Haverford High School Scores High on Performance Profile

Haverford High School scored high on academic performance on the new Pennsylvania School Performance Profile recently released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

The high school scored a 96.4 in the Building Level Academic Score.

The new reporting system shows 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.

“Our schools performed well by this measure, but we already knew that our teachers are first rate and our students continue to achieve academically,” Superintendent Dr. William Keilbaugh said.

Keilbaugh continued, “However, this is the is the first time that Districts are seeing assessments structured this way.  So our administration is working hard to interpret the scores accurately.  The interpretation is complicated by difficult to understand assessments, inaccurate data and controversial weighing mechanisms. We will continue to work to understand what these numbers actually mean and help families and the community do the same.”

Click here to watch a video that the school district made to help parents understand the new profiles from the PDE.

The School Performance Profile is designed to capture more than the PSSA test scores in order to offer a more thorough assessment of individual school performance. The new data provides an overview on each school’s specific academic performance using a single score. 

The school's 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.

Some school districts across the state choose to suppress their school’s data at this time, due to coding inaccuracies. They have an opportunity now to correct their data and their scores will be updated in January 2014.

Most Delaware County area high schools also scored well on the profile. 

• Marple Newtown High School: 98.1
• Springfield High School: 86.4
• Strath Haven High School: 98.6
• Penncrest High School academic performance data will be available by January 2014
• Radnor High School academic performance data will be available by January 2014
• Upper Darby High School academic performance data will be available by January 2014