Presented by Jane Callaghan September 21, 2009

1. Upper Merion Area School DistrictInspiring Excellence For All StudentsStudent Achievement Report Presented by Jane Callaghan September 21, 2009

2. Upper Merion Area School DistrictReporting AYP • According to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, students must be 100% proficient in reading and math by 2014. (Today’s seventh graders will be 11th graders by the year 2014 when full proficiency must be reached.) • The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, also known as PSSA, measures how well students have achieved in reading, mathematics, science and writing according to Pennsylvania’s academic standards. • The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires states to determine annually whether schools and districts in Pennsylvania make Adequate Yearly Progress, also known as AYP.

3. Upper Merion Area School District Achieving Excellence – Reporting AYP • AYP is met by meeting identified targets in (1) Student achievement (2) Participation in assessments (3) Attendance (4) Graduation • The 2008-09 targets were 56% proficient or advanced in math and 63% proficient or advanced in reading. • 2009-2010 remain the same • 2010-2011 • 67% proficient or advanced in math • 72% proficient or advanced in reading • Grades tested: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11 in Reading, Math, and Writing; Grades 4, 8 and 11 in Science

4. Upper Merion Area School District Meeting AYP • AYP requires all groups of children to reach proficiency – when subgroups contain 40 or more students the group is evaluated separately • UMASD expects proficiency for every child • District targets are assessed in three grade spans: Grades 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12. To meet AYP goals in Academic Performance or Test Participation, the district needs to achieve all targets for both subjects in one grade span only • There are multiple formulas for determining AYP

5. PSSA Anchor Standard Categories Reading Competencies • Comprehension and Reading Skills • Interpretation and Analysis of Fiction and Nonfiction Text Mathematics Categories • Numbers and Operations • Measurement • Geometry • Algebraic Concepts • Data Analysis and Probability Science Categories • The Nature of Science • Biological Science • Physical Science • Earth and Space Science

6. Upper Merion Area School District Meeting AYP

11. Upper Merion Area Writing

13. 2009 SAT Scores • Critical Reading 497 • Math 525 • Writing 493

14. Attendance and Graduation Targets

15. Class of 2009 Graduation Statistics

16. What the Data Tells Us…. • Reading • Focus on Non-Fiction • Reading affects every content area…improvement in reading should improve performance across all disciplines • C&I Goals • Provide professional development that teaches research-based reading strategies to all teachers • Set expectations for student use of reading strategies • Set expectations for increased reading in all content areas – embed in curriculum • Adopt an Anchor Training

17. What the Data Tells Us Continued… • Math • Focus on Open-ended Questions • Open Ended questions provide opportunities to assess student performance on more realistic problems and student ability to demonstrate higher level thinking • Ability to solve open-ended problems requires the same type of process development and critical thinking that is required in science and written response to reading

18. Data Analysis and Interpretation • C&I Goals • Provide research-based professional development to math teachers to: (1) Increase content knowledge (2) Increase understandings of pedagogy necessary to help students to develop and communicate mathematical reasoning (3) Provide teachers across buildings with opportunities to collaboratively review student work and share lesson • Provide professional development to support differentiated instruction

19. Data Analysis and Interpretation • C&I Goals • Provide research-based professional development to administrations in order to help them understand the teaching environment and pedagogy of a standards-based math classroom

20. Data Analysis and Interpretation • Science • Excellent scores in Grade 4. New elementary science program adopted in _______. • Need more focus on inquiry-based problems • Need to Increase writing in science • C &I Goals • Realign science curriculum for Grades 6, 7, 8 and Chemistry. • Create common assessments to be implemented and used for data analysis and intervention purposes across all grades (multi-year goal) • Embed more writing into the science curriculum

21. C&I Focus for 2009-2010 • Maintain a district assessment plan, disaggregate data for all disciplines and use for professional development planning. Research best tools for data analysis. • Adopt the NSDC Standards for Professional Development with a goal to continually improve our staff development with the intent to improve student achievement • Provide professional development to all teachers in order to use technology to increase reading and writing skills

22. C&I Goals Continued • Use PVAAS data to monitor growth as well as achievement and move all students ahead in each individual performance level. • Continue to support the RtI pilot schools – prepare for Candlebrook and Roberts to adopt the framework – research supports increased time and targeted interventions as critical to achievement

23. Data Analysis and Interpretation • C&I Goals Continued • Provide professional development to administrators in order to support their leanings regarding standards based mathematics.