Deer Lakes

School District

Future Ready Index

As you may have heard recently in our local media the Pennsylvania Department of Education has made significant changes in how student achievement is being reported and calculated for schools and districts in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Department of Education released what was known as the Pennsylvania School Performance Profile. This public site (http://www.paschoolperformance.org), was available as of October 1, 2013, which provides an academic performance score for public schools in the state. This performance score is designed with several purposes in mind:

to inform the public of school performance
to provide a building level score for educators as part of their evaluation system
to allow the public to compare schools across the state
to live schools a methodology to analyze their strengths and needs

While public schools across the state have previously received designations under No Child Left Behind (e.g., Made Adequate Yearly Progress, Making Progress, Warning, School Improvement, Corrective Action), schools will now receive and academic performance score based upon many data points. Test scores, progress in closing achievement gaps, and degree of student growth over time are factored into the scoring while other identifiers of high achieving schools are also considered: graduation, promotion, and attendance rates as well as evidence of offering rigorous courses factor into the calculation. Schools may also earn extra points beyond the 100 point scoring system for those students who have earned advanced scores on the state, industry, and Advanced Placement Exams.

In addition to the scoring aspect of the site, the public can compare schools within and across the state. For schools, the site also offers supports for schools to consider as they identify needs in the academic profile.

PENNSYLVANIA VALUE-ADDED ASSESSMENT SYSTEM
(PVAAS)

In early fall, all public school districts, charter schools, cyber charter schools and full time Career and Technology Centers across the Commonwealth receive web-based reporting through the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System (PVAAS). PVAAS is a statistical analysis of Pennsylvania (PA) state assessment data, and provides Pennsylvania districts and schools with growth data to add to achievement data. This lens of measuring student learning provides educators with valuable information to ensure they are meeting the academic needs of groups of students, as well as individual students.

PVAAS is one of the tools in the cadre of tools provided to districts from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Districts and schools are using PVAAS (growth data), in conjunction with achievement data, to make sure students are on the path to proficiency and beyond. Utilizing all the data available (growth and achievement), educators are able to make data-informed instructional decisions to ensure the academic growth and achievement of all students. PVAAS