Section D: The Content of the Plan

Back to Previous

Back to Table of Content

1. Relationship to the Strategic Plan

2. Institution’s Mission Statement

3. The Institution’s Beliefs

4. Profile of the S.A.H.S. Graduate

5. Student Performance Objectives: Rationale

SPO #1:

Middle States response to SPO submission #1

Revised submission

Summary of the Strategic Plan

The Selinsgrove Area High School, serving grades 9-12, is the only high school in the district.  Constructed in 1936, the facility received additions/renovations in 1942, 1954, 1968, and 1984.  The school encompasses 148,225 square feet and occupies a generous 38-acre site with adequate external playing fields, especially when considering the adjoining middle school acreage.

Mission : The Selinsgrove Area School District is committed to providing quality education for life-long learning. We envision the Selinsgrove Area School District to be a premier, exemplary student-centered organization where everyone shares the commitment to the education and development of each student. Our graduates will be problem solvers, critical thinkers, self-directed learners, effective communicators, collaborative workers, quality employees, proficient users of technology, and contributing members of a global society.

Goals: The Selinsgrove Area School District strives to have all students demonstrate proficiency in each of the academic standards content areas. 

Goal: FOUR-YEAR GRADUATION RATE (for districts and schools that graduate seniors)
Description: Graduation rate will meet an 80% threshold and/or show growth.

Goal: MATHEMATICS
Description: At least 89% of all students will be proficient in Mathematics, as measured by the annual state-wide PSSA assessments.

Goal: READING
Description: At least 91% of all students will be proficient in Reading, as measured by the annual state-wide PSSA assessments.

Goal: STUDENT ATTENDANCE (any school that does not graduate seniors)
Description: Student attendance will meet a 90% threshold and/or show growth.

Academic Standards: The Selinsgrove Area School District uses the state-approved academic standards as the basis for instruction and student achievement goals.  The academic standards are addressed through multiple methods, including stand alone courses aligned with specific content areas and courses which focus on integrated and cross curricular areas. 

Graduation Requirements: In order to graduate from the Selinsgrove Area School District, students shall complete the following requirements:

Demonstrate attainment of the state standards through achieving proficiency on the PSSA or similar assessment(s) aligned to the academic standards.

Complete a graduation project

Obtain 28 Credits from each of the areas below:

English- 4 credits

Mathematics- 3 credits. Beginning with the class of 2011, 4 credits will be required (Algebra I, a geometry course and a junior year math course are required); however, proficiency in the 11th grade PSSA may be substituted for the fourth math credit.

Science- 3 credits
Social Studies- 3 credits
Health and Physical Education- 2.5 credits
Graduation Project- .5 credit
Child Development- .33credit

Personal finance- .33 credit
Career Awareness- .66 credit
Technology- .5 credit
Remaining credits are elective

Class of 2012 requirements will be revisited. Students must earn 28 credits from these areas:       

English-4 credits

Mathematics- 3 credits. Beginning with the class of 2011, 4 credits will be required (Algebra I, a geometry course and a junior year math course are required); however, proficiency in the 11th grade PSSA may be substituted for the fourth math credit

Science- 4 credits; however, proficiency in the 11th grade PSSA may be substituted for the fourth credit.

Social Studies- 4 credits however, 

Health and Physical Education- 2.5 credits

Graduation Project- .5 credit

Child Development- .33 credit
Personal finance- .33 credit

Technology- 1 credit
Career Awareness- .66 credit
Remaining credits are electives

2. Institution's Mission Statement

Philosophy/Mission Statement

Selinsgrove Area High School places the student at the center of its program of studies to nurture and enable lifelong learning. There will be regular assessment of our achievement of the philosophy/mission to ensure that the learning environment adequately prepares the student for a constantly and rapidly changing world.

Goals

• To focus on the individual student’s capabilities, needs and achievements.
• To provide a flexible program of studies which will encourage each student to perform successfully at a level corresponding to his or her ability.
• To create a learning environment that facilitates and enhances learning and teaching.
• To cultivate physical, emotional and mental health.
• To develop within the student a sense of responsibility for oneself and a positive attitude toward self, others and toward the environment.
• To instill within the student the fundamental knowledge, skills and appreciation of communication, calculation, scientific investigation, the arts and technological literacy necessary to pursue a successful and fulfilling career path and to become an active productive member of modern society respecting the past and building for the future.
• To insist that the student demonstrate what he or she has learned in authentic products, appropriate processes and monitored progress.
• To promote within the student the aspiration to construct for himself or herself a meaningful life in the realms of socialization, education, work, recreation, emotion and reflection.
• To encourage analytic, independent thinking and ethical decision-making.
• To engage the student in democratic citizenship recognizing the rights and responsibilities of the individual in the modern and diverse world.

Approved by the Board of Education
October 21, 1996

3. The Institution’s Beliefs

The Planning Committee subcommittee charged with assessing the degree to which our Philosophy/Mission/Belief statements were apparent to and understood by the students and community determined, on the basis of survey results, that we had generally not done a very good job communicating those aspects of our educational program. Therefore, it was decided that the statements of belief developed by the faculty during their in-service time on November 10, 2006 should be better publicized to the student body and the community. Furthermore, the subcommittee decided that these newly developed statements of belief would make a more useful contribution to the life of the school if they were transformed into simple statements of purpose, to be posted around the school as signifiers of the general attitudes and habits that we wish to foster in this school.

Our beliefs, with the corresponding motto for each, follow:

We believe that students who expect more of themselves will achieve more.

Expect more and achieve more.

We believe that students who successfully meet challenges are more likely to rise to future challenges.

Rise to the challenge today so that you can meet the challenges of tomorrow.

We believe that students will be life-long learners who need a rounded education, including art, family and consumer science, music, technology, agriculture.

Learn in all fields and never stop.

We believe that students learn best with support of parents, family and community.

We all need support from everyone.

We believe that students thrive with a sense of responsibility, a strong work ethic, respect for others, good manners, and appropriate language.

Responsibility + Hard Work + Respect = SUCCESS!

We believe that students can contribute to their communities now and in the future.

Give of yourself to others.

We believe that effective schools foster respect for varied learning styles and abilities.

Embrace the differences of others.

We believe that schools can motivate students’ desire to achieve.

Learn and succeed.

In addition, flyers showing the correlation between the belief statements and the mottos have been distributed to all homeroom teachers for posting, so that the students can see the relationships and understand the origins of these ideas.

4. Profile of the S.A.H.S.Graduate

Selinsgrove Area High School conferred diplomas on 225 students in the Class of 2007. Of these, approximately 57% enrolled in a four-year college or university, 17% enrolled in a two-year college, trade school, or technical institute, 18% entered the work force directly and full-time, 1% entered the military, and 7% pursued unknown pathways. Of those students enrolling in four-year colleges or universities, approximately 56% chose public institutions and 44% chose private institutions. Among students enrolling in two-year schools, the distribution was nearly the same.

5a. Accreditation for Growth Student Performance Objectives:Rationale

The Planning Committee created and issued the initial external scan in October, 2006. (The complete results from this survey are shown in the Appendix.) The responses to that survey identified the three areas of greatest community concern as the following:

(#3) Selinsgrove needs to raise its expectations about the academic performance of all students.

(#4) Selinsgrove needs to improve its preparation of students for general citizenship in the community, the nation, and the world.

(#5) Selinsgrove needs to raise students’ expectations about themselves.

Following the advice received from Middle States at the at the Internal Coordinators’ Workshop of April, 2006, the Committee chose to focus its efforts on developing only two Student Performance Objectives. Furthermore, our belief was that, if we focused on items #3 and #5, item #4 would receive a boost from our successes with #3 and #5. After extensive discussion, the Committee fashioned the following Student Performance Objectives, with correlated measurements.

Objective #1: As submitted by the school

SPO #1: Students will maintain or improve academic achievement as measured by:

1. Students scoring proficient or advanced on the 8 th grade PSSA math, reading , and writing assessments will maintain proficiency.

Baseline data:

B. Students scoring below proficiency on the 8 th grade PSSA math, reading , and writing assessments will, for each assessment in which they were not proficient, achieve proficiency and/or achieve a 7% increase in their raw scores.

Baseline data:

Note: Percentages of those “improving . . . by 7% OR achieving Proficient or Advanced” are percentages of the number who originally scored Basic or Below Basic in 8 th grade and were subsequently retested in 11 th grade. Our goal is to raise the row 2 statistic to 100%.

C. Sixty percent of students in each AP course will score a three or higher on the AP exam.

Baseline data on AP scores for 2005-06:

#2: As submitted by the school

Objective

Students will demonstrate increased expectations about their own capabilities as measured by

A. The percentage of the student body taking AP courses will increase from 11.3 percent to 13.6 percent.

B. The percentage of the student body taking the PSAT will increase from 42 percent to 60 percent.

C. The average number of core course credits (English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Foreign Language), out of the 8 credits taken by students each academic year, will increase by approximately 15%, from 4.7 to 5.4 core course credits per year.

D. The percentage of students participating in educationally competitive programs will increase by 20%, from 34 percent to 41 percent.

Competitive events compiled in 2006-2007: Bloomsburg Math Contest; Gold Math Contest; National History Day; Technology Student Association competition; Envirothon; District Chorus; Art contest; Mock Trial; Pa. Junior Academy of Science; Forensics; Yearbook layouts; Overall yearbook; Future Business Leaders of America competition; Susquehanna Valley Band; District Band; District Orchestra; District Jazz; University Honors Ensembles; Beaver Fair; Soil Judging, Greenhand and Forestry Day; FFA Quiz Bowl; Ag Mechanics, Agronomy and Small Engines; Public Speaking and Parliamentary Procedure; SUN Area FFA Leadership Training; Farm Show; FFA SAE Record Book; FFA Penn State Summer Conference; Bloomsburg Science Iditarod.

  5b. Technical Review Checklists, as completed by Middle States Staff.

First SPO submission, January 26, 2007

Selinsgrove Area High School

Drafts of SPOs tentatively approved at our January 25 meeting

Comments in italics are offered by way of explanation, but are not formally part of the SPO or the related measurement. Our general understanding is that these goals are to be achieved by the seventh year of our plan cycle, which would be 2013-2014.

SPO #1: Students will improve academic achievement as measured by:

1. Students scoring proficient or advanced on the 8 th grade PSSA math, reading and writing assessments will maintain proficiency. (We mean as measured with the 11 th grade PSSA. We intentionally avoided adopting the NCLB-mandated success levels because the committee’s consensus was that those goals were not achievable. We chose a goal that we regard as challenging, the achievement of which would be a worthy but realistic accomplishment.)
2. Students scoring below proficiency on the 8 th grade PSSA math reading and writing assessments will improve their NCE scores. (The “NCE” is a measurement with which our administrators are more familiar than I am. They explain it as number that represents a statistical analysis of the PSSA score. The advantage, as they explain it, is that this number, which is much smaller than the PSSA raw score number, provides more precise information about the level of an individual student’s achievement. While a student’s raw score may drop a point or three, the “NCE” would in all likelihood remain the same, thus indicating that the student’s general level of achievement had not dropped. In addition, the number can still be calculated if the PSSA scale changes. I will get you additional information if you need it.)
3. Sixty percent of students in each AP course will score a three or higher on the AP exam.

Goal 2: Students will demonstrate increased expectations about their own capabilities as measured by

1. The percentage of the student body taking AP courses will increase by 20 percent. (For example, if 25% of our student body now take an AP course, the goal would be 30%. We chose to consider percentages rather than raw numbers because the projected trend in our population over the next seven years is downward.)
2. The percentage of the student body taking the PSAT will increase from 42 percent to sixty percent. (We chose the target of 60% as representing a high but achievable goal that would represent a significant boost in our students’ sense of their own possibilities.)
3. Students will increase the number of core courses they are taking by ____ percent. (We are defining “core courses” as courses in English, mathematics, science, social science and foreign language. We include this measurement in the belief that if students choose to take a more rigorous curriculum, this evidences their increased self-confidence. Because we have access to but have not yet gathered the relevant baseline data, we have left the specific percentage temporarily blank. The subcommittee working on this SPO has been given the responsibility for recommending a specific amount of improvement, once the current status is fully known.)
4. The percentage of students participating in educationally competitive programs will increase by _____% (with programs to be defined by the action committee). (The rationale here is that increased participation in programs like FBLA, TSA, Forensics, etc., will represent a significant improvement in students’ sense of their own capabilities. Once again, the specific level of improvement is to be determined by the group dealing with the general Action Plan for this SPO.)

That’s it! We await your advice.

Thanks,

Larry

Middle States response to SPO submission #1, January 31, 2007

TECHNICAL REVIEW CHECKLIST:

RESPONSE TO THE SCHOOL  

Date of Review: January 31, 2007

School Name: Selinsgrove Area High School

Staff Reviewer: Lynn McLean, Associate Director

Projected Visit Dates: November 6-9, 2007

Next Steps:

Objectives are approved as submitted. This approval denotes that the objective(s) meet the AFG technical criteria. The Validation Team will conduct a second level of review, applying the Achievability and Appropriateness Criteria (see the AFG School Guide for Planning, Section 7, for the criteria) during the Validation Team’s visit.

Minor modifications recommended. Do not resubmit.

Baseline data needed. Please resubmit when data are available.

x Modifications required. Please make changes and resubmit as soon as possible.

Call the MSA reviewer at 267-284-5040 to discuss.

General Comments about All Objectives:

You have a good start here with a clear emphasis on the academic priorities for student performance at Selinsgrove. However, A few issues that emerge as we proceed through the technical review process with this set of objectives. My intention is to sharpen the focus and to bring the goals into closer compliance with the technical review criteria, as well as to provide as much clarity as possible as you anticipate your Validation Team’s visit.

Specifically, I have offered suggestions on how you might look at your data in various ways for ease of tracking and to be sure it is easily understandable over the years of the term of accreditation. A few questions came to mind for me as I reviewed your submission; it’s likely that others would have similar questions down the road.

Please review these suggestions as a Planning Team and submit your revisions for the next review.

Objective #1: As submitted by the school:

Students will improve academic achievement as measured by:

1. Students scoring proficient or advanced on the 8 th grade PSSA math, reading and writing assessments will maintain proficiency. (We mean as measured with the 11 th grade PSSA. We intentionally avoided adopting the NCLB-mandated success levels because the committee’s consensus was that those goals were not achievable. We chose a goal that we regard as challenging, the achievement of which would be a worthy but realistic accomplishment.)

1. Students scoring below proficiency on the 8 th grade PSSA math reading and writing assessments will improve their NCE scores. (The “NCE” is a measurement with which our administrators are more familiar than I am. They explain it as number that represents a statistical analysis of the PSSA score. The advantage, as they explain it, is that this number, which is much smaller than the PSSA raw score number, provides more precise information about the level of an individual student’s achievement. While a student’s raw score may drop a point or three, the “NCE” would in all likelihood remain the same, thus indicating that the student’s general level of achievement had not dropped. In addition, the number can still be calculated if the PSSA scale changes. I will get you additional information if you need it.)

1. Sixty percent of students in each AP course will score a three or higher on the AP exam.

Objective #1: Technical Review Criteria

• Is the objective stated as a desired end result in student performance? (What do we expect our students to know? What do we expect them to do with what they know? And/or What qualities or characteristics do we want them to demonstrate?)

Yes. Improved academic achievement is the desired end result in student performance.

• Is the objective currently measurable?

Yes.

• Are multiple forms of assessment used to measure growth on this objective?

Yes.

• Is the objective measured by an external assessment? (Note: We strongly recommend that the institution give consideration to having at least one of the objectives measured by an external tool.)

Yes. Both the PSSA and AP exams provide external assessments.

• Is the objective related to improvement in an area of academics? (Note: If none of the objectives relate to academics, the institution needs to be prepared to explain why academics are not a focus for growth over the next seven years. In addition, public schools need to be prepared to provide an explanation if their improvement objectives and plan do not include areas of student performance mandated for improvement under the requirements of NCLB.)

Yes. I will make some suggestions below as to how you might want to break out specific academic areas for ease of tracking data.

• Does the objective relate to as many of the institution’s students as possible?

This is a little less clear – I’ve made a suggestion below.

• Does the objective relate to culminating expectations for students at or near the end of their experiences in the institution?

Yes.

• Does the objective reflect expected growth in student performance, over time (i.e., are baseline data available for the measures identified along with appropriate targets for those measures)?

Baseline data is not yet included. Targets for student performance are not included for all assessments (because they rely on baseline data).

I understand the use of 8 th grade data so that you are getting a bit of a longitudinal measure of student performance. However, this may give rise to questions about the student mobility rates at your school and the number of students that were not with you for 8 th grade testing.

As for the appropriateness of your target for student performance on the PSSA, it may be argued that you are seeking to maintain a particular level of performance among those students who are already doing well, but not addressing the needs of students who are at basic or below basic levels.

I have included a suggestion that may help to address these two issues below, by simply indicating a percentage of students proficient or advanced as an additional measure of student performance.

Use of the NCE score will certainly require clear explanation within the self study for members of the Validation Team. This may be a very valid measure, but as you indicate in your remarks, is not one that is commonly used or understood. I am concerned that, as written, the emphasis seems to be on students with lower levels of achievement maintaining their level of achievement rather than on improvement. Again, this may give rise to some concern about how you are addressing the needs of students at basic and below basic levels. [I readily admit that I may be misinterpreting this measure – but if I am, this will need some clarification so that it is unquestionably clear for your Validation Team!)

• Is the baseline year noted as well as the year when the objective will be realized?

Baseline year is not yet clearly identified, but should include the most recent data available (2006-07, most likely). Year of realization is identified as 2013-14.

Suggestions for Revising Objective #1:

You have a good start – let me make the following suggestion as one way to put some finishing touches on this objective:

By 2014, students at Selinsgrove Area High School will demonstrate improved academic performance as measured by:

1. The percentage of 11 th grade students scoring in the Proficient or Advanced category on the PSSA will meet or exceed the percentage of students in those categories on their 8 th grade PSSA.

Table indicates Percentage of students proficient or advanced in each area in 8 th grade (XX%) / Percentage of students proficient or advanced in 11 th grade (YY%)

1. An increase of X percentage points annually in the percentage of students scoring in the proficient or advanced categories on the PSSA.

Baseline Year: 2006-07 XX% of students proficient or advanced

XX% of IEP students proficient or advanced

XX% of economically disadvantaged students proficient or advanced

(include other subgroups as appropriate)

(again, a simple data table here will provide for easy tracking from year to year)

1. Students scoring below proficiency on the 8 th grade PSSA math reading and writing assessments will improve their NCE scores

( insert data table similar to #1)

1. Sixty percent of students in each AP course will score a three or higher on the AP exam.

Baseline Year: 2006-07

AP English

XX% of students scored 3 or higher

AP Calculus

XX% of students scored 3 or higher

AP Chemistry

XX% of students scored 3 or higher

(List courses offered)

Objective #2: As submitted by the school

Students will demonstrate increased expectations about their own capabilities as measured by

1. The percentage of the student body taking AP courses will increase by 20 percent. (For example, if 25% of our student body now take an AP course, the goal would be 30%. We chose to consider percentages rather than raw numbers because the projected trend in our population over the next seven years is downward.)

1. The percentage of the student body taking the PSAT will increase from 42 percent to sixty percent. (We chose the target of 60% as representing a high but achievable goal that would represent a significant boost in our students’ sense of their own possibilities.)

1. Students will increase the number of core courses they are taking by ____ percent. (We are defining “core courses” as courses in English, mathematics, science, social science and foreign language. We include this measurement in the belief that if students choose to take a more rigorous curriculum, this evidences their increased self-confidence. Because we have access to but have not yet gathered the relevant baseline data, we have left the specific percentage temporarily blank. The subcommittee working on this SPO has been given the responsibility for recommending a specific amount of improvement, once the current status is fully known.)

1. The percentage of students participating in educationally competitive programs will increase by _____% (with programs to be defined by the action committee). (The rationale here is that increased participation in programs like FBLA, TSA, Forensics, etc., will represent a significant improvement in students’ sense of their own capabilities. Once again, the specific level of improvement is to be determined by the group dealing with the general Action Plan for this SPO.)

Objective #2: Technical Review Criteria

• Is the objective stated as a desired end result in student performance? (What do we expect our students to know? What do we expect them to do with what they know? And/or What qualities or characteristics do we want them to demonstrate?)

Yes. Improved expectations about their own capabilities is the desired end result in student performance. Since this objective ties closely to core academics, you may wish to state the objective as “Increased expectations about their own academic capabilities.”

• Is the objective currently measurable?

Yes. You have provided some innovative measures tied directly to the academic program.

You will want to be very clear about the definition of “core” courses; it appears that you are seeking to increase students’ selection of elective courses in the academic areas as well as fulfillment of graduation requirements in these areas. Your Planning Team may wish to discuss whether this measure may prove to be divisive within your staff, as the logical outcome would be fewer students enrolled in the arts or other elective areas.

The inclusion of the percentage of students taking AP exams is a nice complement to the AP performance measure in Objective #1. Again, a suggestion for clarity: Do you want to indicate the percentage of students overall taking AP exams? Or the percentage of students enrolled in AP courses who take the exams?

I like the inclusion of extracurricular participation in selected groups as an assessment here. For your visiting team, you will want to delineate which activities are included, and probably will want to leave the door open for added activities as they become available. These can be updated as part of your Annual Review.

• Are multiple forms of assessment used to measure growth on this objective?

Yes.

• Is the objective measured by an external assessment? (Note: We strongly recommend that the institution give consideration to having at least one of the objectives measured by an external tool.)

No, but none is required for this type of objective.

• Is the objective related to improvement in an area of academics? (Note: If none of the objectives relate to academics, the institution needs to be prepared to explain why academics are not a focus for growth over the next seven years. In addition, public schools need to be prepared to provide an explanation if their improvement objectives and plan do not include areas of student performance mandated for improvement under the requirements of NCLB.)

Yes.

• Does the objective relate to as many of the institution’s students as possible?

Yes.

• Does the objective relate to culminating expectations for students at or near the end of their experiences in the institution?

Yes.

• Does the objective reflect expected growth in student performance, over time (i.e., are baseline data available for the measures identified along with appropriate targets for those measures)?

Baseline data is still under development. Targets for improvement will be identified based on baseline data.

• Is the baseline year noted as well as the year when the objective will be realized?

Baseline year is not yet identified. Year of realization is identified as 2014.

Suggestions for Revising Objective #2:

Please complete baseline data and targets for improvement and resubmit.

Back to Previous

Back to Table of Contents

Next