1. PA School Performance Profile
<INSERT YOUR SCHOOL NAME>
(The purpose of this PP is to create an understanding of the components of the PA School Performance Profile prior to accessing the website. The slide show may be modified to meet audience needs.)
(Suggested script is detailed below each slide.)
At this time I would like to provide you with a detailed overview of the Pennsylvania School Performance Profile. Before we visit the site, I’d like to give you an overview and share the components of the Profile with you to explain the factors that contribute to create the information and support system.
November 2014

2. What is the School Performance Profile?
Developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the PA School Performance Profile is an online resource designed to provide information and resources on school quality for public schools across the Commonwealth.
Presenter Notes:
You may have heard of No Child Left Behind and the school designations related to performance: e.g., Made AYP, Making Progress, Warning, School Improvement, Corrective Action.
Pennsylvania, by virtue of a waiver approved by the US Department of Education, has developed an accountability system to replace the No Child Left Behind system. This Profile is one aspect of the state accountability.
The elements in the SPP are reflective of research and best practice – as well as comments and feedback from the field via the many focus groups held across the state.

3. While the prior slide addresses the overall purpose of the SPP, this slide illustrates the fact that for PA educators, the Academic Performance Score is a percentage of the an educator’s overall evaluation. In this instance, the performance score is 15% of the classroom teacher’s annual rating (Building Level Data).

4. Academic Performance Score
School-Level Reporting
Elementary and Secondary Schools
Charter Schools
Cyber Charter Schools
Comprehensive Career and Technology Centers
All of the school entities displayed here receive an academic performance score. A “perfect” score is 100 – although schools may earn extra credit for advanced achievement as measured by test scores. The score each school receives is based upon multiple factors which I’ll explain in the next few slides.

5. Indicators of Academic Achievement – 40%
Percent Proficient or Advanced on Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA/PASA/Keystone Exams)
Percent Competent or Advanced on Industry Standards-Based Competency Assessments
Percent Proficient or Advanced on PSSA/PASA grade 3 reading
SAT/ACT College Ready Benchmarks
As we look at what components describe a high performing school, the first category is the Indicators of Academic Achievement. This accounts for 40% of the academic score [44% for comprehensive Career and Technical Centers (CTC)]. You will notice that not all measures may apply to every school. Thus, the weightings for compiling the score vary. (Handout: Academic Performance Score – All Configurations.)
Bullet 1: This indicator includes Mathematics, Reading, Science, and Writing PSSA tests; at the secondary level, the Keystone Exams in Literature and Algebra apply.
Bullet 2: For vo-tech or career and technical centers, there are two generally accepted tests:[NOCTI (a job ready assessment for career and technology center students) and/or NIMS (National Institute for Metalworking Skills certification)]
Bullet 3: For elementary schools with a grade 3, performance on the Reading PSSA is called out as a separate measure. Research tells us that reading proficiently by the end of third grade can be a “make-or-break” benchmark in a child’s educational development. Academic success, as defined by high school graduation, can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by knowing someone’s reading skills by the end of third grade.
Bullet 4: Students scoring 1550 or higher on the 3 areas of the SAT and/or 22 or higher on the ACT have a high likelihood of success in their freshman year in college.

6. Closing the Achievement Gap – All Students (5%)
Percent of Gap Closure Met
Mathematics/Algebra I
Reading/Literature
Science/Biology
Writing
As you can see, Closing the Achievement Gap for All Students is 5% (3% for comprehensive CTCs) of the formula for calculating the academic performance score. It is calculated in this manner: the percent of students proficient or advanced in each content area is subtracted from 100. Half of that number is then divided by 6. A school is then expected to increase the percent of students proficient or advanced each year by that number. (Handout: Understanding Closing the Achievement Gap)
For example, if a school has 40% of its students proficient or advanced in biology, there are 60% who are not proficient. Half of that number is 30%; thus, over six years, the school must close the gap by 5% per year.
Note: For , Closing the Achievement Gap is only populated for science. As Pennsylvania is transitioning to more rigorous standards and assessments in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics, closing the achievement gap data/results will not be reported until For these subjects, the assessments in will serve as the baseline year for establishing the achievement gaps.

7. Percent of Gap Closure Met Reading/Literature Science/Biology Writing
Closing the Achievement Gap – Historically Underperforming Students (5%)
Percent of Gap Closure Met
Mathematics/Algebra I
Reading/Literature
Science/Biology
Writing
Closing the Achievement Gap for All Students is also weighted at 5% (3% for comprehensive CTCs) and is calculated in the same manner as what we saw on the previous slide. The difference here is that we are measuring performance of three historically underperforming groups of students: The historically underperforming student group is a non-duplicated count of students with disabilities with an individualized education plan (IEP), students who are English Language Learners (ELL), and Economically Disadvantaged (ED) students.
Note: For , Closing the Achievement Gap is only populated for science. As Pennsylvania is transitioning to more rigorous standards and assessments in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics, closing the achievement gap data/results will not be reported until For these subjects, the assessments in will serve as the baseline year for establishing the achievement gaps.

8. Indicators of Academic Growth – 40%
Meeting Annual Academic Growth Expectations
Mathematics/Algebra I
Reading/Literature
Science/Biology
Writing
While tests are important measures of student achievement, it is also important to include a component that factors how students are growing and progressing academically. For this measure, the Pennsylvania Value Added Assessment System is used in each of the four tested areas.
PVAAS is a statistical analysis of PSSA assessment data, and provides districts and their schools with progress data to add to achievement data. This lens of measuring student learning provides educators with valuable information to ensure they are meeting the academic needs of cohorts of students, as well as individual students.
To help you understand PVAAS analysis, think of academic progress/growth in terms of a child’s physical growth, and the growth charts utilized by a child’s physician. Growth charts are an important tool for monitoring a child’s development, but they are just one of the indicators used by the physician to ensure a child is growing at the minimum expected level and on the trajectory to grow as expected. A physician would not use a growth chart in isolation to diagnose a child; however, the growth chart would provide valuable information that may warrant further exploration.

9. Other Academic Indicators – 10%
Cohort Graduation Rate
Promotion Rate
Attendance Rate
Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or College Credit
PSAT/Plan Participation
Together, these factors contribute to 10% of the academic performance score.
Bullet 1: Graduation rate is the percent of students in the school who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma. For schools without a graduation rate, we use promotion rate.
Bullet 2: Promotion rate is the percent of students promoted in each grade for the school for the school year (based upon previous year's data)
Bullet 3: Attendance rate for the school year (This is based upon previous year's data due to availability of this data.)
Bullet 4: This factor assesses whether or not a school offers rigorous courses – whether Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or college level courses (e.g., college in the high school).
Bullet 5: PSAT and Plan measures the percent of 12th grade students who have taken the PSAT or Plan at any time over the course of their educational experience. These tests are “practice” test that prepare students for the SAT/ACT.
Students who take PSAT/Plan tend to score higher on SAT and ACT; thus, this indicator measures the percent of the grade 12 cohort who took the PSAT or Plan at some point in their school experience.
PDE’s current benchmark is defined as sixty percent of students in the grade 12 cohort will have taken the PSAT or Plan. If the school meets the 60% benchmark, then it receives a maximum score of 100 (60 x 1.667) for this performance measure. Thirty percent participation would receive a score of 50 (30 x 1.667), etc. (Scoring is scaled proportionally using the multiplier of )

10. Extra Credit for Advanced Achievement
Percent Advanced on PSSA/PASA/Keystone Exams
Mathematics/Algebra I
Reading/Literature
Science/Biology
Writing
Percent Advanced on Industry Standards-Based Competency Assessments
Percent Scoring 3 or Higher on Advanced Placement Exams or 4 or higher on International Baccalaureate Exams
Schools may earn additional points based upon advanced performance the following:
Bullet 1: Mathematics, Reading, Science, and Writing
Bullet 2: [NOCTI (a job ready assessment for career and technical center students) and/or NIMS (National Institute for Metalworking Skills certification)]

11. Let’s Take a Look!
Now that you have a basic understanding, we’re going to log onto the site and look at our school(s) and their profiles.
What you will also notice is that in addition to an academic performance score, there are many other features of the School Performance Profile. We will look at these as we move through the site and look at our school(s).
Refer to script.