Category: Armstrong School District

Two Schools Fail to Achieve State Yearly Progress

ASD Coordinator of Federal Programs & Accountability Dr. Beverly Long gave board directors the news at their regular monthly meeting last month that Kittanning Sr. High and Lenape Elementary students did not meet state Adequate Yearly Progress expectations on last year's Pennsylvania System of State Assessment exams.

by Jonathan Weaver

Students at two local schools have not made Adequate Yearly Progress on Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams.

Kittanning Senior High School and Lenape Elementary students did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on exams last school year and are on the state warning list, but no sanctions have been filed and the schools have the opportunity to get off the list in the coming years.

Armstrong School District Coordinator of Federal Programs & Accountability Dr. Beverly Long summarized the state’s goals regarding AYP in regards to the national No Child Left Behind Act.

“When No Child Left Behind came into existence, every state had the opportunity to determine how they were going to have their state meet AYP,” Long said. “They could do a number of things determining how students would eventually get to the target goal of 100 percent by 2014. Pennsylvania adopted a method which was similar to a balloon payment – they started very low and the increase was very minimal, staying at certain levels for several years so that people would have an opportunity to get to those levels and to be proficient.

“The target for this year was 72 percent of students needed to be proficient or above in reading and 67 percent of the students needed to be proficient or above in math,” Long said.

From 2008-10, the targets remained at 63 and 56 percent.

Long warned ASD board directors that students district-and statewide may begin experiencing problems meeting expectations.

“However, beginning this year, the rate of increase is between 10 and 11 percentage points in each category per year till 2014 when the expectation is that 100 percent of our students will be proficient,” Long said. “The target’s are going to become increasingly-more difficult to meet in an increasingly-quicker pace - in the next four years, we have to go from 74 percent last year to 100 percent in 2014.”

Adequate Yearly Progress jumps to 82 percent this school year.

Up until the high school level, Long said students are pretty consistent. She added that Grade 11 students will eventually not be administered the PSSA exam, but will take the Keystone Test, which began statewide this year.

“Pretty much up through grade 11, we are showing a solid core of math proficiency, and in grade 11, we have some issues perhaps in terms of between what students take between the 8th and 11th grade year and what’s being tested on the PSSA.

“The one area that seems to be an issue not only for us but for the state is 11th grade. One of the things we need to note in our district is that PSSA scores are not tied to graduation, as they are in many other districts,” Long said. “The older they get, the more difficult it is for them to become motivated to do well on the test.”

Board directors will receive updated results and calculations before this month’s open caucus session October 17 at 7:30PM.

categories Armstrong School District | jweaver October 5, 2011 | comments Comments (1)

Tech School Administrator Resigns

Lenape Vo-Tech Dean of Students Joseph Fullerton (shown here addressing the Joint Operating Committee on September 15, 2011) will resign effective tomorrow from his post to become Director of Curriculum at the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center.

by Jonathan Weaver

More than a decade since he began as a teacher, a local school administrator will be leaving his post tomorrow.

Lenape Vo-Tech Dean of Students/Program Development Specialist Joseph Fullerton is resigning effective tomorrow, October 1, from the school to transfer and become Director of Curriculum at Lancaster County Career and Technology Center.

Fullerton announced his decision before the Lenape Vo-Tech Joint Operating Committee earlier this month, with Administrative Director Dawn Kocher-Taylor accepting his resignation.

“I’d like to accept Mr. Fullerton’s resignation with regret and commend him for his service here,” Kocher-Taylor said. “Throughout the past 14 years, Joe’s been very dedicated to the organization and never hesitated to step up to get whatever needed done done. We certainly appreciate that.”

Fullerton began at the school in 1999 as a math teacher and became Program Development Specialist/Adult Education Coordinator in 2004. He added Dean of Students to his resume last year.

“My first impression was ‘Wow, this is pretty neat,’

Fullerton was never concerned about the titles, though.

“You just do the job that’s necessary and not worry about a job title,” Fullerton said. “You do what you gotta do to get the job done. Being in education is all about the students, and that’s what I hope I’m remembered for: doing what’s best for students.”

During his tenure, the school has averaged 430-450 students per year and has provided 16 curriculum programs to students in the Apollo-Ridge, Armstrong, Freeport and Leechburg school districts.

Comparably, Lancaster County Career and Technology Center offers more than 50 programs to students in 16 public school districts and four private schools.

Fullerton received applause and congratulations by Joint Operating Committee members.

“I hope they learned from me as much as I learned from them,” Fullerton said. “I’ve made a lot of great relationships here and have a lot of great friends.”

Before he began at Lenape, Fullerton was a substitute teacher in the Kiski Area School District and Leechburg School District.

categories Armstrong School District, Lenape Tech | jweaver September 30, 2011 | comments Comments (0)