Montco school No. 1 in Pa.; others drop

James Crisfield knew that Wissahickon High School scored very well on the latest School Performance Profile, but on Wednesday, the superintendent was surprised to learn that the school was No. 1 in Pennsylvania.

While Crisfield called it "a nice honor," he said the 101.8 SPP score, weighted heavily by standardized tests, isn't necessarily the best indicator of student achievement.

Lynne Blair, principal at the Montgomery County school, was more enthusiastic.

"It is very exciting!" she wrote in an email. "I am extraordinarily proud of the efforts of the WHS staff and students. It takes a lot of work to bring about such impressive success."

The results were less exciting for some other well-regarded area schools, including Lower Merion High School and Girls High, whose 2014-15 scores dropped significantly from the previous year.

Wissahickon was one of only three 100-plus high schools in the state. The others were Strath Haven, in Delaware County's Wallingford-Swarthmore School District, with 101.3 points, and Lower Moreland, Montgomery County, with 100.1.

The top scorer for the last two years, Downingtown STEM Academy, dropped to fifth place with 99.1 points.

The SPP is a tool to measure student achievement and progress, Matt Stem, deputy secretary for elementary and secondary education at the state Department of Education, said at a news briefing.

But some of the districts say the changes in the Pennsylvania Core curriculum - harder and in some areas completely new - worked against many schools.

"Certainly we anticipated that there was going to be a change in the scores, and not necessarily for the better, given the new standards that are being applied at the last moment," said John Armato, spokesman for the Pottstown School District, which dropped 20.2 points, the biggest loss in the region with the exception of two now-closed charters.

The scores are based in large part on the Keystone exams, started three years ago and given to secondary students in three subject areas - reading, algebra 1, and biology.

Other measures include how well a school closes the achievement gap, graduation, attendance rates, and the number of Advanced Placement course offerings.

In order to hit the 100 mark, schools need to "max out" in every category, including each of the extra-credit points, Stem said. Schools with nearly perfect base scores can also top 100 if they earn enough extra-credit points.

About 60 percent of state high schools saw lower scores compared with 2013-14, according to an analysis of 657 schools. Overall, the region's schools fared slightly worse, with about 65 percent of schools falling in the rating, but still dominated the top 25.

In Philadelphia, 31 public and charter schools improved while 51 fell. Eight schools improved by more than 10 points, including Philadelphia Virtual Academy, an online school run by the Philadelphia School District for students in grades 6-12. The 41.4 score is still far below a widely accepted statewide minimum of 70, but is 28.4 points higher than last year.

Some high-performing schools saw big drops - Central Bucks West lost nearly 16 points, Council Rock North 11.5, Unionville 10.7, New Hope-Solebury 9.6, and Lower Merion, 13.5. Girls High fell 11.6 points.

Radnor High School was one of 19 schools statewide that challenged its score. Its SPP numbers were not included on the list but will be made available after the review, which can take up to a week, said Nicole Reigelman, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education.

Rounding out the 10 high schools in the area were Strath Haven, Lower Moreland, Haverford, Downingtown STEM Academy, West Chester Bayard Rustin, Harriton, Perkiomen Valley, North Penn, and Central and Spring-Ford, which were tied.

As a group, the 95 charter, technical, and cyber high schools across Pennsylvania saw fewer declines than traditional public schools. Data show 57 percent saw lower SPP scores this year.

Philadelphia Electrical and Technical Charter scored a 74.2, a 16.1-point improvement, the most among charters in the region. Among the growing list of nontraditional public schools, Franklin Towne Charter's 91.3 was the region's highest score, followed by MAST Community Charter's 88.8.

ARISE Academy, which has closed, had the state's lowest score, 5.9 - a fall of more than 25 points from the year before. Walter Palmer Leadership Learning Partners, which also closed this year, had the third-lowest score statewide, 17.7.

No cyber school reached 70. At the top of the list, 21st Century Cyber scored a 69.2, an improvement of 3.2 points. Esperanza Cyber's score of 31.7, a 16-point drop, ranked lowest among 13 schools that took the high school-level Keystone exam.

Significant changes in state performance exams given to elementary and middle school students meant the state chose to only release SPP scores for secondary schools this year.

The state also posted results from the Keystone exams in algebra 1, literature, and biology.

kboccella@phillynews.com610-313-8232

@Kathy_Boccella