POTTSTOWN PA – Only three days after Pottsgrove School District administrators were taken to task by members of the Board of School Directors for some students’ poor performance on Pennsylvania reading and math tests, one of the criticized schools distributed an e-mail newsletter showing its teachers diligently at work to help their classes succeed.
The Fall 2011 "Learn" newsletter issued Friday
Pottsgrove Middle School on Friday (Oct. 14, 2011) issued a Fall 2011 edition of its “Learn” newsletter, which it said intended “to highlight the awesome learning of our teachers and students.” Its four headlined stories, which described how teachers tackled learning difficulties encountered by their pupils, were written by teachers themselves, Principal Bill Ziegler reported.
Ziegler did not indicate whether the three-page piece was meant as a response to directors’ biting comments Tuesday (Oct. 11) regarding Pottsgrove’s 2011 reports of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) from the state Department of Education. Those results showed the district made its overall AYP goals, but that certain student groups tested at Pottsgrove Middle, Lower Pottsgrove Elementary, and Pottsgrove High schools failed to meet proficiency standards in required subject matter.
AYP is a measure of learners’ achievement, as defined by the federal “No Child Left Behind Act”.
One board member this week cited teacher unwillingness to enforce educational discipline as a potential cause of some students’ inability to master their studies. However, the board as a whole during the past three years has publicly denounced what it cites as continuing problems in helping students significantly improve their academic skills and understanding.
The newsletter optimistically focused on teacher solutions to those problems.
Its lead story told how 8th grade algebra students were divided into three separate groups as a way to maximize assistance teachers offered. A second article covered how students gained confidence in understanding the mathematical concept of “percentage of change.” A third tied reading aloud in science to improving reading in other subjects too.
The middle school’s goals, the newsletter added, in bridging learning gaps are to:
- Align courses with state standards, teach effectively, and test regularly for understanding. The so-called dipstick tests of student progress are professionally known as “common formative assessments.” School board members charged the district has heavily invested in their development and training in recent years with too few positive results.
- Have teachers across several subjects – math, English, science and social studies among them – collaborate on instructional strategies; and
- Ensure consistency in writing across all grades.
The newsletter’s brief fourth story explained how students were also encouraged to teach lessons to one another as reinforcement.
Related (regarding academic performance at Pottsgrove):
- Teachers Helping Classes Succeed, Newsletter Contends
- Poor Math, Reading At Pottsgrove High Frustrates Board
- State Says Pottsgrove Schools Make ‘Adequate Yearly Progress’
- Pottsgrove Teachers Review District Accountability Plan
- School Board Criticizes Lack of Students’ Improvement
- Notebook Worthy For March 23, 2009
- Pottsgrove Tops Many In Science, But …
Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Oct. 11 meeting):
- Teachers Helping Classes Succeed, Newsletter Contends
- Poor Math, Reading At Pottsgrove High Frustrates Board
