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2020

2020 Academic Achievement & Growth Report

AA&GR
2020 Report (PDF)

2020 Interactive Report (HTML)

Presentation (PDF)

Executive Overview

The mission of the Pine-Richland School District is to focus on learning for every student every day. The vision at PRSD emphasizes the fact that learning is reflected in both achievement and growth. In the seventh year of publication, the format and structure of this report have been refined each year to provide descriptive statistics and analyses across a series of standardized assessments. 

Within the Baldrige Performance Excellence framework, “LeTCI” is used as an acronym to describe evaluation factors for reviewing results (i.e., Levels, Trends, Comparisons, and Integration). We have again utilized those factors in evaluating the results. Various types of PSSA and School Performance Profile comparisons with high performing schools and school districts are included in our presentation this year. We plan to further strengthen this approach in future years for the other assessments. The emphasis on both process and results is captured in the image to the far right.

Continuous
 As an improvement this year, the amount of time spent producing an exhaustive library of individual assessment results tables was streamlined to provide dense summary information by assessment type. These tables include levels of achievement and growth, benchmark comparisons, and trends over time where a minimum of three years’ data exists. The presentation designed to accompany this report focuses on the integration of assessment data within our Model for Teaching and Learning and the entire Learning System as pictured and explained below, through specific vignettes. 

As a district, we are focusing on process and results. Building principals, assistant principals, Academic Leadership Council Members, and our K-12 classroom teachers have been actively engaged in the development of these reports annually. We have been intentional in celebrating strengths and identifying opportunities for improvement. The results in this report are directly integrated with other strategic initiatives related to the model for teaching and learning, in-depth program review, curriculum review process, and instructional strategies focus. Short-term and long-term goals of the strategic plan influence the educational program for students and the learning results. Within the strengths, we are working to highlight areas of success and effective instructional integration within our programming and have lifted them up through the vignettes, as shared by our educators engaged in the direct work. We intend to communicate this knowledge and key learning across our organization through our Academic Leadership Council, principals, and grade level/departmental teams to continue our focus on success and iterations of improvement.

Given the impact of the pandemic, all state-based standardized testing for the PSSA and Keystone were halted. Consequently, the data represented in the tables are reflective of data from the 2018-2019 school year for those assessments, with updates for 2019-2020 being made only for the SAT, ACT, and AP exams. As a result, there are not updated results for student achievement and growth reflected on the PA Future Ready Index either.

As a disclaimer to all who review this report, it is important to note the narrow focus on standardized achievement test results (i.e., PSSA, Keystone Exams, SAT, ACT, and AP). These are important and high stakes assessments. However, we also know that measures of school effectiveness and learning are far more comprehensive than the information in this report. Those measures include a holistic look at our schools and students, such as: classroom-based assessments; school climate; participation in extra- and co-curricular activities; graduation rates; attendance; discipline; post-secondary readiness; social-emotional development; wellness; and more.

Our focal question continues to be “How do we focus on academic learning for every student every day?” The learning system at Pine-Richland School District is illustrated by the following image, allowing us to focus on “Data for Action”:

MTSS Model Teaching and Learning Continuum of Services
Model for Teaching and Learning

  • Curriculum
  • Instruction
  • Assessment


Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS)

  • ELA and Math Decision Trees
  • Research-Based Interventions


Continuum of Services

  • Special Education
  • Gifted Education
  • Other Programming

Key highlights of this year’s report include:

  • Focused attention on using data to support student learning
  • Streamlined reporting of key measures
  • Addition of top decile reporting for SAT and ACT results
  • Lack of PSSA and Keystone data DOES NOT equate to lack of data for action