Schools

NSB Credits Policy Change for Improved PSSA Scores

Neshaminy School Board President Ritchie Webb said that the board's policy change mandating PSSA proficiency helped improve last year's scores.

Neshaminy's PSSA scores have improved and Neshaminy High School has made adequate yearly progress (AYP) for the first time ever, and according to school board President Ritchie Webb, this is due in part to a policy change the board made last year.

The school board passed a new policy mandating PSSA proficiency as a graduation requirement, which Webb said supported the efforts of the high school teachers.

"The other change which I think made a difference was you," Webb said to the Neshaminy community at a Q&A session Monday night.

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"Over the past few years, you have been tremendously interested in the quality of the district's education and you have demanded that our teachers, our administrators and this board stand accountable for these results," he said.

During a presentation in an October 2011 school board meeting, it was revealed that the high school had not made AYP in 7 consecutive years. 

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"While not everyone in our district believed this mandate was a good idea, it certainly appears to have had an immediate, positive effect. I hope this new policy will continue to reinforce the importance of what the staff is teaching our children in the classroom," Webb stated in a previous board meeting.

Despite Neshaminy's improvement, statewide PSSA scores declined slightly from last year, Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis said in a press release.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, statewide, 75.7 percent of students performed at-or-above grade level in math; 71.9 percent of students performed at-or-above grade level in reading; 73.2 percent of students performed at-or-above grade level in writing; and 61.4 percent of students performed at-or-above grade level in science.

“Compared to the 2010-11 results, the 2011-12 the percent of proficient or advanced students declined by 1.4 percentage points in math and 1.6 percentage points in reading,” Tomalis said.

Here are Neshaminy's 2011-12 PSSA scores broken down by each school:

Math

School Number Scored % Advanced % Proficient % Basic % Below Basic Albert Schweitzer 161 55.9 32.9 9.3 1.9 Carl Sandburg MS 534 64.8 24.9 7.3 3.0 Herbert Hoover 317 59.3 33.4 5.7 1.6 Joseph Ferderbar 258 58.1 30.6 8.9 2.3 Lower Southampton 262 54.6 33.2 10.3 1.9 Maple Point MS 912 58.3 28.7 8.3 4.6 Neshaminy High School 631 43.7 32.0 15.5 8.7 Oliver Heckman 260 58.8 30.8 8.8 1.5 Pearl S. Buck 217 73.7 19.4 5.5 1.4 Poquessing MS 501 67.5 23.0 7.6 2.0 Samuel Everitt 182 48.4 29.7 17.6 4.4 Walter Miller 188 59.6 32.4 7.4 0.5

 

Reading

School Number Scored % Advanced % Proficient % Basic % Below Basic Albert Schweitzer 161 39.1 45.3 8.7 6.8 Carl Sandburg MS 527 49.7 31.3 14.2 4.7 Herbert Hoover 311 35.0 50.2 10.3 4.5 Joseph Ferderbar 251 34.7 47.0 13.5 4.8 Lower Southampton 256 38.7 43.8 10.2 7.4 Maple Point MS 909 51.3 30.7 13.3 4.7 Neshaminy High School 635 44.3 37.8 11.3 6.6 Oliver Heckman 255 37.6 45.1 10.2 7.1 Pearl S. Buck 211 46.0 43.6 6.6 3.8 Poquessing MS 500 50.2 33.6 13.2 3.0 Samuel Everitt 177 32.2 47.5 11.3 9.0 Walter Miller 182 37.4 46.2 10.4 6.0

 

Science

School Number Scored % Advanced % Proficient % Basic % Below Basic Albert Schweitzer 62 32.2 46.8 16.1 4.8 Carl Sandburg MS 197 33.0 37.6 19.3 10.2 Herbert Hoover 109 43.1 49.5 4.6 2.8 Joseph Ferderbar 104 50.0 43.3 4.8 1.9 Lower Southampton 80 52.5 42.5 5.0 0.0 Maple Point MS 285 27.7 43.9 18.6 9.8 Neshaminy High School 670 10.0 29.7 43.9 16.4 Oliver Heckman 92 55.4 35.9 6.5 2.2 Pearl S. Buck 78 60.3 34.6 3.8 1.3 Poquessing MS 188 29.8 45.2 18.1 6.9 Samuel Everitt 52 38.5 51.9 7.7 1.9 Walter Miller 65 63.1 33.8 3.1 0.0

 

Writing

School Number Scored % Advanced % Proficient % Basic % Below Basic Albert Schweitzer 47 0.0 89.4 10.6 0.0 Carl Sandburg MS 207 4.3 72.0 23.2 0.5 Herbert Hoover 121 1.7 73.6 24.8 0.0 Joseph Ferderbar 88 1.1 87.5 11.4 0.0 Lower Southampton 82 0.0 76.8 23.2 0.0 Maple Point MS 296 11.1 76.7 11.8 0.3 Neshaminy High School 655 9.0 78.0 11.3 1.7 Oliver Heckman 83 1.2 81.9 16.9 0.0 Pearl S. Buck 80 10.0 82.5 7.5 0.0 Poquessing MS 190 17.4 74.7 7.4 0.5 Samuel Everitt 70 0.0 75.7 24.3 0.0 Walter Miller 71 0.0 56.3 42.3 1.4

Review PSSA results on the Pennsylvania Department of Education website.

 

Click here to view Neshaminy's test scores from the 2010-11 school year.


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