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PA Cyber meets AYP in ’07 state performance tests
Thursday, July 19, 2007
MIDLAND, Pa.- The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School announced met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets in 2007 statewide school performance tests.
Sister schools Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School and Midland Middle-Elementary School also met AYP. Lincoln Park and PA Cyber were chartered by the Midland Borough School District.
The schools privately received notification of test results from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). The scores have not yet been publicly announced.
AYP is part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. It requires schools to be accountable to students, their parents, teachers, and the community by ensuring they learn adequate reading and math skills.
“The effort was amazing and the timing is perfect, with legislative committee hearings on cyber charter funding coming,” said Dr. Nick Trombetta, CEO of PA Cyber. “In Midland, we have a long-standing commitment to provide our young people with the highest quality education. That commitment to excellence has been extended to more than 6,200 students across the commonwealth who were enrolled in PA Cyber this year.”
Dr. Nick Trombetta said the AYP designation validates the academic program at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, which last January came under attack from PDE, and should boost the Blue Ribbon School nomination for Midland School. He is superintendent of Midland School District and founder of Lincoln Park.
PA Cyber did not meet AYP last year when it narrowly missed the required 95 percent participation in Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) testing, he said. This year, the school achieved 98 percent participation, testing 2,959 PA Cyber students at 29 sites across Pennsylvania. “Administering the PSSA required a Herculean effort by PA Cyber staffers,” said Dr. Nick Trombetta.
PA Cyber Principal Andrew Oberg said sites were set up regionally so no family had to drive more than one hour. He lauded the parents of PA Cyber students for the effort to get students to the testing sites, and congratulated the students themselves on their achievement.
Midland Middle-Elementary School Principal Sean Tanner said his school has always made AYP every year since it began in 2002, and has scored well on the PSSA, with the third grade and eighth grade math scores highest in the state in 2005-06. Outstanding test results, he said, are one reason Midland is one of only 13 schools in the state to be nominated for a national Blue Ribbon School Award. He sees this year’s AYP as an important milestone in the selection requirements for the award, to be announced in September by the U.S. Department of Education.
“Our kids know they are competing against everyone in the state. We do everything we can to pump them up for test week,” said Tanner. He said the effort to excel begins at the top with a supportive, involved school board and extends through the commitment and dedication of the staff. He noted the Midland school board, as sponsor of charters for both PA Cyber and Lincoln Park, gets credit for their achievements, too.
Becky Manning, CEO of Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, remembered last January, when State Education Secretary Dr. Gerald Zahorchak raised questions about Lincoln Park’s academic program, suggested that students enrolled at Lincoln Park be recalled by their school districts, and urged Midland Borough School District to revoke the performing arts school’s charter – all without one visit by PDE officials to the operating school. Zahorchak quickly rescinded those directives, and Lincoln Park is working closely with PDE to resolve remaining issues, said Manning.
Successful PSSA testing at Lincoln Park involved 100 percent participation by 58 juniors, said Manning. “These kids just came to us last year, so their home school districts get most of the credit,” she said, “But if they hadn’t passed, I’m afraid we would have gotten the blame.”
The PSSA requires every Pennsylvania student in grades 3 through 8, and grade 11, to be assessed in reading and math, with students in grades 5, 8 and 11 additionally tested for writing skills.
There are three components for meeting AYP: (1) student participation rate (2) percentage of students scoring at the proficient level or above in English-language arts and mathematics, (3) demonstrated academic performance growth by a school from one year to the next, and (4) attendance and graduation rates.