Which Lehigh Valley schools need to improve? Pennsylvania releases list

Lehigh Valley schools not normally flagged as struggling show up on this year’s state list of places in need of additional student resources because of expanded criteria.

Many Lehigh Valley schools listed are urban, poverty-stricken facilities long-ago identified as struggling to meet the needs of all students, the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s lists show.

But this year, suburban schools that overall do well, but need to give more resources to student subgroups, such as English language learners and special education students, also are listed under a new system that looks at more than just test scores.

The lists, made public Thursday, are part of the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced the federally mandated No Child Left Behind. The federal government has given Pennsylvania $40 million to distribute among schools for improvement plans. The state does not yet have a way to divide the money.

Almost 300 schools in the state were on one of two lists: one signals a school needs overall improvement, the other points to student subgroups that need additional help.

All four Allentown School District middle schools and Broughal Middle School in south Bethlehem were on the list of schools that need overall improvement.

Allentown’s Dieruff and Allen high schools, Bethlehem Area’s two high schools, Whitehall-Coplay High School, Pen Argyl High School, Northampton Area High School and Easton Area’s middle school are on the subgroups list.

Under ESSA, schools are evaluated not just by standardized test results, but also growth, graduation rates and attendance. The federal rules require states to develop plans to support their lowest performing schools, which is where the $40 million will be used.

More resources for schools can include working with state officials to develop and implement improvement plans focusing on individual school needs. That could mean developing more training for teachers or outlining a strategy to better coordinate initiatives with community groups.

Under No Child Left Behind, if struggling schools did not see improvements, they could face firing of staff or state takeover. The new rules do not include anything as severe.

State Education Secretary Pedro Rivera said in a statement Thursday that state officials recognize students are more than just standardized test results.

“The schools designated today will receive a variety of supports tailored to their unique needs,” Rivera said. “Ultimately, this extra support will create a more successful learning environment for students.”

The first list, Comprehensive Support and Improvement, means total school performance falls in the bottom 5 percent of all Title I schools in a state. Allentown’s middle schools and Bethlehem’s Broughal Middle School are on that list. Title I schools receive federal money to meet the needs of students from low-income families.

The second list, Additional Targeted Support and Improvement, is for schools that have low performance among subgroups of students.

Bethlehem Area’s Freedom and Liberty high schools were on the list specifically for their English language learners and special education populations. The two student groups struggle on state assessments and in meeting graduation requirements compared with other populations. For example, while Freedom’s overall graduation rate is 87 percent (better than the state average), its graduation rate for English learners is 44 percent.

Bethlehem Area administrators said they recognize additional support is needed for its district’s most vulnerable population. Assistant Superintendent Jack Silva said many out-of-school factors contribute to why students aren’t succeeding in school, such as poverty and being the first in their families trying to graduate from high school. As a result, schools need to give those students more support.

“We need to make the growth with our minority and economically disadvantaged students,” Silva said.

Like Bethlehem, Allentown’s Dieruff and Allen high schools are on the ATSI list, Dieruff for its English language learners and Allen for its English language learners and Hispanic students.

Allentown administrators acknowledged last week that the district needs to do better for its English language learners and Hispanic students during the findings of a curriculum audit. While the majority of students in the Allentown School District are Hispanic, the gap between white students and Hispanic and black students ranged from more than 10 points on high school state exams to more than 15 points on K-8 state tests.

Superintendent Thomas Parker said the curriculum audit aligns with where the state shows it needs to improve, especially with the middle schools.

“We’ll be forging fully into middle school transformation because that’s a really critical element,” Parker said. “We know those are areas we need to focus more time and energy.”

Michael Koch, Easton’s director for assessment and accountability, said the district views this as an opportunity to work on developing a more formal plan to address concerns at the middle school, which was placed on the ATSI list for its economically disadvantaged and Hispanic students.

This year Easton Area scrapped study hall for sixth-graders, gave them a double-dose of math and combined reading and English into one class. The moves should make the transition to middle school from elementary school easier, Koch said.

They also went back to “teaming” sixth-graders so the entire sixth grade is divided into teams that share the same small group of teachers.

“You’re talking about kids from one of our schools like March, with [more than] 300 or so kids to a school with [more than 2,000] students,” Koch said. “That transition is extremely important to make sure kids are supported by teaming.”

Northampton Area High School, Pen Argyl Area High School and Whitehall High School were on the ATSI list for their students with disabilities.

Pen Argyl’s graduation rate for special education students is 50 percent, more than 30 percentage points below the school’s average. Attempts to reach Pen Argyl administrators were unsuccessful.

Schools from both lists will enter four-year improvement cycles. The next list of CSI and ATSI schools will be released in 2021.