Schools

Hatboro-Horsham Schools Receive Passing Grades

The Pennsylvania School Performance Profile provides detailed information related to Hatboro-Horsham students' academic performance.

Hatboro-Horsham School District schools received what equates to two A's, two B's and two C+ scores in terms of academic performance, according to the Pennsylvania School Performance Profile. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Education's new reporting system on Friday released information on academic achievement, academic growth and academic indicators for the district.

The score, based on 100 points, has multiple measures of accountability to provide a comprehensive profile of each school, according to a press release issued by the district. 

The following are the district's performance profile scores:

  • Blair Mill Elementary School – 79.6 
  • Crooked Billet Elementary School – 91.4
  • Hallowell Elementary School – 84.7
  • Pennypack Elementary School – 77.7
  • Simmons Elementary School – 93.6
  • Hatboro-Horsham High School – 87.4 
  • Keith Valley Middle School’s score is not yet available due to potential coding errors with the Keystone Exams, which affect data calculations.
The School Performance Profile is intentionally designed to capture more than the PSSA test scores in order to offer a more thorough assessment of individual school performance. Besides providing facts about the district’s demographic composition and enrollment size, the new data provides an overview on each school’s specific academic performance using a single score. 

That score is derived using the following indicators:

Indicators of Academic Achievement make up 40 percent of the score. This includes the percent of students proficient on PSSA/Keystone Exams in Algebra I, Literature, and Biology for the 2012-2013 school year, the percentage of third-graders reading at Proficient or Advanced on the PSSA, and other competency assessments such as the SAT/ACT.              

Indicators of closing the achievement gap among all students make up 5 percent of this score.

Indicators of closing the achievement gap among historically underperforming students make up 5 percent of this score. Students falling within this category are those receiving special education services, English as a Second Language students and economically disadvantaged students.                                                        
Indicators of academic growth through the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System growth index make up 40 percent of the score. 
This index represents the school’s impact on the academic progress of students from year-to-year, with this year being the first since the SPP is new.                                                                                          
Other academic indicators make up 10 percent of the score. 
These include graduation and promotion rates, attendance rates, Advanced Placement credits and PSAT participation. This calculation is only applied to relevant schools. For example, graduation rates would not be calculated into the formula for elementary schools.                                                     

Additional extra credit points were also awarded based on the percentage of students rated “Advanced” on PSSAs and Advanced Placement course achievements.

According to Superintendent Curtis Griffin, the new system "will require a closer look" at district schools "to see what steps we need to take to maintain achievement, support continued growth, and to make improvements where they are needed."

"While I might not agree with the formula used by the state to create a score for each school, I do feel we can all benefit from the more complete snapshot that the (School Performance Profile) now provides,” Griffin said. 

Each of the district’s schools will be carefully evaluating the data and developing an action plan based on evident strengths and growth areas. Each principal will be sharing plans with parents in their respective schools later this fall, Griffin said.

Data from this SPP report is available for public review at www.paschoolperformance.org 


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