The annual District Testing Summary was shared during the October 28 Curriculum & Technology Committee meeting of the school board. The first part of the presentation consisted of a report on the demographic shifts within the district since 2001-02. Some of the highlights included the following:
Ethnicity – From 2011-12 to 2012-13, district student enrollment increased by 64 students, breaking over a decade of declining enrollment. Non-white subgroups continue to increase (from a total of 21.1% in 2011-12 to 23.5% in 2012-13). The largest increase continues to be in the Hispanic subgroup.
Economically Disadvantaged – The subgroup “economically disadvantaged” refers to the number of students enrolled in the free/reduced lunch program. In 2012-13, there was an overall increase of economically disadvantaged students district-wide – 1.4% (39 students). The largest increase was at Salisbury High School with 24 additional students participating in the free/reduced lunch program.
English Language Learners (ELL) – The number of ELL learners dropped by 13 or 1%. While the overall number decreased, enrolled ELL students need more intense support services due to limited English proficiency.
Special Education/Gifted – There continues to be a decrease in the number of students identified as learning support and emotional support.
Student Mobility – Student mobility is defined as the total number of students who enrolled or disenrolled between June 12, 2012 and June 11, 2013. The statistic does not include the natural transition of students already enrolled in the district from grade 5 to 6 or grades 9 to 10. The statistic includes new students entering these grades from other districts. Student mobility decreased in all schools except Salisbury Middle School for an overall decrease in student mobility district-wide for 2012-13.
Charter Schools – “Total school population” is adjusted to include charter school students and homeschool students so as to arrive at an accurate percentage of school population. Total charter school enrollment dropped by 3 students. Cyber charter school enrollment dropped by 15 students, largely due to the establishment of our own cyber school, VAST. Brick and mortar charter school enrollment increased by 12 students. Eight (8) of the 12 students enrolled in the new Arts Academy Charter School for 2012-13.
Homeschooling – The number of students participating in homeschool education decreased by 5.
Current Enrollment for 2013-14 – As of October 1, 2013, total district enrollment is 1,615 students. One year ago, enrollment stood at 1,626, but grew to 1,635 over the course of the 2012-13 school year.
The second part of the presentation was a review of the PA School Performance Profile website. How SPP scores are determined was also explained. Individual scores for all schools were reviewed. The links below lead to the individual school page on the PA School Performance Profile site.
Salisbury High School – 82.9
Salisbury Middle School – 89.8
Western Salisbury Elementary School – 76.9
Harry S Truman Elementary School – 75.2
While our schools are making progress and performing well in the areas of achievement and growth as measured on the spring 2013 administration of PSSA and Keystone Exams, the professional staff of the Salisbury Township School District provides more learning opportunities for our students than those tested on standardized tests. The final part of the presentation consisted of a discussion of these opportunities.