Pennsylvania Education Secretary Pedro Rivera Discusses Education Funding, School Performance at Dover Area School District

DOVER, Pa., Dec. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- State Education Secretary Pedro A. Rivera made another stop on Governor Wolf's Schools That Teach tour this morning as he visited administrators, students, and educators at Dover Area School District in York County.  

During a roundtable discussion at Dover Area High School, attendees discussed the Wolf Administration's educational priorities, including investing in students and schools and developing a more holistic system of measurement through the replacement of the School Performance Profile (SPP) with a new measure of school success, called the Future Ready PA Index.

"Over the past two years, the Schools That Teach tour has given me the ability to solicit input and feedback from schools across the commonwealth, learning about their priorities and needs," said Sec. Rivera. "Through these discussions, the Wolf Administration and the Department of Education can ensure that we are setting objectives that are meaningful and worthwhile, beneficial to all schools, regardless of their zip code."

Rivera highlighted the state's historic investment in education – more than $640 million additional over two years – that Governor Wolf secured in consecutive state budgets. The state investment is being directed to classrooms around Pennsylvania to implement programs from pre-kindergarten to postsecondary that will positively impact student achievement.

Under the direction of the Wolf Administration, the Department of Education conducted outreach during 30 feedback sessions dedicated exclusively to exploring ideas to modify the SPP. The meetings brought together a wide variety of stakeholders, including teachers, administrators, parents, students, policy makers, advocates, industry and higher education leaders to ensure a broad cross section of perspectives were considered.

The existing SPP, which was first used in 2013, is heavily reliant on standardized test scores, which only mark student performance at a single point in time during the school year.

PDE's recommendations for the Future Ready PA Index retain several of the indicators from the current SPP; however the weighting of those indicators would be modified.

"Ensuring an effective system of measurement that encompasses multiple achievement indicators has been a top priority of this Administration, and I am happy to see these long-held plans come to fruition," Sec. Rivera noted. "As we continue to engage stakeholders, we expect to develop a system that considers multiple factors, rather than point-in-time measures, to gauge academic and emotional growth in Pennsylvania's students."

To date, the Schools That Teach tour has made stops at more than three dozen schools across Pennsylvania. A Google Map of all tour stops is available here.

MEDIA CONTACT: Nicole Reigelman, 717-783-9802

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Education

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us