Some 90.3 percent of Lincoln Park juniors and 90 percent of eighth graders scored proficient or advanced in reading, both tops among 15 Beaver County school districts. The juniors also scored highest in writing in the county, with 95.9 percent advanced or proficient.
Lincoln Park students scored above state averages in every academic area and showed improvement in almost all, said Manning. Scores in reading, writing, graduation rate and test participation rate are what count toward making AYP, but the PSSA also tests for proficiency in science and writing. Grades 3-8 and 11 are those tested by the PSSA.
Lincoln Park had a 100 percent graduation rate and met 13 of 13 AYP performance targets. Results of 2012 PSSA tests were recently released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Manning said the charter school has never missed making AYP since it opened in the 2006-07 school year, and has always received the Keystone Award from the state for academic excellence.
“I am very proud of the progress our students have shown. The credit goes to them, along with our faculty for working with each individual student in areas they needed to improve upon,” said Manning.
Principal P.K. Poling said PSSA results show that:
- – In reading, Lincoln Park 11th grade students scored 90.3 percent proficient or advanced, an improvement of 11 points over 2011 scores, while eighth graders improved by 3 points to 90 percent.
- – In math, eighth graders met the AYP target of 78 percent exactly, scoring the same as 2011, while 11th graders improved by 2 points to 68 percent proficient or advanced.
- – In writing, Lincoln Park eighth graders improved by 7 points to 83 percent proficient or advanced, while 11th grade students improved 3 points to 95.9 percent, the highest in Beaver County.
- – In science, Lincoln Park 11th grade students improved by 6 points to 47.1 percent, increasing their ranking to fifth in the county. The only Lincoln Park test score lower than last year was in eighth grade science, which at 68 points was above state averages but 5 points off Lincoln Park 2011 results.
PSSA math and reading test scores were lower statewide this year and one-third fewer Pennsylvania school districts made AYP.
Only 60.9 percent of school districts made AYP this year, compared to 94 percent in 2011, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
PSSA scores statewide fell from 77.1 to 75.7 percent proficient or advanced in math, and from 73.5 to 71.9 percent in reading, in figures released by PDE.
Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School opened its doors in 2006, initially enrolling 270 students in grades 9-12. The school later added an eighth grade class and, this year, a seventh grade class, helping to boost enrollment to 613. The school draws students from five surrounding counties and 62 school districts, with many riding buses an hour or hour and a half each way.
High school students select one of six majors, receiving pre-professional training in dance, theatre, literary arts, music, media arts and health arts science.
