2011-2012 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 2011-2012 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 2011-2012 school year, the performance of students in grades 3–8 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 2011, Pennsylvania has established the AYP targets for student performance as follows:

• Student Achievement

• In Reading, the combined percentage of students performing at the Advanced and Proficient levels must be at least 81%.

• In Mathematics, the combined percentage of students performing at the Advanced and Proficient levels must be at least 78%.

• 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 85% 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.