News in brief
For a sixth year, scores rise on state standardized test
Center helps students reconnect to education after dropping out
District calls for new proposals to run discipline schools
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News in brief
For a sixth year, scores rise on state standardized test
Student proficiency rates in Philadelphia climbed 4 percentage points in both reading and math last spring, marking the sixth straight year of improved District performance on the state standardized test, the PSSA.
Results jumped for all categories of students reported, though proficiency rates for Black and Latino students continue to lag behind those for White and Asian students by 20 or more points. Test scores continue to be sharply lower for 11th graders compared to grades 3-8.
In reading, 45 percent of all students tested scored advanced or proficient, as did 49 percent in math. Reading proficiency peaks in eighth grade, where 56 percent are proficient or advanced. Math scores are highest in third and fourth grades, where 55 percent of students score at least proficient.
School Reform Commission Chair Sandra Dungee Glenn attributed the District’s continued gains to “the effective efforts of teachers and principals, the support of parents, regional and central administration, and most importantly to the hard work of our students.”
The increases translated into modest improvement in the number of Philadelphia schools that made state “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP) targets under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Targets are based on test scores, attendance or graduation rates, and test participation rates.
The number of District schools making their AYP targets was up from 107 to 113 this year, despite a higher bar for school proficiency rates in reading and math. Including charter schools, 45 percent of the city’s schools made AYP targets – 145 out of 325.
The District now has 68 schools in the lowest-performing category – “Corrective Action II” status – indicating their failure to meet their AYP targets for five years or more. Twenty Corrective Action II schools from 2007 met their 2008 targets.
Center helps students reconnect to education after dropping out
Students who want to return to school after dropping out now have a friendly place in School District headquarters that will evaluate their needs and place them – space permitting – in an appropriate program where they can continue their education.
The Re-engagement Center, which has been quietly operating since May, had a formal kickoff in August and has staff from both the District and the city departments of human services and behavioral health.
Citing a dropout rate approaching 50 percent and a particular crisis among Black and Latino males, officials touted it as the first center of its kind in the country. “There is nothing more important to [Mayor Nutter] than solving this dropout crisis,” said the city’s Chief Education Officer, Lori Shorr, a prime mover behind the center.
Having the center in the District’s central office, she said, “sends a message.”
District Director of Multiple Pathways to Graduation Courtney Collins- Shapiro said that 8,000 students drop out of city schools each year. “They need to come back to a different environment,” she said, and added that Philadelphia is developing a reputation as “leading cities nationwide to develop a system that works to re-engage out-of-school youth.”
Laura Shubilla, director of the Philadelphia Youth Network, said that there are about 1,200 slots in different programs for students who want to return to school. In recent years, a lack of capacity in the alternative schools has resulted in long waiting lists.
Students who come to the center will be evaluated on the spot through interviews and computerized testing of their reading levels. There will also be student peer advisors.
“Our charge is to help them find the right option,” said Collins-Shapiro.
For information, contact the Reengagement Center at 215-400-6700.
District calls for new proposals to run discipline schools
As part of her sweeping changes, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has created a separate regional office for alternative and discipline schools, appointing Benjamin Wright, a former official with Victory Schools, to oversee it.
At the same time, the School Reform Commission approved one-year renewals of the contracts with the private providers who run Philadelphia’s alternative and discipline schools and in August put out a call for new proposals, due October 14. The current providers will have to compete to keep running programs.
The District’s request for proposals seeks to expand the number and types of alternative schools available to students wanting to return to school or in danger of dropping out. Specifically, it is looking not just for stand-alone accelerated and discipline schools, but also for programs that would be located within larger schools.
Such programs, which the District calls “Oasis,” will be for students returning from placement and those with several dropout indicators, including low academic achievement and behavioral problems.
In June, the SRC slashed its budget for its discipline schools by $5 million – nearly 20 percent – with most of the bite coming from Community Education Partners (CEP), its oldest, largest, and most expensive contractor on a per-pupil basis. Other companies that operate discipline schools are Camelot and Delaware Valley High School.
In the wake of the cutback, CEP will close its discipline school this year at 12th and Allegheny. Company officials, however, said that programming at its two remaining discipline schools – Hunting Park and E.S. Miller– would not be affected.
CEP also operates three of the District’s six alternative schools for overage students.