<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../css/global.css" media="all"> </head> <body bgcolor="#dce2c5"> <br /> <div align="center"> <table width="500" bgcolor="#ffffff" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" border="1" bordercolor="#5c7e66"> <tr> <td align="left" class="text3"> <h2>Dallas among region's best school districts</h2> <b>BY JESSICA D. MATTHEWS<br/> SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR<br/> 06/10/2007</b> <br/><br/> <p>Two public school districts in Northeastern Pennsylvania outperformed 35 other area districts in Times-Shamrock Newspapers  annual analysis on academic performance. <br/><br/> The districts, Dallas in Luzerne County and Abington Heights in Lackawanna County, met or surpassed state averages on 18 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests and the SATs. The PSSA tests were math and reading for third-, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, seventh-, eighth- and 11th-graders and writing for fifth-, eighth- and 11th-graders. <br/><br/> We don t have any magic pills,  said Dallas Superintendent Frank Galicki. It s hard work and hiring the right people.  <br/><br/> The district takes great measures to hire outstanding teachers and has a very challenging curriculum, he said. <br/><br/> We have people who are just tireless in the time they spend with the kids,  Galicki said. We have high expectations and consequently they perform. They really perform.  <br/><br/> At Abington Heights, programs that focus on boosting reading skills, such as the district s reading challenge where students read at least 15 minutes a day at school and 15 minutes a day at home, have helped improve skills and test scores district-wide, said Abington Heights Superintendent Michael Mahon. <br/><br/> We ve been very pleased with what I see as demonstrable progress in the past three years,  Mahon said. We ve truly worked very, very hard and have seen significant improvement in the past three years. Everyone, from parents, students, teachers, administrators and the community, has made a concerted effort.  <br/><br/> Three other districts, Lakeland in Lackawanna County, Wallenpaupack in Wayne County and Wyoming Area in Luzerne County met or beat state averages on all 17 PSSA tests but scored below the state average on the SATs. Additionally, 13 Northeastern Pennsylvania districts missed state targets on math and reading PSSAs. <br/><br/> The targets, which will increase in 2008, are goals set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education that districts must meet to help ensure they reach federal requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act. The law requires districts to have all students perform at least proficiently on math and reading state standardized tests by 2014. For the 2005-06 PSSA, the most current results available, districts must have 45 percent of students perform at least proficient in math and 54 percent in reading under the state targets. <br/><br/> The 13 districts missing those state targets on various PSSA tests are: Panther Valley in Carbon County; Carbondale, Mid Valley and Riverside, all in Lackawanna County; Hanover Area, Greater Nanticoke Area and Northwest Area, all in Luzerne County; Shenandoah Valley in Schuylkill County; Blue Ridge, Forest City Regional, Mountain View and Susquehanna Community, all in Susquehanna County; and Western Wayne in Wayne County. Some area schools and districts performed so poorly, they ranked among the bottom tier of schools and districts statewide. <br/><br/> Poorer-performing districts continue to offer intensive tutoring, after-school and summer programs to struggling students and have increased efforts to ensure their students are being taught what is tested on the PSSAs. Many have turned to specialized computer programs and test preparatory courses to help prepare students. <br/><br/> Districts are becoming better at making changes in their curriculums to improve reading and math skills,  said Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Gerald L. Zahorchak, D.Ed. Districts are giving more time to struggling students. Some are even extending the school year. Many are incorporating reading into music and arts. The point is many districts are really thinking about how they approach the fundamentals like never before in history.  <br/><br/> Among the results of individual schools in Northeastern Pennsylvania, 11 schools have 100-percent proficiency rates on various PSSA tests. They are: South Abington and Waverly elementary schools in Abington Heights School District; Ringtown Elementary School in North Schuylkill School District; Rush Elementary School in Tamaqua Area School District; Preston School in Wayne Highlands School District; Sara J. Dymond, Kennedy and Montgomery Avenue elementary schools in Wyoming Area School District; Third Avenue and Pringle Street elementary schools in Wyoming Valley West School District; and GAR Memorial Junior-Senior High School in Wilkes-Barre Area School District. <br/><br/> Complete results, including a comprehensive look at test score and key educational factors, are located in the Y section of today s newspaper in the Grading Our Schools special report. <br/><br/> The report, in its seventh year of publication, analyzed how the 37 districts and their 176 elementary, middle and high schools are faring on the third-, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, seventh-, eighth- and 11th-grade PSSAs and SATs. There are detailed tables and charts of educational data with statewide rankings, such as the salaries of professional personnel, per-pupil spending, total district spending, graduation rates, dropout rates, the percentages of low-income, special education, gifted and English as a Second Language students, millage rates, attendance rates, enrollment figures and percentage of students attending higher education. <br/><br/> There are also charts that examine PSSA proficiency rates among each Northeastern Pennsylvania school with how they rank statewide. Results of analyses and proficiency rates from 2005, 2004 and 2003 are also included in the special section to gauge academic performance over time. <br/><br/> We have a good assessment tool in Pennsylvania,  said Zahorchak. We re expecting better and better results.  <br/><br/> jmatthews@timesshamrock.com </p> <hr> <p class="text3">&#169;2007, <a href="http://www.citizensvoice.com/" class="links2">©The Citizens Voice 2008</a></p> </td> </tr> </table> <p class="links2"><a href="javascript:close(window);" class="links">CLOSE WINDOW</a><p> </div> </body> </html>