Upper Moreland Schools Schools Receive Passing Grades

Upper Moreland School District schools received what equates to three Bs and one C scores in terms of academic performance, according to the Pennsylvania School Performance Profile. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Education's new reporting system 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. 

The following are the district's performance profile scores:

• Upper Moreland High School – 80.9
  
• Upper Moreland Intermediate School – 89.9
• Upper Moreland Middle School – 76.7
• Upper Moreland Primary School – 86.7
  

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.

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