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News & Information
Pennsylvania Cyber Charter Schools and AYP: The complete story...
June 11, 2007
Pennsylvania's eleven public cyber charter schools met 42 of 45 AYP academic performance targets.
Whether or not a school makes the federally-mandated Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) mark does not give a complete account of the school's overall academic performance. Yet opponents of Pennsylvania's cyber charter schools have charged that these public schools are academic failures based solely on this single overall AYP mark.
It should be remembered that a public school is ineligible to make overall AYP if it misses even just one of the many AYP targets. This is a real challenge for all of districts and public schools in Pennsylvania and across the country. Indeed in the 2005-06 academic year, 663 Pennsylvania public schools missed overall AYP.
The complete story shows that public cyber charter schools are performing well and meeting almost all of the AYP academic performance targets.
Collectively, Pennsylvania's eleven public cyber charter schools met 42 of 45 AYP academic performance targets. The three schools that did not meet academic AYP missed it by only 1 target.
Other cyber charter schools fell short of the overall AYP mark because of non-academic targets, such as test participation.
Meeting the 95% test participation requirement for every grade and subject tested is a unique challenge for public cyber charter schools that serve a diverse group of kids from every corner of the state, in both rural and urban environments, with a variety of socio-economic backgrounds. Cyber charter schools must provide every student a facility to take the state assessments proctored by licensed teachers. This often requires setting up multiple facilities in every region of the state, along with significant amounts of travel for the students, parents and teachers. Traditional schools simply do not face such a challenge since their students take the state tests in their own school buildings.
Cyber charter schools are public schools of choice. Every year, many parents choose to enroll their children in these schools, and the transition can sometimes be a challenge for first year students. Additionally, many of these students enter cyber charter schools one or many grade levels behind because their local school failed to meet their education needs. While these students are making real academic progress in cyber charter schools, it is sometimes not reflected in a state test snapshot.
None of this is to make excuses, but to tell the full, complete and accurate story. Cyber charter schools have dedicated teachers, staff and school communities that are committed to student achievement. Ultimately, if families do not feel we are succeeding they are free to leave – that is the ultimate level of accountability that school choice provides Pennsylvania's families.
Prepared by Sharon Williams, Head of School/Chief Administrative Officer of Agora Cyber Charter School (www.agora.org) and Joanne Barnett, Chief Executive Officer of the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School (www.pavcs.org), on behalf of Pennsylvania's cyber charter schools and the 17,000 students they serve.
| Pennsylvania Cyber Charter Schools Adequate Yearly Progress 2005-2006 |
| Cyber Charter School |
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AYP Academic Performance |
| 21st Century Cyber Charter School |
> |
Met 4 of 4 targets |
| Achievement House Charter School |
> |
Met 2 of 2 targets |
| Agora Cyber Charter School |
> |
Not enough students for AYP sample |
| Central PA Digital Learning Charter School |
> |
Met 2 of 2 targets |
| Commonwealth Connections Academy Charter School |
> |
Met 7 of 8 targets |
| PA Cyber Charter School |
> |
Met 7 of 8 targets |
| PA Distance Learning Charter School |
> |
Met 3 of 4 targets |
| Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School |
> |
Met 4 of 4 targets |
| PA Learners Online Charter School |
> |
Met 4 of 4 targets |
| PA Virtual Charter School |
> |
Met 10 of 10 targets |
| SUSQ-Cyber Charter School |
> |
Met 2 of 2 targets |
The eleven Pennsylvania cyber charter schools met 42 of 45 AYP academic performance targets.
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