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PA Cyber Charter School Meets All AYP Performance Targets for 2009MIDLAND, Pa., July 21, 2009 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- PA Cyber, Pennsylvania's largest and most successful cyber charter school, has met 29 of 29 AYP performance targets for 2009 and will advance to Making Progress AYP status, announced CEO Dr. Nick Trombetta. The school showed improvement across the board, with significant gains in overall math and reading scores, and among subgroups of economically disadvantaged, African-American, multiracial and special education students. The school posted a 98 percent participation rate on testing and a 93 percent graduation rate. "This is monumental news for our school, our staff, our students and their families, and for all those who champion school choice," said Dr. Trombetta. The school's five-year charter is up for renewal this year; meeting federal AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) targets will help. Dr. Trombetta said PA Cyber students scored well despite being at a disadvantage compared to students in traditional schools. Because the annual PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) tests must be administered in person, PA Cyber set up 31 testing sites across the state in hotels, colleges and community centers, and had to persuade parents of 4,000 students in grades 3-8 and 11 to bring them to the sites for three days of testing in March. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, PA Cyber was founded in 2000 as the first statewide K-12 cyber charter school. PA Cyber enrolls more than 8,000 students. While PA Cyber has many high-achieving students, Dr. Trombetta said, "Forty percent of our students come from the lowest-performing school districts in the state. Half our new students initially test at least one grade level behind." PA Cyber students improved overall four points in math and five points in reading, both eight percent gains over last year's scores. "Our students showed improvement on every target, in every group and every subgroup," said Dr. Sandra Fouch, who evaluates student achievement. In math performance by subgroups: African-American student scores went up seven percentage points for a 28 percent gain over 2008; multiracial students improved 11 points, a 25 percent gain; special needs students improved seven points for a 36 percent gain; and economically disadvantaged students improved six points for a 15 percent gain. In reading by subgroups: African-American students raised scores 13 percentage points for a 35 percent gain; multiracial students improved 10 points, a 17 percent gain; special needs students improved 11 points, a 40 percent gain; and economically disadvantaged students improved six points for a 10 percent gain. The improvement in graduation rate from 84 to 93 percent represents a nine percent gain. The numbers are not dry statistics for Dr. Fouch. To her, they represent hundreds of students who moved from basic and below basic skills to proficient or advanced levels. Andrew Oberg, the school's director, said instructional and assessment staffs took to heart the philosophy of "doing whatever it takes, whatever our students need to succeed, one child at a time." Contact: Fred Miller, communications coordinator, [email protected] SOURCE Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School http://www.pacyber.org |