SAHS > Change in SAHS Graduation Requirements

Attention 8th through 11th Grade Students and Parent(s)/Guardians(s):
Prompted by an aggressive move by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which may require that all students be proficient on the Grade 11 PSSA assessments in order to graduate, beginning with the Class of 2007, the Souderton Area High School has changed its graduation requirements. In order to graduate, students will need to demonstrate their proficiency in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics.

Students' first opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency will be on the Grade 11 PSSA. We hope and expect that the vast majority of our students will demonstrate their proficiency on the PSSA. Those students who do not demonstrate their proficiency on the Grade 11 PSSA will be scheduled for the appropriate Intervention Program. Students not proficient in Reading and/or Writing will be scheduled for Language Arts Intervention, and students not proficient in Mathematics will be scheduled for Mathematics Intervention.

The Intervention Programs will be based upon State standards, particularly the PSSA anchors. The anchors are examples of prompts/problems that the State uses to measure students' achievement of standards. Instruction in the Programs will be differentiated based upon students' performance on a diagnostic test in the beginning of the class. The assessments for the Program will provide students with a variety of means by which to demonstrate their proficiency. Earning a passing grade in the Intervention Program will be a second chance for students to demonstrate their proficiency.

Souderton Area High School typically receives individual student PSSA results in early to mid-August. Upon receipt of the scores, those students who are not proficient will be mailed a letter with their new schedule. The new schedule will include the appropriate Intervention Program course. The Intervention Program course will be scheduled as an every other day class for one quarter (during the First or Second Quarter) and will be worth .25 elective credits. On-level English and Mathematics courses can be scheduled concurrently with the Intervention Program courses.

• Students who have not demonstrated their proficiency prior to the end of the First Semester during their senior year will not be permitted to graduate in January. These students will be given a full schedule for the Second Semester.
• Students with IEPs, depending upon the goals/objectives in their IEPs, will either be required or given the opportunity (if permitted by PDE) to enroll in the Intervention Program.
• Students attending North Montco Technical Career Center (NMTCC) during their senior year who did not demonstrate their proficiency on the Grade 11 PSSA will experience integrated focused instruction in Reading, Writing, and/or Math in their shop instruction. Students would be required to document their proficiency (i.e., reading and math logs and written responses).

We understand that this may seem to be a rather dramatic shift in graduation requirements, but we are hopeful that, with effort and focus, the vast majority of our students will demonstrate their proficiency when they take the PSSA in grade eleven. Significant work has already been completed in grades six through nine that has placed increased emphasis on reading and writing instruction, and we have also restructured the Mathematics scopes and sequences to provide more time for students who are not as strong in Mathematics. Furthermore, the Souderton Area School District will use a Literacy and Mathematics Coach to focus additional efforts on students and teachers in grade six through nine to enhance the skills of those students who struggle in Language Arts and Mathematics.

If you have questions regarding this new graduation requirement, please do not hesitate to contact your students' school counselor at either Indian Crest Junior High School or Souderton Area High School. With the passing of the No Child Left Behind federal legislation several years ago, we have moved into a new era, which includes a significant emphasis on high stakes testing. We are confident that, as is most often the case in the Souderton Are School District, students, staff, parents, and community can work together to be successful at achieving goals.