2012 PSSA Scores Mean 'School Improvement' for EHS
The district does well overall but there are weak spots.
Of the 10 public schools in the East Penn School District, only four made annual yearly progress (AYP) as indicated in the 2012 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) examinations given earlier this year.
The four that made the grade include Alburtis, Jefferson, Lincoln and Willow Lane elementary schools.
Seven Generations Charter School also met its annual yearly progress for the 2011-2012 school year.
Several of the schools achieved AYP in all but one of 11 categories that were considered for the overall score.
For example, Wescosville, Macungie and Shoemaker elementary schools and Eyer and Lower Macungie middle schools received warnings because of one weak score.
Emmaus High School was the only one of the 10, however, that was ranked "School Improvement I," a designation issued when a school fails to meet annual yearly progress targets for at least two consecutive years.
"School choice and supplemental education services are offered for schools in School Improvement," according to definitions issued by the state.
For the 2011-2012 school year Pennsylvania Department of Education targets were to have 78 percent of students proficient or advanced in math and 81 percent proficient or advanced in reading compared to 67 and 72 percent, respectively for the previous year.
The percentage of students who met academic standards by school include:
| Math | Reading | |
| Alburtis Elementary | 84.8 | 78.7 |
| Jefferson Elementary | 79.9 | 81.5 |
| Lincoln Elementary | 80.3 | 78.4 |
| Macungie Elementary | 87.3 | 82.8 |
| Shoemaker Elementary | 87.2 | 82.5 |
| Wescosville Elementary | 83.5 | 83.9 |
| Willow Lane Elementary | 85.3 | 87.9 |
| Eyer Middle School | 89.8 | 88.7 |
| Lower Macungie Middle School | 84.2 | 82.1 |
| Emmaus High School | 67.2 | 80.6 |
| East Penn School District Total | 82.8 | 83.3 |
| Seven Generations Charter School | 69.2 | 69 |
Some results that may seem below the state's cut off still represent successful results because special conditions including Safe Harbor and Confidence Interval exceptions have been applied. Some of these allow for schools to meet AYP because they have significantly -- by 10 percent or more -- increased the percentage of below-proficient students.
LMTnative
8:35 am on Thursday, September 27, 2012
Looking at these results you would have to be a fool to send your child to Seven Generations. Why are they allowed to continue to operate if their results are so much worse than EPSD's schools?
Robert Sentner
8:55 am on Thursday, September 27, 2012
I agree LMT. Charter schools should have a set time to meet the requirements and there should be repercussions if not met.
And as far as the EPSD scores I think they look good, in general.
Wouldn't this be a great way measurement for merit pay ???? and firing of poor teachers. The good teachers should be rewarded and the bad ones should be replaced. Eyer midle school and emmaus high school math teachers should not be on the same pay scale that's for sure.
Missy Moyer-Schneck
9:13 am on Thursday, September 27, 2012
I agree completely with your last comment, in any other job, if you don't perform to task, your let go, why do teachers get a pass? Our kids are in these classrooms, our kids are not making grade, our kids are the ones who will fail while a teacher not performing well will get to teach the following year. Make note, I am NOT putting all teachers in this bag, I'm saying, if a teacher cannot teach well enough to make the kids understand and get a decent grade, the teacher needs to be replaced, because it is NOT always the home life that has the child failing. I sit with my kids at night, we review homework, my kids are not getting it...they need the extra help, and the only thing I can do is suggest that they ask for it, and they are getting it because they ask for it........but, how many teachers are willing to give the extra help. Is it in the teacher contract that they have to assist after school or during lunch? I really don't know, all I can say, from my experience, is my kids have asked for the extra help and they are getting it, so why are the kids in the high school still not passing or, still doing poorly?....where is the help?
Brady
2:22 pm on Thursday, September 27, 2012
Missy,
Some blame can surely be put on teachers, but lousy teachers are few and far between especially in the lower grades. You also have to put a lot of blame on parents. I love to hear that you try to help your children. Most parents dont. The parents need to take time to help educate their own children. Help with homework, read to them, be active in their learning outside of school. Lots of parents think that the teaching stops once they get to elementary school. Parents should take the time and ask question about what they learned, try to help them with what they are lower at, or teach beyond what they are currently learning. Many lazy parents who dont take the time with their children. And to answer your question, its not in a teachers contract to assist after school hours and most days they can't. They often have meetings and need to do their own work for the current day and the next day.
Mariska van Aalst
9:18 am on Thursday, September 27, 2012
Seven Generations Charter School's scores include those of children from 21 school districts, not just those from East Penn. (East Penn students make up only half of the student population.) Several of those 21 districts are rife with poverty, budget shortfalls, and other tremendous challenges that East Penn does not face. Overall, as mentioned above, Seven Gen showed significant year-on-year improvement: Scores in Math rose 4.8% and scores in Reading jumped 7%.
ted.dobracki
9:20 pm on Thursday, September 27, 2012
Good points. Parents often choose charters for their children because they are diaffected at their school of residence.
A Kennedy School of Government award winning study done by the University of Indianapolis also showed that students whose parents picked charter schools in that region gained more than their peers who remained in the original schools, although they didn't make up all of their "inherited" deficit at the charter.
An LMT guest
8:59 pm on Thursday, September 27, 2012
At Missy Moyer-Schneck-
Since you devote so much time to commenting on these stories, perhaps it would behoove you a little to do some basic research so you actually know a little about the subjects you choose take on when continually mounting your soapbox. As a former teacherand LMT resident, I know a bit more about education and No Child Left Behind than most. But really, it takes very little time and research to gain a rudimentary idea of how the system works. I am sure you would have no problem understanding it, but I don't understand your need to make such blanket statements and talk down to people while extolling your own virtues.
Like the previous poster, I am also glad that you sit and work with your child at night. I have seen and unfortunately known some teachers that should try to be better at what they do, but in my experience they have been the minority.
You need to learn more about the impact of SES on their educational achievement as develop a basic understanding of NCLB, and the standardized testing system including AYP, and subgroups in order for any of your comments to be taken seriously.
I have known some amazing teachers in some very rough schools. Teachers who have literally spent time in the morning ridding their student's backpack of roaches and feeding them breakfast. Test scores are not the only reflection of a "good teacher." You are comparing apples and oranges in every sense of the word.
An LMT guest
9:28 pm on Thursday, September 27, 2012
as should be and
An LMT guest
9:26 pm on Thursday, September 27, 2012
The variety of school demographics can be staggering between schools and even between classroom.
So by your logic, special education teachers should be fired? Right? That is the ignorance of what you are saying.
Oh, and the teacher who has the high-level math kids- well then they should obviously get a raise. Or a teacher at the high school who works really hard teaching mostly honors and AP level classes should totally get paid more than a teacher who is working equally as hard with exceptional students.
Oh and the teachers working in urban areas---- well they should be held to the same standards as suburban districts, even if their kids might not know where they will be sleeping that night, where their next meal is coming from, or when the next time is they will witness violence. And that is no exaggeration or dramatization. It's what they are dealing with all the time. But don't worry, these teachers seldom last long anyway, because they burn out. My district was not Camden, but it was no East Penn, and I can't tell you hard I worked.
The schools in poorer urban areas are also way more likely to have enough students to comprise the different subgroups that NCLB examines, while schools in more affluent areas don't always have enough kids meeting a particular demographic (free and reduced lunch, ESL, minority populations, etc.) to form a subgroup. The schools have to make AYP for each of the subgroups or they------ actually wait....
An LMT guest
9:28 pm on Thursday, September 27, 2012
Why am I speaking to points that you obviously don't understand? Like I said do a little research. Don't worry the soapbox will be waiting.
ted.dobracki
6:02 pm on Friday, September 28, 2012
There has to be a typo here. I don't really believe that 1/3 of EHS students didn't pass this test.