PA Cyber meets all AYP performance targets for '09
MIDLAND, Pa. –The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School has been informed it met all 29 AYP performance targets in statewide testing for 2009, announced CEO Dr. Nick Trombetta.
The school showed significant improvement in math scores overall as well as for economically disadvantaged, black and special education subgroups, and posted a nearly 93 percent graduation rate, compared to 85 percent last year.
“This is monumental news for our school, our staff, our students and their families, and is very good news as well for all those who champion school choice in Pennsylvania,” said Dr. Trombetta. The school’s five-year charter is up for renewal this year; making AYP will help, he said.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, PA Cyber was founded in 2000 as the first statewide cyber school offering grades K-12. The state’s largest and most successful cyber charter school, PA Cyber enrolls more than 8,000 students.
Dr. Trombetta said cyber school students face special challenges in taking the annual statewide PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) tests, which must be administered in person. In March, PA Cyber set up 31 testing sites across the state at hotels, colleges and community centers. Some 4,000 PA Cyber students in grades 3-8 and 11 were brought by their parents to the sites for three days of testing.
While PA Cyber has many high-achieving students, Dr. Trombetta said others come to the cyber because they have not had success in their former schools.
“Forty percent of our students come to us from the lowest-performing school districts in the state. Half of the students we enroll each year initially test one grade level behind, and our staff works hard to bring them up to grade level. Their performance on this year’s PSSA was outstanding and demonstrates the effectiveness of cyber education,” said Dr. Trombetta.
The school was informed over the weekend of its 2009 AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) status through a confidential posting on the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) website. Schools have 10 days to appeal their results. Because PA Cyber did not make AYP last year – meeting 21 of 29 indicators in 2008 - its official status will be School Improvement II when results are made official later this month by PDE, he said.
PA Cyber made AYP in 2007, meeting 21 of 21 performance targets. Andrew Oberg, director of PA Cyber, said the school has met all academic targets every year but one since the inception of the PSSA tests, but missed AYP on testing participation due to its scattered student body. This year the participation rate was 98 percent overall, and every subgroup hit 97 percent or better.
“I’m having a hard time putting into words how proud I am of the effort put forth by our staff, the involvement of our parents, and the achievement of our students,” said Oberg. He believes the instructional staff has taken to heart the philosophy of “doing whatever it takes, whatever our students need to succeed, one child at a time.”
“The board of trustees congratulates the staff and students on a truly outstanding achievement,” said Dr. Dave Jaskiewicz, president of the board.
Dr. Sandra Fouch, who heads the school’s student assessment team, said, “Our students showed improvement on every target, in every group and every subgroup."
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