BY JULIE BENAMATI
All school districts in the Cambria-Somerset region showed “adequate yearly progress” – or AYP – in the latest Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests released Wednesday.
But 13 schools in those districts failed to meet the mandatory standards and received warnings – all for academic performance. Most were high schools.
In Cambria County, all schools in Ferndale and Forest Hills school districts, East Side Elementary in Johnstown, Northern Cambria’s middle and high schools, and Richland High School were given red marks.
Four schools in Somerset County received warnings, up from only two last year.
Meyersdale Elementary and North Star, Shade and Somerset high schools were noted to have areas of concern.
The standards are based on the PSSA tests and other factors, such as test participation, attendance and graduation.
The schools that received warnings could face consequences such as reduced funding in the future if they fail to show improvement.
According to the state Department of Education, the PSSA measures how well students have achieved in reading and mathematics according to the state’s academic standards.
By using these standards, educators, parents and administrators can evaluate their students’ strengths and weaknesses to increase achievement scores.
According to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, students must be 100 percent proficient in reading and math by 2014.
Today’s sixth-graders will be 11th-graders by the year 2014 when full proficiency must be reached.
As shown in this region, the state’s high schools also continue to be an area of concern when it comes to increasing academic achievement, according to state education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak. Two out of every five high school students are below grade level, while independent research shows that students who score proficient in 11th grade are far more likely to succeed in college.
At the current pace, it would take 40 years for all 11th-graders to meet state standards.
“Clearly, we need to do more to improve the high school experience and ensure those students stay engaged and challenged through graduation,” Zahorchak said in a statement. “We simply cannot afford to be content with the status quo.”
Joseph Macharola, superintendent at the Cambria Heights School District in Patton, said that, while his district has received good reports in recent years, he is cautious.
“We take it year by year,” Macharola said. “We know what works for us, and we’ll continue to do that. But you never know which way the wind will blow next time around. It is always a challenge.”
He said that he thinks PSSA testing and subsequent AYP reports are not totally reflective of a district.
“You are dealing with human beings here,” Macharola said. “Students may have the aptitude to do well on a test, but you don’t know what kind of social scarring comes into play.”
In all, 92 percent of Pennsylvania’s school districts – 461 out of 501 – and 72 percent of its schools – 2,235 in all – made AYP or were classified as “making progress” in 2007-08.
