Student growth is the change in student achievement between two points in time.
Has student growth improved between 2019 and 2024?
Student Achievement Scores Have Not Gone Up!
Proficient means competent or skilled in doing or using something. This level represents solid academic performance for each grade assessed.
Below proficient means that a student's performance falls short of the expected standard for their grade level.
Language Arts encompasses reading, writing, listening and speaking.
In 2019, 12.8% of the Downingtown School District third graders were below proficiency level in language arts. In 2024, that same group of students, now in eighth grade, are 28.7% below proficiency level in language arts. In 2019, 19.8% of the Downingtown School District third graders were below proficiency level in math. In 2024, that same group of students as eighth graders are 51% below proficiency level in math. One can see the same trends in fourth grade as well as the total number of DASD students in grades 3,4,5,6,7, and 8. The question is WHY?
According to Rep. Jason Ortitay, “If students can’t read by third grade, the odds of success in school, work and life begin slipping away fast.” “Kids who can’t read by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school. They’re more likely to need special education, end up in the criminal justice system or struggle to find meaningful work.” “That costs taxpayers a fortune in the long run.” (https://broadandliberty.com/2025/06/02/rep-jason-ortitay-time-to-fix-pennsylvanias-literacy-crisis-now/.)
THERE IS A WAY TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE
As a School Board Director, I would look for ways to encourage more positive parental involvement.
In my classroom, promoting parental involvement was the most important aspect of fostering student success. I accomplished this through positive communication and collaboration. Parents signed off on homework assignments, weekly tests, and take-home book reading that the students chose from my extensive classroom library. Parents were aware of the content and concepts that were being taught in the classroom. I sent key vocabulary and spelling words, math facts, and study guides on social studies and science home so that parents could work directly with their child. I was always available if a parent wanted to discuss something with me. I developed a classroom website. I also informed worried parents of their parental rights so that their child could receive needed special education services.
There is a difference between parental engagement and parental involvement.
Parents working together with the school on a strategic plan is parental engagement. Parental involvement is when there is positive collaboration with the classroom teacher, when parents have full access to the curriculum, know what their child is expected to learn and how they can help their child, and can communicate with the classroom teacher over any concern and know that their concern is being heard.
Isn’t it time to elect new leadership on the Downingtown School Board?
Isn’t it time to elect someone who taught third grade for 28 years and fourth grade for 3 years.
Isn’t it time to elect someone who gave the PSSA Test and knows what below proficiency level means and its ramifications?
Isn’t it time to elect someone who knows the importance of teaching back-to-basics academics?
Isn’t it time to elect someone who knows the significance of teaching to the needs of the individual student?
Isn't it time to elect someone who supports parental rights and understands the value of parental involvement within the school?
