Allentown School District Named Pilot Site for Race to the Top Initiative

ALLENTOWN, Pa., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 5, the Allentown School District (ASD) was officially approved by Thomas E. Gluck, Acting Secretary of Education, to be part of a small group of sites piloting an important element of Pennsylvania's Race to the Top (RTTT) initiative.

"As a pilot site, Allentown School District will play an important role in shaping the RTTT system by evaluating and selecting valid student growth measures and in testing the tools and protocols that are developed in the next year," said Superintendent Gerald L. Zahorchak, D.Ed. "We will be working directly with national experts who can provide us with the resources we need and the lessons we learn will help strengthen the process as other school districts are added in 2011-2012."

"We're looking forward to working with the Allentown School District on cutting-edge efforts that we fully expect will accelerate improvements in student achievement," said Thomas E. Gluck, acting Secretary of Education. "It's an opportunity for Allentown to become a role model for school districts throughout the Commonwealth -- and perhaps beyond." A Gates Momentum Grant awarded to the Team Pennsylvania Foundation provides the Commonwealth with the resources to begin work on a multi-measure principal and teacher evaluation system.

Zahorchak will represent the district at the Stakeholder Steering Committee.  Prior to the first meeting, scheduled for September 16-17 in Pittsburgh, he will select an appropriate sampling of teacher and principals from Allentown who will participate in testing the new evaluation tools and protocols.

The following five school districts have also been accepted to join ASD in this pilot program: Bellwood-Antis School District, Cornell School District, Mohawk Area School District, Northwest Tri-County IU 5 and Quaker Valley School District.

As the third largest urban district in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Allentown School District educates approximately 18,300 students, and employs over 2,500 administrators, professionals and staff members. The District represents students from over 40 countries speaking over 25 languages. The District is currently designated Correction Action II. It had been "making progress" as of 2006, having recovered from an Empowerment designation bestowed upon it by the Commonwealth in 2001.

SOURCE Allentown School District

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