Abington School District presents Future Ready PA Index: district above state averages but ELA dip and subgroup gaps draw attention

Stephanie Viola, the district’s Director of Elementary Teaching and Learning, and Laura Nama, Director of Secondary Teaching and Learning, presented the Abington School District’s results on the Future Ready PA Index and described both strengths and areas that need attention.

Viola said the index is a “comprehensive and public facing dashboard” used to track proficiency and growth and noted that while “all schools exceeded the state average,” several did not meet interim targets and the district recorded “about a 4% decline” in English language arts compared with the prior year. Nama added that in math “all nine schools in Abington School District exceeded the state average” and the district’s average math gain outpaced the state at about 3.2%.

The presentation framed the results around three FRPI categories — statewide assessments, on-track indicators and college-and-career measures — and tied outcomes to district actions. Viola and Nama said the district has begun implementing the K–5 ELA program Amplify CKLA, expanding professional development, increasing small-group and targeted interventions, and setting interim school improvement plans. They also described grant-funded “welcome libraries” for multilingual families and expanded SIOP (sheltered instruction) training for staff.

Board members asked for subgroup disaggregation and clarifications about participation rules. Presenters explained that an “IS” mark means insufficient data for privacy protections when subgroup counts are small and that state rules treat participation below 95% as resulting in not-proficient designations for reporting purposes. The middle school had roughly 93% participation, the presenters said, and the district-wide attendance rate reported was 88% versus a state average of 79.6%; Abington Senior High School’s attendance rate was reported at about 73%.

Administrators emphasized that growth measures matter for improvement work: several buildings attained high academic growth scores and the district uses multiple local measures and state projections to target interventions. For students not meeting targets, the district described layered responses: reading specialists, math coaching, MTSS teams and targeted professional development. The presenters also committed to providing additional subgroup breakdowns to the board on request.

Next steps include adding requested disaggregated tables to future presentations, continuing rollout of the K–5 ELA program, and monitoring participation and growth as the district prepares students for the statewide shift to digital assessments next spring.