Easton Area High School, middle schools miss state exam standards

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Four of the Easton Area School District's 11 schools fell short of state standards in math and reading proficiency for the 2010-11 school year, according to district data.

Although the district as a whole met state standards, the Easton Area High School, Cheston Elementary School and Easton Area Middle Schools 5-6 and 7-8 did not.

That means the high school is in its fifth consecutive year of Corrective Action II, the state's most severe status. It has failed to meet the benchmarks every year since measuring began in 2003.

The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment scores, and the district's plans to improve them in the future, will be discussed at tonight's school board academics in education committee meeting.

Steve Furst, the district's director of teaching and learning, did not immediately respond to a message for comment.

Overall, the district met standards in 180 of the 191 student subgroups that were tested, a 94 percent combined success rate, according to district data.

That's a slight drop from last year, when they met 183 of 188 subgroups for a combined 97 percent success rate.

Last year, only the high school and Francis A. March Elementary School missed state standards. March passed this year.

EAMS 7-8 had been in "making progress" status last year, which meant if it passed one more year it would be out of Corrective Action altogether.

Because it didn't, the school is now in its second year of Corrective Action II, according to district data.

The school's overall scores actually surpassed state standards, with an aggregate reading score of 78.4 percent and math score of 84.05 percent. But the school did not pass because it missed in two out of the 30 student subgroups.

Likewise, EAMS 5-6 passed in all but one of its 33 tested subgroups, according to the data.

The Easton Area High School's aggregate 2010-11 reading and math scores were 58.8 percent and 53.3 percent proficient or higher, respectively, which fall short of the state performance goals of 72 percent and 67 percent.

The high school met 18 of its 25 student subgroups, down from 21 out of 25 last year.

Among the missed subgroups were African American students, who earned reading and math scores of 42.5 percent and 33.9 percent, respectively.

Several other high school subgroups missed the mark in math scores, including Latino/Hispanic students (33.3 percent), economically disadvantaged students (35.4 percent) and special education students (21.2 percent).

Cheston Elementary School met 21 of its 22 subgroups, but African American students received a 50 percent reading score, which fell short of the state's 72 percent benchmark, according to district data.

Among the district's plans to improve their scores are standards-based curriculum revisions, more student tutoring and learning interventions, and "walk-through observations" in the classroom to improve teaching, according to the district.

The district also plans to focus on increasing reading comprehension skills and form "data teams" to make adjustments based on test scores.

District officials also said their plans for a five-period variation of block scheduling will help improve student learning and learning intervention opportunities.

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