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North Penn SD presents secondary data showing growth in keystones and rising AP participation
Summary
District staff told the ECI committee that PBOS growth indicators show significant gains in Algebra I, biology and literature; AP enrollment and pass rates have risen (presenters cited about 998 AP students and an 88% 3-or-higher pass rate at the high school); presenters also flagged remaining proficiency gaps and planned further elementary- and SEL-focused briefings.
District staff presented a year-to-date overview of secondary assessment data to the ECI committee on May 12, saying growth measures show progress in core areas even as absolute proficiency gaps remain.
Rachel Early, director of curriculum, outlined the district’s data timeline and described two distinct measurement goals: achievement (a point-in-time measure) and PBOS growth (a value-added metric). “It’s important that we look at achievement in tandem with growth,” Early said, explaining the district’s color-coded growth indicators and how they use PBOS to capture student progress over time.
Dr. Dennis Williams, director of secondary, and Mr. Hassler, North Penn High School principal, walked the committee through subject-level results. Mr. Hassler said Algebra I growth at the high school showed “dark blue” performance on the district’s scale — indicating significant evidence of growth — while biology and literature similarly demonstrated strong group growth. He noted the high-school Algebra I cohort is smaller (roughly 200 students) because many students take that test in middle school or are retesters at the high school level.
On Advanced Placement testing, presenters cited a five-year upward trend in both AP enrollment and the number of exams. Mr. Hassler said the number of AP students this year was just under 1,000 (he cited 998) and that 88% of North Penn students who tested scored a 3 or higher. The presentation included demographic breakdowns showing increases across historically underrepresented groups, along with a caveat from administrators that cross-district AP comparisons are limited by variations in what districts publish publicly.
The team also reported PSAT results for juniors (average total score cited as 1,031) and described middle-school benchmarking: presenters noted grade 7 midyear ELA increased from 67% at the start of the year to 70% at midyear. Rachel Early said the district now serves about 424 multilingual learners across the four secondary schools.
Pembroke principal Dr. Taylor described school-level intervention strategies that support those outcomes: professional learning communities (PLCs), scheduled "pen time" for remediation, literacy-lab supports, math specialists, a child-study team for coordinated social-emotional supports, and a mentor program pairing high-school students with younger students. Dr. Taylor said the mentor program has shown a decline in repeated behavioral infractions among participants.
Board members praised the presentation’s depth but also pressed for continued focus on absolute proficiency and on which metrics the board should track going forward. “This helps me explain to others the good work and the opportunities,” said Mrs. Coyne, a committee member. Jason Lanier, speaking during public comment, later urged the district to ensure that growth translates into higher proficiency over time.
Administration said the next ECI meeting, scheduled for June 4 (a Thursday), will include an elementary-focused presentation and a briefing on social-emotional learning.
The presentation materials and slides were shared during the meeting; staff said longitudinal data are available for follow-up and that the team will return with elementary- and SEL-focused briefings.
