Schweiker Administration Starts Pilot Program To Help School Districts Better Measure Student Success
On behalf of Gov. Mark Schweiker, Education Secretary Charles B. Zogby has announced that the Department of Education is administering a three-year pilot program for 32 school districts to learn how to use student assessment results to make better educational decisions.
The Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System (VAAS) will help the districts, all of which volunteered to participate, to use results from the Pennsylvania System of Student Assessment and local standardized assessment information to improve and track learning.
Secretary Zogby also noted that the value-added pilot comes at an important time. The Department of Education’s assessment plans under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, approved by the State Board of Education last month, include a "value-added" component.
"Value-added" is a diagnostic tool that allows districts to better analyze data and track information so they can focus on school buildings and programs that need improvement. It is based on research of Dr. William L. Sanders at the University of Tennessee.
Using an Internet-based system, VAAS statistically analyzes a school’s historical assessment information to measure the influences on student learning. For example, the analysis can yield unbiased answers to the following questions:
• Are students of all prior achievement levels making appropriate academic gains each year?
• What is the impact of change in academic delivery on achievement?
• What is the school’s effect on new students compared to students who have been in the school?
• Do some teachers demonstrate consistently greater/less effectiveness in adding to student assessment gains?
The Department of Education is funding the project in full with $500,000. This covers costs such as Internet access to analyze the data, converting data into the format needed for submission, and developing reports to analyze and interpret results.
In addition, each of the school districts will receive $4,500 to implement the program. Participating school districts have made a three-year commitment to the program. They will receive technical assistance from the Department of Education, their local intermediate units and the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network.
The department, in partnership with the Education Policy and Initiatives Center in Pittsburgh, implemented the value-added program in conjunction with the Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit. For more information about VAAS, visit www.sasinschool.com.
Districts Participating In Pa Value-Added Assessment System
Allegheny County: Avonworth School District, South Fayette Township School District and Wilkinsburg Borough School District.
Beaver County: Beaver Area School District and South Side Area School District.
Berks County: Boyertown Area School District, Kutztown Area School District and Reading School District.
Blair County: Spring Cove School District.
Bradford County: Wyalusing Area School District.
Centre County: Bellefonte Area School District.
Clearfield County: DuBois Area School District.
Dauphin County: Central Dauphin School District.
Delaware County: Southeast Delco School District and William Penn School District.
Erie: Fairview School District and Northwestern School District.
Franklin County: Chambersburg Area School District.
Huntingdon: Huntingdon Area School District.
Lancaster County: Donegal School District, Ephrata Area School District, Lancaster School District, Solanco School District and Warwick School District.
Lebanon County: Eastern Lebanon County School District and Lebanon School District.
Lehigh County: Allentown City School District.
McKean County: Otto-Eldred School District.
Mercer County: Sharpsville Area School District.
Montgomery County: Cheltenham Township School District and Norristown Area School District.
Westmoreland County: Monessen City School District.