Wednesday, September 23, 2009

PSSA/AYP/struggling districts

From the PG:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09266/999928-54.stm

The article notes that PA's State Education secretary reports that 95 percent of districts and 78 percent of schools meeting their AYP targets. The article notes that

"Because schools and districts received credit for improvement or growth, some districts made AYP even though their scores were considerably below the state targets for proficiency.
One dramatic example is the Duquesne City School District, which made AYP, where just 6.3 percent of the high school students scored proficient or above in math and 25 percent in reading."

2 comments:

Questioner said...

When a district with 6.3% of HS students proficient in math is being credited with having made adequate progress- 7 years into to NCLB program- the concept of AYP becomes almost meaningless.

Questioner said...

Also worth noting is the success of charter school Propel McKeesport. The article notes that in this school where 85% of students qualify for free lunches and 73% are minorities 76.5% were proficient in reading and 94.6% percent in math, with percentages similar for white and African American students.