Pennsylvania's Acting Secretary of Education Announces Updates to School Performance Profile

Federal accountability report and data files now available

HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Acting Secretary of Education Carolyn Dumaresq today announced that the School Performance Profile website has been updated to include scores for the more than 620 schools that had their information suppressed in October.

In addition, the data used to calculate the profile scores as well as federal accountability reports for public schools, local education agencies and the state are available.

"Today's update completes the School Performance Profile for the 2012-13 school year," Dumaresq said. "Students, parents, educators and the general public can now view academic performance of all Pennsylvania public schools as well as compare results to neighboring schools and schools across the state."

The results indicate that 2,181, or nearly 73 percent, of public schools received a 70 or higher.

"The majority of public schools across the commonwealth are doing well and preparing their students to be successful adults," Dumaresq said. "I am confident that we will see schools improving year after year now that a new educator effectiveness system and meaningful academic standards and assessments are in place."

Released in October, the School Performance Profile serves many purposes: to provide the public with detailed information of the academic performance of public schools; to satisfy requirements of Pennsylvania's approved federal No Child Left Behind waiver; and to be used as part of the state's new educator evaluation system.

The profile does not only rely on results of the statewide assessments but it also incorporates other measures of student achievement, such as student academic growth from year to year; graduation rate; attendance rate; promotion rate; and increasing the achievement of all students, including historically underperforming students, such as English language learners and economically disadvantaged students.

"The results are promising and, at the same, demonstrate the continuing need for improvement and innovation," Dumaresq said, noting that the Corbett administration has put into place policies and improved upon existing programs to increase student achievement.

The new educator evaluation system, signed into law last year by Governor Tom Corbett, assesses educators on multiple measures of student achievement, provides schools with resources to improve classroom instruction; and makes available information for schools to target resources for educator professional development.

Under the Governor's direction, the department has developed and implemented new and expanded existing resources and support systems for voluntary use by all public schools.

The Standards Aligned System (SAS), accessible by visiting www.pdesas.org, is a comprehensive resource developed to assist schools in improving student achievement. This web-based system identifies six components that impact student success: standards, assessments, curriculum framework, instruction, materials and resources, and safe and supportive schools.

To date, more than 168,000 users have registered to access the site with a total of more than 34.8 million visits.

Available on SAS is a Classroom Diagnostic Tool, which is a voluntary online assessment, designed to provide classroom teachers with information about student performance in reading, math and science in grades 3 to 12.  Results are used by educators to guide classroom instruction, remediation and enrichment.

The department will deploy Academic Recovery Liaisons to federally designated "Priority" schools in an effort to improve education in Pennsylvania's lowest-performing schools.

School improvement strategies will focus on implementing college- and career-ready standards through alignment of curriculum and assessments, effectively using data, employing educator effectiveness protocols, improving school climate and increasing family involvement.

In partnership with First Lady Susan Corbett, the department has developed an Opening Doors Early Warning System to be used by schools to assist in identifying students at risk for dropping out of school.

This voluntary system will analyze three key indicators that may indicate a student is at risk for dropping out: attendance, behavior and academic record.

The important component of the system is a catalog of school- and community-based intervention resources that schools can direct students to in order to remain on track to graduate.

The Early Warning System is expected to be available to all Pennsylvania public schools in the 2014-15 school year.

"Governor Corbett remains committed to ensuring that Pennsylvania's students have access to the best public education system across the nation," Dumaresq said. "Over the last three years, the Governor has worked to put in place new accountability systems that will make certain the significant financial investments of state taxpayers are being used to put students first."

To access the School Performance Profile, visit www.paschoolperformance.org.  Data that was used to calculate profile scores can be accessed by clicking on the "Data Files" link on the bottom right side of the home page.

Federal accountability reports are available by visiting www.eseafedreport.com.

Media contact: Tim Eller, 717-783-9802

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Education