OASD among top 10 Pennsylvania districts in student achievement gains

According to a recent national report, Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation to make across-the-board academic gains from 2002 through 2008, with the Oxford Area School District showing a 28.3 percent increase in student performance, the eighth highest among the 500 Pennsylvania school districts.

Oxford Superintendent of Schools Dr. Raymond A. Fischer was among the invited guests at an August 19 press conference during which Governor Ed Rendell spoke about the importance of continued state investment in Pennsylvania’s students. The event, held in the Rotunda of the State Capitol, also included actor and education advocate Bill Cosby and school leaders from across the state.

Governor Rendell announced that a three-year, 50-state report from the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Education Policy (CEP), a leading national educational research organization, identified Pennsylvania as the only state to see increases in student achievement at the elementary, middle and high school levels from 2002 to 2008. “This report confirms that our investments in student achievement are paying off and making us a more competitive state,” he said. “We need to continue to make these investments and build on this success, especially in tough economic times, rather than retreat as some would prefer.”

Jack Jennings, president and chief executive officer of CEP, outlined the information in the report, which examined reading and math performance.

He said the CEP found that Pennsylvania was the only state to:

• Reduce the percentage of students performing at the lowest achievement ranking
• Increase the percentage of students who are at least on grade level; and
• Increase the percentage of students who are at the highest achievement level.

In addition, Pennsylvania is one of only eight states with a “moderate to large” increase in the percentage of students performing on grade level in reading and math at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Governor Rendell noted these gains would not have been possible without an historic funding commitment at the state level, and called for the state legislature to pass his proposed budget, which includes a $300 million increase in the basic education subsidy.

With the recent release of the 2009 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) testing results, the Oxford Area School District achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the federal No Child Left Behind legislation (NCLB) for the sixth year in a row. AYP measures how effectively schools and school districts are moving toward the NCLB goal of 100 percent student proficiency on state assessments by 2013-14, and is determined in part by performance on the PSSA.

Oxford Area School District Superintendent Dr. Raymond A. Fischer meets fellow Temple alumnus Dr. William H. Cosby Jr., following Mr. Cosby’s remarks at the August 19 State Capitol press conference held by Gov. Ed Rendell to celebrate steady improvements in Pennsylvania’s standardized test scores in math and reading.

Watch the full press conference on Armstrong Cable Channel 68 | Schedule

In PSSA testing for reading over the past six school years, the Oxford Area School District has seen student proficiency increase from 60 percent in 2002-2003 to 75 percent in 2008. In the past six years of math testing, proficiency has increased from 47 percent in 2002-2003 to 75 percent in 2007-2008.

Dr. Fischer credited increased state funding as a primary factor in increased student performance in the Oxford Area School District. He pointed out that state revenue has helped the district to establish a full-day kindergarten program this year, which is proven to be a major factor in higher academic performance at all grade levels.

The school district has also utilized state funding for after-school tutoring and a dual enrollment program at Oxford Area High School, under the state’s Project 720 high school improvement initiative, where students may enroll in college courses as well as receive college credit for some of their coursework. “The school board and administration are grateful for the past increases in the state education subsidy, and we have diligently pursued and continue to pursue all opportunities to apply for state funding that will help us to ensure that our students perform to the best of their ability,” said Dr. Fischer.

“But the biggest reason for our academic gains is the hard work of our students, teachers, and administrators in meeting the performance goals outlined in our strategic plan. I am particularly appreciative of the commitment shown by our teachers, who truly care about their students and work tirelessly to help them become good learners and good citizens.”

The full report from CEP and profiles of test score trends for all 50 states are available on CEP’s Web site at www.cep-dc.org.