Tuesday, April 9, 2013
The Pittsburgh Business Times list ranks 104 districts in western Pennsylvania.
Plum and Riverview School Districts are in the top 30 percent of districts in the region, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times' annual western Pennsylvania school rankings. Riverview School District is ranked the 32nd school district out of 104 in western Pennsylvania while Plum Borough School District is ranked 33rd. Plum improved over last year's 37th ranking, while Riverview dropped a couple places on the list from 30th. Statewide, Plum ranked 135 out of 500 school districts, improving its rank of 159 last year. However, Riverview declined its statewide rank. This year, it placed 131 versus 120 last year. The Pittsburgh Business Times develops the list based on three years of PSSA test scores in math, reading and science. Here …
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Gov. Tom Corbett's 2013-14 budget ties sale of state liquor system to a $1 billion grant for school safety, early education programs, individualized learning and science/math programs.
Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed 2013-14 budget, which he presented Feb. 5, contains an interesting cocktail that mixes the sale of the state's liquor system with funding of a public schools grant. Under his proposal, $1 billion obtained by the proposed privatization of the state's liquor sales would be used to create the Passport for Learning Block Grant that would focus on school safety; enhanced early education programs; individualized learning; and science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses and programs. The $1 billion in revenue to fund that grant will come from the three- to four-year process of selling the Liquor Control Board: $575 million from the wholesale license process, $224 million from the Wine and Spirits retail …
Friday, September 14, 2012
School principals presented plans to the school board that they hope will help better students' PSSA scores.
Riverview School District officials and administrators are setting strategies and plans that they hope will help students perform better in this school year's Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests. Earlier this week, officials discussed last school year's scores in depth and presented the strategies they hope to have in place this school year to improve scores. This year's state target was to have at least 81 percent of district students proficient in reading and 78 percent proficient in math. The targets are set to jump to 91 percent in reading and 89 percent in math. Riverview High School and the Verner Elementary economically disadvantaged group did not meet this year's reading targets. A school must have 30 or more students in…
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Here's a roundup of scores in the Plum School District.
Each school in the Plum School District—with the exception of Pivik Elementary—met the state's annual yearly progress, or AYP, target rate in its Pennsylvania System of School Assessment scores. This year's state target was to have at least 81 percent of district students proficient in reading and at least 78 percent proficient in math—the goals are 11 percent higher than last year's. However, Pivik's economically disadvantaged subgroup did not meet reading targets with only 55.1 percent scoring proficient or higher. The school has been put on a warning by the state. Here's a complete percentage breakdown of how Plum School District students scored on the test. Note: These are preliminary scores released by the district. They are not final…
Friday, August 24, 2012
Plum Borough School District officials are overall happy with the district's progress, but one elementary school's economically disadvantaged subgroup missed reading targets.
A Pivik Elementary subgroup has not met reading targets of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test. The school administration team presented preliminary PSSA scores and observations at the school board's education committee meeting on Wednesday night. Plum High School, Oblock Junior High, and Holiday Park, Adlai Stevenson, Regency and Center elementary schools met targets in all categories. However, Pivik's subgroup did not meet targets in reading with only 55.1 percent of students scoring proficient or higher in reading. The school has been put on a warning by the state. The district as a whole made adequate yearly progress—AYP. This year's state target was to have at least 81 percent of district students proficient in reading …
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
The district as a whole met adequate yearly progress, but it has been put on a warning status by the state department of education.
Riverview High School students and Verner students falling in the economically disadvantaged subgroup have failed to meet state goals on the reading portion of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test. District administrators presented a brief overview of the district's status based on preliminary PSSA scores at the school board study session Monday night. The district as a whole made adequate yearly progress—AYP. This year's state target was to have at least 81 percent of district students proficient in reading and 78 percent proficient in math—the goals are 11 percent higher than last year's in both categories. The targets are set to jump to 91 percent in reading and 89 percent in math in 2013. Tenth Street Elementary School met…
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Pittsburgh Business Times released its annual rankings on Friday. Both local school districts moved up in the regional rank.
The Riverview and Plum school districts have improved their rankings among other districts in the region. The Pittsburgh Business Times released the school district rankings for the Pittsburgh area and for the entire state of Pennsylvania on Friday. Riverview ranked number 30 and Plum ranked 37 out of 105 school districts in the seven-county region around Pittsburgh and as the best-performing statewide. Last year, Riverview placed 34 and Plum was 38. Statewide, Riverview ranked 120 out of 497 school districts, improving its rank of 127 last year. However, Plum declined its statewide rank. This year, it placed 159 versus 139 last year. The newspaper analyzed all the school districts' performance based on the Pennsylvania System of School …
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
The district as a whole met adequate yearly progress, but it has been put on a warning status by the state department of education for its 11th-grade math scores.
Riverview Junior-Senior High School juniors failed to meet state goals on the math portion of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test. District administration officials presented preliminary PSSA scores and observations at the school board's study session on Monday night. Students at the high school level met targets in the reading portion of the test. The elementary and middle school students met targets in both categories. The district as a whole made adequate yearly progress—AYP. This year's state target was to have at least 72 percent of district students proficient in reading and at least 67 percent proficient in math—the goals are 9 and 10 percent higher than last year's, respectively. The targets are set to jump to 81 …
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Here's a breakdown of how students at each Plum School District school fared on the PSSA test.
Each school in the Plum School District—with the exception of Plum High School in math—met the state's annual yearly progress, or AYP, target rate in its Pennsylvania System of School Assessment scores. This year's state target was to have at least 72 percent of district students proficient in reading and at least 67 percent proficient in math—the goals are 9 and 10 percent higher than last year's, respectively. Schools that don't make AYP by reaching the targets can do so using the "safe harbor" provision, in which a school must move 10 percent of students in its two lowest performing subgroups into proficient or above. AE Oblock Junior High School and Plum High School are the only schools in the district that have enough students to …
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
The school has been put on a warning status by the state department of education. School officials are seeking a plan of action.
Plum High School has not met state goals on the math portion of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test. The school administration team presented preliminary PSSA scores and observations at the school board's education committee meeting on Monday night. The high school met adequate yearly progress—AYP—in the reading, writing and science portions of the test; the elementary and middle schools met targets in all categories. High school principal Ryan Kociela said administration and staff at the school are very disappointed, but they are working on a plan of action to improve next year's test scores . This year's state target was to have at least 72 percent of district students proficient in reading and at least 67 percent …
Joseph
1:47 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
I've been involved. I've seen the beast first hand. The only way to change it is to become a part of the special interest groups or run for office to diffuse the special interest groups (good luck winning an election without the support of special interest groups). more ›