South Fayette unseats Mt. Lebanon as top-ranking school district in Pittsburgh region

Congratulations to South Fayette! They are the new #1 in Pittsburgh Business Times Guide to Western Pennsylvania Schools.

As Reporter Justine Coyne and Social Engagement Manager Avery Hartmans found out in visits to the district, making connections between teachers, schools, disciplines, technology and traditional learning methods helped push South Fayette to the top of the rankings.

South Fayette unseats Mt. Lebanon as top-ranking school district in Pittsburgh region

Mt. Lebanon's Markham Elementary boasts top-scoring 4th graders

PSSA 'opt-out' movement growing

Staff reporter Kari Andren has an article in the Trib, Pennsylvania parents take stand against standardized tests.

As students prepare to take the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams this week, a growing number of parents are refusing to let their children take the high-stakes standardized exams aimed at showing which schools are excelling or failing.

We can see the what is at stake with the PSSA scores.  Just ask any administrator at Mt. Lebanon as I mentioned here. PSSAs - No pressure here

The performance on the PSSAs are the primary metrics used by the
Superintendent and Board to evaulate how the principals leadership has impacted student achievement.

With Mt. Lebanon prepping kids for the PSSAs, we can see the pay-off in the Pittsburgh Business Times Guide to Western Pennsylvania Schools. We've moved up to Number 2 in the State.  Evan though it is budget crunch time, jobs are secure and raises are guaranteed.

Ms. Andren had contacted me, in hopes that I could steer her to Mt. Lebanon parents, but none were willing to come forward.

Dr. Timothy Slekar, founder of United Opt Out and Lebo Citizens commenter, did speak with Ms. Andren.

Slekar excluded his son, Luke, from standardized tests three years ago and helped found United Opt Out, a national group that protested standardized testing this weekend in Washington with a sit-in outside the Department of Education and a march to the White House.

A few opt-outs does not impact Mt. Lebanon's scores, but if enough parents opt-out their kids, we will fail to meet AYP, or Adequate Yearly Progress.  What does that mean? Read more here Some Children Left Behind or here About making AYP for students with disabilities UPDATED 2x or here Yes, he is very deserving. UPDATED

Parents, make sure your kids get enough sleep this week.  There is quite a bit at stake here.

Draw your own conclusions

Examining the 2013 Guide to Western Pennsylvania Schools published by the Pittsburgh Business Times, I was able to come up with more details per school.  I continually get comments from snipers, accusing me of putting negative slants on articles. Draw your own conclusions, folks. You are not going to see this on the school district website.

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
1	1	USC	11	90	93	98	75
2	2	MTL	11	90	94	99	74

                                   

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
1	1	Ft. Couch (USC)	8	99	99	98	91
2	4	Jefferson MS	8	94	99	94	90
8	10	Mellon MS	8	93	95	92	90

                                   

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
1	1	Ft. Couch (USC)	7	98	96	NA	NA
2	5	Jefferson MS	7	96	97	NA	NA
7	8	Mellon MS	7	95	98	NA	NA

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
4	3	Boyce (USC)	6	96	94	NA	NA
5	7	Jefferson MS	6	95	92	NA	NA
25	26	Mellon MS	6	93	87	NA	NA

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
2	3	Lincoln	5	100	97	95	NA
4	4	Aiken (KO)	5	94	89	97	NA
5	5	Howe	5	93	96	83	NA
7	16	Foster	5	98	93	100	NA
13	49	Hoover	5	93	88	91	NA
16	13	Jefferson	5	86	93	89	NA
30	33	Markham	5	91	83	88	NA
40	38	Washington	5	87	83	82	NA

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
2	7	Howe	4	100	98	100	NA
6	15	Lincoln	4	99	96	99	NA
9	24	Foster	4	100	98	100	NA
12	49	Markham	4	100	97	99	NA
18	26	Aiken (KO)	4	100	91	100	NA
29	29	Hoover	4	95	89	100	NA
35	55	Jefferson	4	95	95	96	NA
44	50	Washington	4	95	90	97	NA

					% scoring superior	% scoring superior	% scoring superior
2013	2012	School	Grade	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
1	7	Lincoln	3	98	100	NA	NA
18	23	Baker (USC)	3	93	93	NA	NA
24	34	Markham	3	96	90	NA	NA
32	46	Jefferson	3	98	90	NA	NA
42	40	Foster	3	92	90	NA	NA
48	47	Washington	3	94	92	NA	NA
70	42	Howe	3	93	95	NA	NA
74	109	Hoover	3	94	97	NA	NA