Adequate Yearly Progress

All public schools in the United States are required to achieve "adequate yearly progress," or AYP, the accountability measure mandated by the 2002 federal No Child Left Behind Act. AYP is now the primary indicator of a school's performance and is reported as a single, up-or-down measure of success. Some policymakers believe the AYP requirements basically are sound. The key requirement is for schools to show annual increases in the percentage of students who score at the "proficient" level or higher on state tests, such as the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, or PSSA.

Sixty-six fewer New Jersey public schools met federal school-progress standards this year, according to testing results that state Education Department officials said would be released next month. School-by-school results were not available yesterday, but state Education Commissioner Lucille E. Davy said 70.8 percent of the state's 2,210 schools made "adequate yearly progress" under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Davy also announced that the federal Education Department had given the state approval to use lower student proficiency targets and assessment standards for grades five through eight.

As students this week tackle annual tests that measure performance in math and reading, pressure will be on many schools to do much better than last year. The average level of achievement that students must attain for a school to be judged successful on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) is going up significantly, as it did last year. For 2012, 78 percent of each school's students must pass the math test for the school to make "Adequate Yearly Progress" - AYP - the state standard for satisfactory achievement.

AS SCHOOL REFORM Commission members prepare to vote Wednesday on the fate of its six Education Management Organizations (EMOs) that run 42 schools, we hope they show more discipline in their decision-making than they have exhibited in overseeing the school district budget. Members of the SRC have gone on the record with their strong support of the EMO concept; so has state Rep. Dwight Evans, who plays a key role in the state funding decisions. The concept is appealing: outside managers would be better positioned - and better resourced - to improve student achievement at the districts' poorest-performing schools.

State testing starts in Pennsylvania's public schools today, and Philadelphia officials are optimistic their students will do significantly better than last year. Performance on "benchmark" tests given every six weeks has been about 10 percent higher than a year ago, said Gregory Thornton, the district's chief academic officer. While the scores are similar to last year's, the district increased the difficulty of the tests this year at the suggestion of an outside academic group that evaluated the curriculum, Thornton's office said.

Fewer schools in Philadelphia and its suburbs met state standards than last school year, state data show, while students statewide showed a slight improvement. The higher school failure rate this year reflects the fact that the state increased its Adequate Yearly Progress benchmark in math from 56 percent to 67 percent of students passing and in reading from 63 percent to 72 percent. Fewer than half of the schools in the Philadelphia district met state performance standards on the PSSA - Pennsylvania's annual measurement of academic progress, according to data released Thursday.

PRINCIPALS of 110 Philadelphia schools that achieved Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, a standard set by the federal No Child Left Behind law, were honored yesterday at a conference on school leadership. The schools made gains on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) tests in reading and math, given annually to students in grades 3 through 8 and 11. After the ceremony, in which most principals received a banner to hang in their schools, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said that she wasn't concerned about a forensics report commissioned by the state Education Department that found as many as 38 schools with questionable test scores.

The Philadelphia school system achieved another major benchmark with the latest results showing significant gains on the state's standardized tests. It almost goes without saying that the district still has a long way to go to improve student achievement to an acceptable level, but the current scores are nonetheless worth saluting. For the 2009-10 school year, 158 of the city's 267 schools, or 59 percent, met the benchmark for "adequate yearly progress" under the federal No Child Left Behind law, according to district data.

Once again, the latest news about the School District of Philadelphia isn't about children - it's about money ("Phila. schools facing huge budget shortfall," Wednesday). One district official went so far as to express concern about charter school enrollment significantly increasing the revenue gap. Charter schools do more - much more - with less than traditional district schools. Charter schools have vibrant libraries, music rooms, dance programs, and provide books and enrichment materials to their students - while receiving only 80 percent of the funding directed to district schools.

As students this week tackle annual tests that measure performance in math and reading, pressure will be on many schools to do much better than last year. The average level of achievement that students must attain for a school to be judged successful on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) is going up significantly, as it did last year. For 2012, 78 percent of each school's students must pass the math test for the school to make "Adequate Yearly Progress" - AYP - the state standard for satisfactory achievement.

THE SCHOOL Reform Commission yesterday appointed former Temple University President David Adamany to be its "testing integrity adviser. " With a rise in allegations of cheating on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) exam, the SRC has asked Adamany to "review and monitor the district's current and proposed practices and procedures for testing security and the administration of the PSSA exam. " While I understand and appreciate the gesture, the district's response is, as always, a day late and a dollar short.

In the coming weeks, Gov. Corbett and State Education Secretary Ronald J. Tomalis will make decisions that will determine the future of Chester. Following the secretary's court-ordered meetings with representatives of Chester Community Charter School, the Chester Upland School District, and others, the city's schools may get the funding they need to provide a constitutionally mandated education to more than 7,000 young people. Or commonwealth officials may deprive the schools of adequate resources or, worse still, close them down.

The library at Rowen Elementary School is musty and outdated - a locked room used for storage and occasional meetings, a repository of yellowing, untouched books. But Callie Hammond has big dreams for the room, whose leather-bound encyclopedias were printed in 1986, the year she was born. Hammond sees the West Oak Lane public school as a launching pad for Library Build, a nonprofit group she recently started to renovate and staff school libraries with fellows in the Teach for America model.

Fewer schools in Philadelphia and its suburbs met state standards than last school year, state data show, while students statewide showed a slight improvement. The higher school failure rate this year reflects the fact that the state increased its Adequate Yearly Progress benchmark in math from 56 percent to 67 percent of students passing and in reading from 63 percent to 72 percent. Fewer than half of the schools in the Philadelphia district met state performance standards on the PSSA - Pennsylvania's annual measurement of academic progress, according to data released Thursday.

Members of Congress railing against the Obama administration's decision to grant waivers from the sweeping No Child Left Behind education law have little ground to stand on. The waivers wouldn't be necessary had Congress stopped its excessive partisan bickering long enough to overhaul the 2002 law that requires all students to score at proficient levels in reading and math by 2014. Education Secretary Arne Duncan had warned lawmakers that 82 percent of schools could miss academic benchmarks this year, compared with 37 percent last year.

Fewer schools in Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs met state standards than last school year, state data shows, while students statewide showed a slight improvement. The higher school failure rate this year reflects the fact that the state increased its Adequate Yearly Progress benchmark in math from 56 to 67 percent of students passing and in reading from 63 to 72 percent. Fewer than half of the schools in the Philadelphia District met state performance standards on the PSSA - Pennsylvania's annual measurement of academic progress, according to data released Thursday.

PRINCIPALS of 110 Philadelphia schools that achieved Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, a standard set by the federal No Child Left Behind law, were honored yesterday at a conference on school leadership. The schools made gains on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) tests in reading and math, given annually to students in grades 3 through 8 and 11. After the ceremony, in which most principals received a banner to hang in their schools, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said that she wasn't concerned about a forensics report commissioned by the state Education Department that found as many as 38 schools with questionable test scores.

Making a defiant and emotional stand Thursday, embattled Philadelphia School Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman dared her bosses to make a decision on her future - now. "Sentence me. I dare you. Or set me free. But I admit to you today that I am guilty. Guilty of just being me," she told hundreds of School District principals who gathered for the close of a three-day professional-development meeting. Ackerman pointedly entered the Lincoln High School auditorium to the Sade song "Is It a Crime" and made the title the theme of her speech.

Making a defiant, emotional stand Thursday, embattled Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman dared her bosses to make a decision on her future - now. "Sentence me. I dare you. Or set me free. But I admit to you today that I am guilty. Guilty of just being me," she told hundreds of Philadelphia School District principals who gathered for the close of a three-day professional development meeting. Ackerman pointedly entered the Lincoln High School auditorium to the Sade song "Is It A Crime," and made its title the theme of her speech.