Pa. test scores up, but schools falter

Students in Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs scored higher on state tests last school year, but fewer of the region's schools met benchmarks for overall achievement.

That's because it's tougher for schools to make the grade.

In the city, scores climbed for the fifth consecutive year, yet the percentage of schools meeting targets for progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law fell 9 points. Of the Philadelphia School District's 268 schools, 107 - 40 percent - made the required progress. That was down from 131 of 266 schools, or 49 percent, the previous year.

The suburbs and the rest of the state also posted declines, according to Pennsylvania System of School Assessment results released yesterday.

In Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties, about 78 percent of schools met the state's Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks, down about 1 point from the year before.

Statewide, 78 percent of schools also met the mark, down from 82 percent in 2006.

The reason for the declines was that three additional grades - fourth, sixth and seventh - were tested, state Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak said yesterday.

That meant more grades had to meet the proficiency standards: 54 percent of all students in reading and 45 percent in math. In addition, all subgroups of 40 or more students - poor, minority, special-education, and non-English speaking - must score proficient or better, and more schools had at least 40 in a subgroup.

For example, 29 Philadelphia schools did not make required progress solely because of their special-education subgroup, district officials said. In the previous year, only two schools missed the target for that reason.

Tom Brady, the district's interim chief executive, was upbeat about the results.

"Overall, there was an increase in performance. The measurement standards are different, and we're going to welcome that opportunity to improve students in those subgroups," Brady said.

The percentage of privately managed schools and charter schools making adequate yearly progress also dropped, but less than the district.

Ten of 41 schools - 24 percent - managed by the for-profit Edison Schools Inc. and five other managers made the grade, down from 11 last year. Thirty-four of 55 charter schools in Philadelphia - 62 percent - hit the mark, down from 36.

There were many success stories among the region's schools.

In Chester County's prosperous and high-achieving Unionville-Chadds Ford district, things just keep getting better. Chadds Ford Elementary School's fifth graders scored in the top five in the region, with 94.3 percent making the state benchmark in reading. That was 11.5 points higher than the previous year. Hillendale Elementary was in the top 10 in math, with 98.1 percent meeting the mark, up 2.4 points.

"We are in a continual state of self-assessment," Superintendent Sharon Parker said. "No matter how fine the district is, there is always someone's child who we can help move forward. This is not about producing a product. It is about people's children."

In Philadelphia, the Fitler Academics Plus school has made adequate yearly progress for four consecutive years, and its fifth graders showed the biggest gains in the region in reading and math. The school went up 48 points in math, to 92.5 percent of fifth graders testing proficient, and up 33.5 points in reading to 65 percent.

Principal Willette Jones cited teacher training and an exceptional staff, including fifth-grade teachers Rachel Pringle, a first-year educator, and veteran Lori Blue, who mentored Pringle.

"It was such an excellent team," Jones said, "to have such a strong teacher mentor a new teacher, who really believed that children can achieve. Throughout the year, it was just impressive."

George Washington High School, a large neighborhood school in the Far Northeast, was the most improved school in the district in reading, going from 33.7 percent to 56.2 percent of its 11th graders at proficient or advanced. It was second most improved in the district in math, with 61.3 percent of its students at proficient or advanced.

Principal Kathy P. Murphy, who arrived at Washington last fall from the principal's post at Germantown High School, attributed the improvement to several things.

The school cracked down on cutting, which meant more students were in class learning, she said. The school also concentrated on parent involvement, sending more communications to the home. Test preparation and periodic testing to assess students' progress also led to improvement, she said.

"We did everything, is what we did," she said.

Other schools among the 10 most improved in the city in both reading and math were Parkway Northwest High School, Paul Robeson High, Sheridan West and McClure.

Several of the district's academic magnet schools, including Masterman and Central, continued to shine, placing among the highest in the state.

Despite the progress, more than half the district's students performed below average levels on the state's reading and math tests.

In the suburbs, some schools added to their high performance, while others, like Graystone Academy Charter, showed dramatic one-year gains.

Graystone, just outside Coatesville in Chester County, saw a 21-point jump in reading proficiency to 58.6 percent for all students.

"We really focus on the needs of our students," principal Anne Humphrey said, describing a new 4Sight reading program that helps teachers identify student strengths and weaknesses.

To keep student interest in the benchmark tests and the state test high, she said, the school held a Survivor competition, complete with prizes and immunity grants for the winners.

Harris Elementary School in Delaware County's blue-collar Southeast Delco School District had the second-highest percentage-point gain in the region in fifth-grade math scores: 40.6 points for 76.9 percent of students at proficient or advanced.

The school met the state standards in both math and reading.

"It really is validation of the effort people put in here every day. It feels very rewarding," principal Jeffrey Ryan said. With enrollment increasing this year, "it will be interesting to see if we can keep our scores up."

At Montgomery County's Souderton Collaborative Charter School, all fifth graders met the state standard in reading. It was the only school in the region to reach that level.

Wendy Ormsby, the director of program development, said the "backbone" of Souderton's reading program was a curriculum called the Hundred Book Challenge, which emphasizes independent learning and instruction at the level appropriate for each student in classes of 15 to 20.

At Delaware County's Village Charter in Chester Township, the release of the scores may lead to the school's closing.

In the spring, the charter signed an agreement with the parent Chester Upland School District saying that if it did not meet an extensive set of benchmarks on the state test, the school would close at the end of the 2007-08 school year. The school had an enrollment of about 500 last school year.

Mark Woolley, chairman of the state-appointed board that oversees the district, said yesterday that though the charter had met state standards, it had failed to exceed some results in the public district.

John Linder, the school's headmaster, said yesterday that the school would not accept that verdict. "The school made substantial achievement. We intend on staying open, and if we have to go to court to do it, we will do so," he said.

To see the full state report and accompanying data, go to http://go.philly.com/pssa07EndText