District scores a threepeat with state

Aug. 12., 2009

By PATRICK E. LITOWITZ
plitowitz@ncnewsonline.com

The New Castle Area School District met the state’s academic standards for the third consecutive year.

In a preliminary report released last month, the Pennsylvania Department of Education said the school system obtained Adequate Yearly Progress status for the 2008-09 school year.

To earn the designation, the district was required to meet or exceed targets in graduation and attendance; academic performance; and the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test.

“This is a first for the district,” Superintendent George Gabriel said. “We’re ecstatic.

“It validates the instructional strategies we implemented are working.”

The assessment covers third-graders attending Thaddeus Stevens, West Side and John F. Kennedy primary centers; fourth- through sixth-grade students at George Washington Intermediate School; and seventh-, eighth- and 11th-graders at the junior-senior high school.

“We give (the students) a preassessment in line with state standards,” Gabriel said.

The tests are given four times during the school year. The PSSA test is administered in the spring.

“We have a pretty good idea how our scores are going to turn out.”

Students take exams in math, reading, writing and science. The math and reading components are used in determining the district’s performance.

To obtain Adequate Yearly Progress in math, 56 percent of the students must be advanced or proficient in the subject. In reading, the standard is 63 percent.

This past school year, 83 percent of the senior class graduated. The state target is 80 percent.
The district had until Aug. 3 to appeal any findings.

“I don’t anticipate any changes,” Gabriel said.

Parents will receive reports outlining their children’s scores this month.