Schools
Neshaminy School District Meets AYP; High School Does Not
The Neshaminy School Board discussed the district's 2011 PSSA performance last night.
The Neshaminy School Board invited district consultant Karen Hessel to the board meeting to review the district's PSSA performance.
During Hessel's presentation of PSSA results, she informed the board and public that while the district as a whole met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the third consecutive year, Neshaminy High School failed to meet AYP for the seventh year in a row.
According to a state press release, a school or district’s performance on statewide math and reading assessments is the primary factor in determining AYP, which is required under No Child Left Behind.
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Out of the state’s 499 school districts that administer the PSSA, 467, or 93.5 percent, made AYP. Of the 3,096 school buildings in Pennsylvania, including charter schools and comprehensive career and technology centers, 2,326 schools, or 75.1 percent, made AYP.
Although Neshaminy High School's scores showed "significant" evidence that the school did not meet state standard for growth in math and reading, 64 percent of high school students scored proficient or advanced in math and 72.6 percent scored proficient or advanced in reading. Hessel explained that the high school did not have a year's worth of growth in every subgroup.
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A solution to improving the high school's PSSA performance, Hessel said, could be making sure students know the importance of the exam and making it a graduation requirement to score proficient or advanced.
Board member Irene Boyle said that making PSSA performance a graduation requirement will be a discussion point at the next board policy meeting.
At the end of September, the Pennsylvania Department of Educations released the results of the 2011 PSSA exams that were administered in the spring.
According to a release, statewide, 77.1 percent of the 938,000 students tested in math scored proficient or advanced; 73.5 percent of the 936,000 students tested in reading scored proficient or advanced; 75 percent of the 393,000 students tested in writing scored proficient or advanced; and 60.9 percent of the 399,000 students tested in science scored proficient or advanced.
Here are the PSSA scores for all Neshaminy schools:
MATH
School Number Scored % Advanced % Proficient % Basic % Below Basic Albert Schweitzer 185 57.8 34.6 6.5 1.1 Carl Sandburg 552 59.2 25.0 9.4 6.3 Herbert Hoover 319 52.4 36.4 8.8 2.5 Ferderbar 287 57.8 30.7 8.4 3.1 Lower South 218 46.8 41.3 10.1 1.8 Maple Point 904 59.7 24.9 8.6 6.7 NHS 612 29.9 37.1 20.4 12.6 Heckman 279 52.7 38.0 8.2 1.1 Buck 237 64.1 30.4 4.2 1.3 Poquessing 531 63.8 20.9 9.6 5.6 Everitt 193 46.6 30.6 17.1 5.7 Walter Miller 193 57.0 34.7 6.7 1.6READING
School Number Scored % Advanced % Proficient % Basic % Below Basic Albert Schweitzer 181 40.3 48.6 8.8 2.2 Carl Sandburg 548 53.8 29.4 10.4 6.4 Herbert Hoover 317 30.0 47.3 14.8 7.9 Ferderbar 290 36.2 45.9 11.0 6.9 Lower South 218 30.3 49.5 12.4 7.8 Maple Point 893 55.0 29.5 11.3 4.3 NHS 616 38.6 36.2 16.6 8.6 Heckman 279 29.7 50.9 13.6 5.7 Buck 235 42.1 45.5 5.5 6.8 Poquessing 534 47.6 33.3 13.3 5.8 Everitt 192 23.4 45.3 21.9 9.4 Walter Miller 192 30.7 46.9 15.1 7.3SCIENCE
School Number Scored % Advanced % Proficient % Basic % Below Basic Albert Schweitzer 47 48.9 44.7 6.4 0.0 Carl Sandburg 183 25.1 37.7 20.2 16.9 Herbert Hoover 115 38.3 47.0 12.2 2.6 Ferderbar 83 53.0 39.8 6.0 1.2 Lower South 76 42.1 47.4 10.5 0.0 Maple Point 313 30.0 40.3 18.5 11.2 NHS 617 11.5 28.0 46.0 14.4 Heckman 86 46.5 45.3 8.1 0.0 Buck 77 50.6 41.6 5.2 2.6 Poquessing 193 25.4 41.5 18.7 14.5 Everitt 69 43.5 37.7 17.4 1.4 Walter Miller 70 62.9 31.4 4.3 1.4WRITING
School Number Scored % Advanced % Proficient % Basic % Below Basic Albert Schweitzer 71 9.9 81.7 8.5 0.0 Carl Sandburg 189 3.2 60.3 33.9 2.6 Herbert Hoover 107 0.0 72.0 28.0 0.0 Ferderbar 100 2.0 80.0 18.0 0.0 Lower South 65 0.0 75.4 24.6 0.0 Maple Point 318 9.1 69.5 21.2 0.3 NHS 641 14.2 70.5 14.8 0.5 Heckman 102 2.0 58.8 38.2 1.0 Buck 81 7.4 80.2 12.3 0.0 Poquessing 194 7.2 69.1 22.7 1.0 Everitt 70 0.0 52.9 47.1 0.0 Walter Miller 67 0.0 46.3 53.7 0.0To review PSSA scores and AYP results, visit the PA Department of Education website.
In other business, it was announced that the school board would be able to raise local taxes by about 1.7 percent, subject to possible exceptions and limitations, in accordance with Act I for the 2012-2013 budget. This percentage was estimated to be $1.9 million.
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