Local School District in National Spotlight for Achievement
Washington, Sep 14 - With the start of the school year just underway, Congressman Tim Murphy (PA-18) invited U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to Southwestern Pennsylvania for a firsthand look at the educational achievements of local schools. Today, the two visited children and teachers at Wilson Elementary School in the West Allegheny School District.
"The educational successes of Southwestern Pennsylvania schools are evidence that there is a bright future for our region," Congressman Tim Murphy said. "We are creating our future scientists, engineers, writers, and welders, and we are ahead of the curve. West Allegheny School District is five years ahead of schedule for meeting its Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals under No Child Left Behind goals in reading and math. This success is attributed to the school's goal of bringing together parents and students, teachers and administrators."
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Report Card for 2006, 85 percent of West Allegheny School District students are advanced and proficient in math. Pennsylvania's state standard only requires 35 percent of students to be at those levels. For reading, 87 percent of the District's students are advanced and proficient, above the 54 percent required by the state.
"As a psychologist, educator, and legislator, Congressman Murphy has been always been a real champion for the children of Pennsylvania," said Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. "I appreciate this opportunity to join him in celebrating the fact that all West Allegheny Schools surpassed state benchmarks this year for adequate yearly progress."
"While Southwestern Pennsylvania schools are doing an extraordinary job, we as a nation must do a better job in measuring student performance," Congressman Murphy continued. "AYP does provide information on average test scores for grade levels each year. It can tell you if a grade as a whole is meeting state standards, but it cannot tell you if individual students are improving. We need to know both.
"I would like to thank Secretary Spellings for her work towards changing the way we measure student progress. Last November, she established a pilot program for up to 10 states to design growth models, such as Pennsylvania's Value-Added Assessment System which measures individual student performance, to meet the goals of No Child Left Behind. I strongly encourage Pennsylvania to apply by the November 1, 2006, deadline to become a part of this program. This change in the analysis of test scores will provide valuable information for parents, teachers, administrators and students, and continue to keep Pennsylvania schools among the best in the country.
"We still have much work to do since we are competing for jobs on a global basis. This means that continuing to set high standards and accountability will be an integral part of our success.
"We still have to meet the challenges, however, of assessing children who are in special education programs," said Congressman Murphy, the only member of Congress who is a child psychologist and has evaluated hundreds of children with special needs. "I'm looking forward to continuing my work with Secretary Spellings and local schools to come up with solutions that benefit our children."
http://murphy.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=50074