Pennsylvania Model for Tracking Student Achievement Receives Federal Approval

U.S. Department of Education recognizes benefits of PA's value-added growth
model

HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania schools will
be able to track student progress more closely and more Pennsylvania schools
will be given credit for gains in student proficiency under a long-term
assessment model that has been approved for use by federal education
officials, Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak announced today.

"The U.S. Department of Education's approval of the Pennsylvania Value-Added
Assessment System gives us a more precise, objective tool for measuring
student progress," the secretary said. "The information we glean from PVAAS
helps our teachers make better decisions about student instruction, which
creates a more enriching learning experience for students."

PVAAS is a statistical analysis of PSSA assessment data that gives districts
and schools more detailed information on students' academic growth to help
guide local decision-making on student instruction. The data helps schools
project individual student achievement and identify students that might need
additional help in achieving proficiency.

"Our growth model allows us to look beyond the collective numbers and see each
child, and that enables us to determine whether each individual student is on
a solid path to reaching proficiency by 2014, as No Child Left Behind
requires," Secretary Zahorchak said.

Additionally, the student achievement data collected through PVAAS enables the
Department of Education to recognize achievements in schools where students
have not yet reached proficiency targets, but are projected to reach those
targets in about two years. This differs from the existing constraints of No
Child Left Behind, which take into account only those students who have
reached proficiency, while overlooking those who have made significant gains
towards proficiency.

"Our growth model builds fairly and logically on No Child Left Behind by
allowing us to recognize the progress of schools that began with very low
proficiency rates and have seen strong growth in those rates, even if they
have not yet hit annual proficiency targets," the secretary explained.
"Without this growth model, the academic gains of many of these schools would
have been discounted or overlooked entirely, which is patently unfair to these
students and their teachers."

James Goodhart, executive director of the Pennsylvania League of Urban
Schools, also praised the federal decision to allow Pennsylvania's growth
model.

"Pennsylvania's value-added growth model is a great improvement in tracking
student progress," he said. "It gives us the ability to measure each child's
academic gains over several years, offering far more valuable insight into a
student's progress than we could get from a one-year 'snapshot' of achievement
scores."

Pennsylvania has a history of national leadership in the implementation of a
growth model for school improvement planning. The commonwealth is now among 15
states that have received conditional federal approval to use growth models in
tracking student achievement.

For more information on Pennsylvania's assessment system, visit the Department
of Education Web site at www.pde.state.pa.us or www.paayp.com.
CONTACT: Michael Race
(717) 783-9802

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Education

Michael Race of Pennsylvania Department of Education, +1-717-783-9802