Southern Lehigh Ranks 60th In State For PSSA Scores

ranks 60 among 500 school districts in Pennsylvania, based on its performance on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) Exam, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times.

The Pittsburgh Business Times recently released its 2012 Guide of Western Pennsylvania Schools. The guide lists the school district rankings on the PSSA scores statewide.

The formula for the ranking takes into account three years of PSSA test scores in math, reading, writing and science, according to The Business Journals. Three years of scores are considered, with the current year given the most weight.

According to the rankings, Southern Lehigh was ranked 57th in 2011, dropping three spots in the past year. According to an assessment report posted on Southern Lehigh's website (and attached to this article), Southern Lehigh scored in the top tier for specific grades and specific subjects, a point Southern Lehigh Superintendent Leah Christman pointed out.

"[The] PSSA is a snapshot of student learning," said Christman. "It is only one piece of the puzzle and while we take the scores very seriously, aiming for that 100% proficiency [even with our students identified with learning challenges], we realize there are multiple measures of ‘success.’"

Here's how Southern Lehigh ranked against other regional school districts:

• Parkland School District- 39 out of 500
• Saucon Valley School District- 64 out of 500
• Salisbury School District- 87 out of 500
• East Penn School District- 94 out of 500
• Northwestern Lehigh School District- 105 out of 500
• Nazareth Area School District- 114 out of 500
• Wilson Area School District- 128 out of 500
• Kutztown Area School District- 184 out of 500
• Pen Argyl Area School District- 207 out of 500
• Whitehall-Coplay School District- 225 out of 500
• Northampton Area School District- 230 out of 500
• Northern Lehigh School District- 299 out of 500
• Easton Area School District- 306 out of 500
• Bangor Area School District- 311 out of 500
• Catasauqua Area School District- 325 out of 500
• Bethlehem Area School District- 370 out of 500
• Allentown School District- 485 out of 500

In the Top 15 school districts category in Pennsylvania, Allegheny County was the number one county with six school districts represented, followed by Chester County with three, Delaware County with two and Montgomery County with two.

For 2012 rankings, Upper St. Clair School District holds on to its first place title for the seventh year in a row, with Tredyffrin-Easttown Township School District dropping to third place and Unionville-Chadds Ford School District taking second place.

Radnor Township School District stays in fourth place, Mount Lebanon, North Allegheny and Hampton school districts came in at Nos. 5, 6 and 7, respectively. Lower Merion and Central Bucks school districts were next, with South Fayette rounding out the top 10.