is to determine the degree to which
the students and school in the State of Pennsylvania are
proficient in achieving the content contained in the
Pennsylvania Academic Standards in the areas of mathematics,
reading, and writing.
Additionally, the PSSA provides information to teachers and
schools to use as a guide for the redesign of curricula and
instructional strategies to enable students to achieve the
Pennsylvania Academic Standards. For this purpose, districts
are asked to provide their communities with the following
information:
§
Mathematics and
Reading performance of all students in grades 3 through 8 and
11. Performance in Science in grades 4, 8, and 11 are
included as well.
§
Mathematics and
Reading performance of disaggregated groups with 10 or more
students in grades 3 through 8 and 11.
§
Two year
Mathematics and Reading performance trends of all students in
grades 3 through 8 and 11.
§
Comparison of
School Building, District and State
Mathematics and Reading performance.
§
Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP) status of the District and School Buildings.
§
PSSA
participation rate for each School Building.
§
Graduation rates
for students in grades 9-12.
§
Qualifications of
District teaching staff.
For the 2008-2009 school year,
students in grades 3 through 8 and 11 in public schools
throughout the state were required to take the PSSA. The
state compares student performance data from the PSSA with its
own established targets for proficiency. That information is
combined with test participation, attendance, and graduation
data to determine if schools have made Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP). For the 2008-2009 school year, the
performance of students in grades 38 and 11 was used to
determine AYP. Student performance on the PSSA is reflected
in four performance levels:
Advanced (superior
academic performance)
Proficient (satisfactory
academic performance)
Basic (marginal academic
performance)
Below Basic (inadequate
academic performance)
The goal of NCLB is for every
student to score at the Proficient level or above by the year
2014. Schools are required to advance toward this goal by
meeting the gradually increasing AYP targets established for
each interim year. For 2009, Pennsylvania has established the
AYP targets for student performance as follows:
Student Achievement
o In Reading, the combined
percentage of students performing at the Advanced and
Proficient levels must be at least 63%.
o In Mathematics, the
combined percentage of students performing at the Advanced and
Proficient levels must be at least 56%.
o Achievement data must be
analyzed in aggregate on a District basis and for each
individual school.
In addition, the state
requires that the performance of students in twelve identified
subgroups be analyzed. These subgroups include gender,
race/ethnicity, IEP, English Language Learners, migrant
status, and economically disadvantaged status. For the
purpose of determining AYP compliance, the performance of any
subgroup that includes more than 40 students is considered.
To meet the requirements for Report Cards, the performance of
any subgroup of more than 10 students is included.
Participation Rate in
Assessments: 95% of students must take the PSSA exam.
Attendance Rate (K -
grade 8): The student attendance rate for the year must meet
or exceed 90%.
Graduation Rate (Grades 9
12): The District must demonstrate that 80% or more of
secondary students graduate from high school.
To attain AYP, the criteria
must be met. However, the Pennsylvania Department of
Education has developed additional filters in determining AYP.
The filters consider significant growth in student achievement
and the possibility of sampling errors. They include the Safe
Harbor Provision; the Confidence Interval; the PA Performance
Index; Proxy; and Growth Model.
Because we can link to the
Pennsylvania Department of Education website, up to date
information is provided. This information is also provided in
an alternate format in the North Allegheny Your Schools
Community Newsletter. This publication is mailed to each
resident in January/February and is also available on the home
page of the North Allegheny website. The PA Department of
Education AYP and District Report Card can be viewed by
clicking below:
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