Pennsylvania School Districts Research Articles

“The Good Struggle” of Flexible Specificity: Districts Balancing Specific Guidance With Autonomy to Support Standards-Based Instruction

This study examines implementation of college-and-career-ready (CCR) education standards across five school districts in Ohio, Texas, California, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Drawing on the policy attributes theory, we found that the specificity of districts’ approaches to two long-recognized policy levers, curriculum and professional learning, was critical in shaping how stakeholders implemented and experienced CCR policies. We identified an approach we called “flexible specificity”—flexibility informed by ongoing data collection and evaluation that allowed districts to develop specific, useful guidance about curriculum and professional learning based on stakeholder needs. We present four shared practices characterizing this approach in two districts, analyzing why those districts seemed to find the right balance of specificity and flexibility while others struggled.

The Role of Technical Assistance in School Wellness Policy Enhancement.

School settings offer an opportunity to impact student health and wellness. Quality wellness policies are important in establishing strong wellness environments, but current resources to support policy development, maintenance, and dissemination are lacking. The Building Healthy Schools Program aimed to develop capacity of school districts to improve the strength and comprehensiveness of wellness policies and sustain these activities. Fifteen school districts in Pennsylvania participated in a program to facilitate the improvement of district wellness policies and practices. Program staff provided technical assistance to evaluate wellness policies before and after program implementation. Professional development and tailored training was provided for school personnel to create sustainability. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate policy improvement. Thirteen of the 15 participating districts completed a policy revision. Median strength (p=.001) and comprehensiveness (p=.002) scores improved from baseline to post-program and there were significant improvements in most assessment sub-sections. Some districts were hesitant to make strong language improvements due to their limited capacity (ie, staff) for implementation. Champions (n=13; 87%) reported confidence to revise wellness policy language independently in the future. Technical assistance provided to districts facilitated significant improvements to wellness policy language, especially in the implementation, evaluation, and communication; critical components for policy impact on school wellness environments. In addition, participant feedback suggested an ability to sustain activities in the future. Both external (ie, technical assistance) and internal resources are needed to facilitate school districts' ongoing wellness policy improvement and implementation, including improved model wellness policy language and enforcement within schools, respectively.

A comparison of students’ interest in STEM across science standard types

This study aimed to determine whether science standard type had a significant impact on student interest in science, technology, engineering, math, and overall STEM. The study was conducted with a sample population of ninth and tenth grade students in Pennsylvania enrolled in science classes at school districts implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or the traditional Pennsylvania science standards. The study also focused on the differences between male and female interest in STEM. The Science Technology Engineering and Math Career Interest Survey (STEM-CIS), a Likert-style survey, was digitally administered to participants and a MANOVA was utilized to compare mean scores on the instrument subscales and overall scores. The results showed a statistically significant difference in science and technology subtest scores and for the overall STEM score based on standard type. There was no statistically significant difference in the interest in STEM overall between male and female participants when analyzed based on standard type. Implications for practice and suggestions for future study are offered. • A STEM interest survey was used to find differences in male and female high school students' interest in STEM. • The Pennsylvania school districts participating used either the PA science standards or the NGSS. • Analysis showed statistically significant differences for the science, technology, and STEM based on standard type. • No statistically significant difference was found for male and female participants for STEM overall.

Measuring High School Students’ Science Identities, Expectations of Success in Science, Values of Science and Environmental Attitudes: Development and Validation of the SIEVEA Survey

This article describes the development and validation of an instrument called Science Identities, Expectations of Success in Science, Values of Science and Environmental Attitudes (SIEVEA). The instrument is a convenient online survey that can be used to measure students' science identities, expectations of success in science, values of science, and environmental attitudes. First, 1,764 high school students from 11 school districts in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut took the SIEVEA. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The EFA results provided useful insights into the factor structure of the data and led to the formation of three candidate models. All three models were evaluated based on their fit to data, their alignment with the research constructs, and their factor loadings. Because of this evaluation, the three-factor model was selected as the final model. Next, the instrument was validated via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using a new sample data made up of responses of 1,495 high school students. The developed instrument is valuable for both researchers and educators, as it allows for measurement of constructs that play an important role in successful science learning.

Abstract 470: Understanding the Distribution of CPR Training in Pennsylvania High Schools

Introduction: Bystander CPR may increase out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates. Incorporating CPR education into high school curricula is an efficient way to teach a large number of individuals CPR. Pennsylvania, unlike most states, does not require CPR training prior to graduation, and the prevalence of school training programs is not known. Objective: The goal of this study was to describe the distribution and characteristics of CPR training practices in high schools across Pennsylvania. Methods: As part of an ongoing public health project, we developed and administered a 7-question survey designed to determine if school districts offer CPR training programs, and if so, query key details about those programs. Using the Pennsylvania Education Names and Addresses database, we compiled contact information for all Pennsylvania school districts. Student researchers then contacted district personnel by telephone or email to administered the survey. Survey results were tabulated and summarized, and basic comparative statistics were calculated using Stata (ver. 15). Geographic patterns were assessed using QGIS (ver. 3.0.1) To understand the role of race and economics in availability of CPR training, our analyses incorporated census data on median income, race and ethnicity. Results: Between July 2018 and May 2019, we attempted to contact all 500 school districts in Pennsylvania, 494 of which were determined to have high schools within the district. We received survey responses from 446 (90%) school districts. Of those, 255 (57%) offered some form of CPR education and 141 (32%) of those programs were mandatory. Of the 255 districts that offered programs, 157 (62%) programs certified students as CPR providers. School districts that have CPR training have a median household income on average $4906 higher than school districts without CPR training. Clusters of districts with and without training were observed, however these clusters did not correlate with state geographic divisions, white race or Hispanic ethnicity. Conclusion: In Pennsylvania, where CPR training is not mandatory in high schools, at least half of all schools have training programs. Factors determining program adoption are unclear.

Making success: What does large-scale integration of making into a middle and high school look like?

Making is a movement present in the United States which fosters creativity and invention through the creation and sharing of products. This case study of one Western Pennsylvania school district’s ...

Arts in Education: The Impact of the Arts Integration Program and Lessons Learned

Erie Arts & Culture (formerly ArtsErie), in partnership with the Union City Area School District, Crawford Central School District, Penncrest School District and Edinboro University in Pennsylvania received Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2010. This grant provided the opportunity to design and implement Arts Integration: From Vision to Implementation,a four-year project that integrated dance, music, visual arts, and drama into existing curriculum. Arts Integrationprovided professional development for classroom teachers and teaching artists and established avenues for their collaboration to design and implement arts-integrated classroom-based learning through an artist-in-residence experience. The purpose of the project was to improve lesson planning and the quality of teaching; student engagement in the learning process and their learning habits associated with the arts; and ultimately, students’ achievement in math and reading. This project reached approximately 900 students annually in participating schools. Student data presented were collected only for students in participating and control classrooms, whose teachers agreed to be included in the evaluation. Included participating, or treatment, classrooms were selected from three schools that experienced arts-integrated learning. Included control classrooms were selected from two schools of similar demographic composition, where the project was not implemented. The data were collected from 54 treatment and 50 control classrooms. The total number of students in treatment classrooms was 969, and, in control classrooms, 962 students. The total of 35 participating classroom teachers, 32 control classroom teachers, and 16 teaching artists participated in the evaluation part of the project. Arts Integrationproduced a number of positive outcomes for the participating students, as well as teachers and teaching artists, who participated in the program. This evaluation documented a number of positive outcomes related to quality of teaching, student engagement and learning habits. At the same time, because the program was time-limited and the level of exposure for individual students was not long-term, the impact of arts-integration on student achievement in math and reading could not be definitively determined. This article provides a number of recommendations that would enhance the design and implementation of similar arts-integration programs, as well as offers lessons learned with respect to its evaluation.

Seeking Energy Autonomy at School

ABSTRACTThe East Lycoming School District in Pennsylvania has undertaken a full range of traditional energy conservation projects in its school buildings for more than a decade. Two projects have stood out for their ability to produce energy on-site and make the high school more energy independent and energy autonomous. These two projects were the biomass boiler and planting of hybrid willow as an energy crop, and the installation of a 600-kW solar photovoltaic (PV) field. The excitement and enthusiasm with these projects magnified the optimism associated with energy efficiency and sustainability and the promise of energy autonomy. This article will look at the process of implementing these projects, discuss economics and engineering, and review the successes and challenges through the lens of seeking energy autonomy.

A Description of Contrasting Discourse Patterns Used in Differentiated Reading Instruction

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this article is to provide a description of contrasting discourse patterns during small-group reading instruction. The authors report on case studies conducted in two 1st-grade classrooms in different school districts in Pennsylvania. Small-group reading instruction was observed over the course of one year in each classroom, and teacher interviews were conducted to elicit information regarding beliefs about teaching and learning. Through their findings, the authors link the discourse patterns to teacher beliefs and discuss implications for student literacy acquisition.

The Fiscal Savings Behavior of Pennsylvania School Districts Through the Great Recession

While researchers have examined fiscal stabilization for state and local governments, less attention has been dedicated to special purpose governments, such as school districts. This paper fills the gap by examining the general unassigned fund balance of Pennsylvania school districts before and after the Great Recession using a Two‐Step Generalized Method of Moments estimator. Although Pennsylvania imposes limitations on the unassigned fund balance, half of school districts are non‐compliant, choosing instead to accumulate savings above the limits to improve their budget flexibility. Since the Great Recession, however, state revenue constraints have challenged savings accumulation. Additionally, while districts use savings for covering expenditures, less unassigned fund balance was drained during downturn years due to cutback management. Collectively, these findings signal a “new normal” for Pennsylvania districts.

An Open Systems Model of Local Government Forecasting

Local governments use single source forecasts to inform decision making, which can constrain their ability to prepare for and respond to financial uncertainty. This unique context may have increased the challenges faced by governments at the local level through economic downturns such as the Great Recession. Given this concern, which has yet to be addressed in the literature, this article develops an open systems model of local government forecast accuracy, which can be tested across any type of local government. This article tests the model with a panel of special purpose governments at the local level, specifically school districts in Pennsylvania, from 2003 through 2013. Estimation of the model with longitudinal analysis shows that government forecasters at the local level consider internal and external factors when forecasting own-source and intergovernmental revenue streams. In particular, a mix of institutional, financial, and political factors are associated with forecast accuracy. Forecasters at the local level also considered the role of economic shocks, as evidenced by decreased expectations for own-source revenue through the Great Recession. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that they consider a complex and multifaceted information set, which includes both internal and external determinant factors of forecast accuracy at the local level. These factors can prove critical to increasing forecast accuracy in context of the financial uncertainty experienced through the Great Recession.

What Would Student-Based Allocation Mean for Pennsylvania School Districts?

In recent months, policymakers across the country have been exploring state school financing formulas with the goals of promoting equity, transparency, and adequacy. Toward that end, state leaders are considering a new model for disbursing state education funds called “student-based allocation” (SBA)—one that would allocate funds on the basis of students. In fact, many states already have some sort of formula using students as the basis, although in practice, most essentially use a hybrid set of allocations such that the portion of funds allocated on the basis of students varies substantially across states. This analysis of 14 states shows that among the sampled states, between 0 and 85% of all state and local funds is allocated on the basis of students. In Pennsylvania, after operating in the absence of a formal allocation formula for several years, the Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC) was tasked with recommending a new finance scheme for funding the state’s schools. In this paper, we outline the rationale behind SBA and investigate the extent to which the BEFC proposal would allocate funds on the basis of students.

Relationships between County Health Rankings and child overweight and obesity prevalence: a serial cross-sectional analysis.

BackgroundThe County Health Rankings (CHR) system provides health rankings for U.S. counties. These factors may have utility for evaluating and predicting health outcomes. This study examined the association between CHR factors and the prevalence of child overweight/obesity (OWOB) in the state of Pennsylvania over 3 years.MethodsThe prevalence of childhood OWOB was obtained for all Pennsylvania school districts for the 2009-10 through 2011-12 school years. Correlational and inferential statistical analyses were used to examine the associations between the prevalence of OWOB in grades K-6 (OWOB1) and 7-12 (OWOB2) and z-score for the overall CHR Health Factors rank, as well as for individual predictive factors (Health Behaviors, Clinical Care, Social and Economic Factors and Physical Environment).ResultsLow to moderate correlations (0.29–0.43) were found between OWOB1 and CHR factors. Weaker and less consistent correlations were found for adolescents. There was a significantly higher prevalence of OWOB in counties with poorer CHR scores.ConclusionsCounty-level adult indicators of health are significantly associated with levels of child obesity. Future studies should examine the relationship between CHR and other health outcomes.

Classroom assessment and English Language Learners: Teachers' accommodations implementation on routine math and science tests

In a time of unprecedented educational accountability in the U.S., this mixed-methods study was conducted to explore teacher accommodations implementation when assessing ELLs during routine math and science tests. Elementary teachers in ten Pennsylvania school districts (n = 213) were surveyed about their testing practices and accommodations use, and interviews were conducted with fourth grade teachers (n = 10) about their assessment practices. Findings suggest that teachers implemented and withdrew accommodations based on students' levels of English proficiency, first language accommodations were infrequently implemented in the classroom context, and that ELLs with IEPs received more accommodations than other ELLs. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Perspectives about living on the horns of dilemmas: An analysis of gender factors related to superintendent decision-making and problem-solving

The major focus of this paper is a gender-based analysis of school superintendent decision-making and problem-solving as well as an investigation of contemporary leadership dilemmas. The findings are based on responses from 258 superintendents of K-12 school districts in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania collected over a period of three years (2009-2011). The researchers also conducted 18 comprehensive qualitative “face-to-face” interviews with self-selected superintendents who responded to the quantitative survey. The intended outcome of this article is for education policy makers, professors, and practitioners to comprehensively examine the extent and degree of various dilemmas confronting the Mid-Atlantic Region school superintendent sample and to evaluate the decision-making and problem-solving approaches used by them. The study results that are presented will serve as valuable references to not only individual superintendents but also to university administrator preparation professors and to state administrator licensure agencies because it is important for all aspiring superintendents to know the various issues associated with education leadership and the personal and professional dilemmas that they need to be prepared to face as they embark on a career to improve schooling in the United States.

Can we build an efficient response to the prescription drug abuse epidemic? Assessing the cost effectiveness of universal prevention in the PROSPER trial

PurposePrescription drug abuse has reached epidemic proportions. Nonmedical prescription opioid use carries increasingly high costs. Despite the need to cultivate efforts that are both effective and fiscally responsible, the cost-effectiveness of universal evidence-based-preventive-interventions (EBPIs) is rarely evaluated. This study explores the performance of these programs to reduce nonmedical prescription opioid use. MethodsSixth graders from twenty-eight rural public school districts in Iowa and Pennsylvania were blocked by size and geographic location and then randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions (2002–2010). Within the intervention communities, prevention teams selected a universal family and school program from a menu of EBPIs. All families were offered a family-based program in the 6th grade and received one of three school-based programs in 7th-grade. The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of each school program by itself and with an additional family-based program were assessed using propensity and marginal structural models. ResultsThis work demonstrates that universal school-based EBPIs can efficiently reduce nonmedical prescription opioid use. Further, findings illustrate that family-based programs may be used to enhance the cost-effectiveness of school-based programs. ConclusionsUniversal EBPIs can effectively and efficiently reduce nonmedical prescription opioid use. These programs should be further considered when developing comprehensive responses to this growing national crisis.

Local Property Tax Limitations vs. School District Employee Pension Costs in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania as in many other states, employee pension costs are a significant source of financial pressure for school districts. In order to gain greater insight into the nature of Pennsylvania school districts’ financial burden related to pension commitments, this article presents the findings of two scenarios, one which compared the maximum amount of local property tax revenue Pennsylvania school districts could raise under a 2010 state property tax limitation statute, Act 120, to their pension obligations; and a second scenario which incorporated a 1% annual salary increase into the analysis. The article is divided into three sections.

Sound Off!: The Myth of Differentiation in Mathematics: Providing Maximum Growth

After teaching high school mathematics in Maryland for three years, I began teaching sixth-grade mathematics in one of the best school districts in Pennsylvania (according to state test scores) and have been teaching there for the past six years. My high school teaching background led me to differentiate differently from my colleagues. I share my observations of the result of the differences in methodology and my conclusions from those observations, and I offer a plan to implement changes in the way that mathematics is taught.

Effects of PROSPER on the Influence Potential of Prosocial Versus Antisocial Youth in Adolescent Friendship Networks

We test the hypothesis that an evidence-based preventive intervention will change adolescent friendship networks to reduce the potential for peer influence toward antisocial behavior. Altering adolescents' friendship networks in this way is a promising avenue for achieving setting-level prevention benefits such as expanding the reach and durability of program effects. Beginning in 2002, the Promoting School-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER) randomized control trial assigned two entire sixth-grade cohorts of 14 rural and small town school districts in Iowa and Pennsylvania to receive the intervention and of 14 to control. A family-based intervention was offered in sixth grade and a school-based intervention was provided in seventh grade. More than 11,000 respondents provided five waves of data on friendship networks, attitudes, and behavior in sixth through ninth grade. Antisocial influence potential was measured by the association between network centrality and problem behavior for each of 256 networks (time, grade cohort, and school specific). The intervention had a beneficial impact on antisocial influence potential of adolescents' friendship networks, with p < .05 for both of the primary composite measures. Current evidence-based preventive interventions can alter adolescents' friendship networks in ways that reduce the potential for peer influence toward antisocial behavior.

The Ultimate Three-legged Stool: Using Energy Efficiency, Fuel Switching, and Renewable Energy

ABSTRACT In today's world, energy projects are becoming more complex and the methods to achieving energy goals more complicated. This article will document and discuss how a typical school district in Pennsylvania improved its energy efficiency by using off-the-shelf technology, reduced its fuel costs using various fuel-switching methods, and implemented comprehensive renewable energy projects. By implementing a “three-legged stool” approach, a very stable energy program has been created, with excellent results.