Nazareth's 'tweener size is a great attribute. It is also borough based giving it a geographic center, a heart and soul if you will that has a rich historic tradition and down-home quality. As many others move into the area they find this community appealing for the same reason residents do - it is a great place to live.
Defining quality education is a challenge to say the least. When the recent PSSA test scores were released I caught a bit of flack from people for suggesting that Nazareth was in the bottom half in nearly every category when compared to similarly sized schools across the state and it finished lowest when compared locally to Emmaus and Parkland. I compared test scores - period. I didn't qualify scores by comparing the parents socio-economic status, education, or district spending per student. I simply looked at the school test scores and compared (you can read those posts here and here). For me it cut through the perception to the reality of where we stood at that single point in time compared to other districts at the same point in time.
I visited the District's web site and found the 2004-2005 District Report Card, the most recent available. In it is stated that the district has hired 39 professional and support staff on average over each of the three previous years and had 329 professional staff for 4,572 students (1 professional staff member for every 14 students).
It also included charts of PSSA scores from 2003 to 2005. I added the recent 2006 scores and compared the HS and MS (didn't have time to get elem as the report card is by school building and 2006 scores I had were by district) for Advanced and Below Basic:
| Advanced | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
| HS Reading | 37.9 | 40 | 32 | 25.2 |
| HS Math | 32.9 | 28 | 32 | 27.8 |
| MS Reading | 48.3 | 41 | 45 | 37.2 |
| MS Math | 30.5 | 39 | 32 | 30.6 |
| Below Basic | ||||
| HS Reading | 10.1 | 12 | 17 | 15 |
| HS Math | 20.5 | 22 | 22 | 21.7 |
| MS Reading | 9.9 | 12 | 17 | 15 |
| MS Math | 10.7 | 9 | 10 | 9.7 |
What this tells me is that there has been improvement in Reading at both levels but Math was consistent and even.
As we move forward, some form of an agreed upon district report card ought to be created and distributed (and by no means is this it) so everyone can see how well our students are doing year to year and compared to other districts. It would put facts in place of emotions and provide both the Teachers and Board with a tool to use when determining new contracts.
What do you think? Should there be one? Is it possible? What should be included? What shouldn't?
3 comments:
Just wondering about some of your numbers. I went and downloaded the data and intend to look at some of this a little more in depth.
In your previous post from August, when you were comparing Nazareth to Upper St. Clair, you restricted your search to schools between 2200 and 2500. Was that the HS only? Just wondering.
Also, in another post you list the district enrollment at 4500+. The last figures (2005-2006) I saw put this at just over 5800.
This whole thing interests me very much and just wanted to make sure I was comparing "apples" to "apples".
We talk about how great any particular school district is and yet when we look closer at the PSSA numbers (which unfortunately is all we have) certain patterns emerge. I hope to have more information later to share later, but what I am looking at doesn't suprise me... (e.g. certain PSSA scores seem to trend along $$ and ethnicity)
Oops, my mistake, Nazareth district was 4621 (I read the line from Northampton)
Will try to hit all these:
The numbers I mention in August referencing St. Clair and others from PSSA. For these, the 2200 to 2500 was not enrollment, but the number of students tested, which put Nazareth at 2453 from the pdf the Morning Call made available (open it here)
Enrollment - from this post:
"I visited the District's web site and found the 2004-2005 District Report Card, the most recent available. In it is stated that the district has hired 39 professional and support staff on average over each of the three previous years and had 329 professional staff for 4,572 students."
Many of the Board Agenda PDF's found on the district web site include as the final page an enrollment break down by grade and school. So the most current can often be found there.
The school matters site has lots of information and data to play with. Figuring out which parts of it make a meaningful comparison is the challenge. I'd imagine in a growth district like nazareth the socio economic data isn't as current as the school test results (I'm guessing its based on census - don't know for sure).
Enjoy the digging and let us know what you find out!
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