Conestoga & Great Valley : A Comparison
Superintendent Jones doesn’t want Academic Accountability
When confronted with comparisons of Great Valley academic results to other school districts, our Superintendent stated that she will not compare our students with others because she does not want to “demean” our children. We believe that is a ridiculous statement since our children will be competing for college placement and for jobs in the “real world” when they graduate.
We also believe that the only way the academic results at Great Valley will improve is if the Superintendent is held accountable for measurable academic results from year to year.
Our Superintendent does not want academic accountability and prefers to measure such abstract concepts as “Rubrics” which allegedly measure behavior. We believe that is ludicrous. (See the GVSD Strategic Plan for a description of the Rubrics she wants at http://www.gvsd.org/index.pl?iid=2435 )
Academic Performance of Great Valley and Conestoga High:
Academic Measurements for Accountability:
· Cost per Student
· SAT Scores
· 11th Grade PSSA Scores
· National Merit Scholarship Program
· Advanced Placement (AP) Courses and Exams
· College Destinations
As a service to the Great Valley community, we are providing a comparison of the above listed measurements from Great Valley High School and Conestoga High School to demonstrate that there are measurements that can be used for academic performance and to show that there is room for significant academic improvement in our District.
Conestoga High School is in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District which is contiguous to our District, and Conestoga High is only 8 miles from our High School.
We do not believe this comparison reflects on the quality of our students or our teachers. Rather, it reflects that the Superintendent is not held accountable for any academic results.
We have no doubt that our students and teachers can perform as well as their peers in any school district if they had the leadership, resources and measurable objectives to succeed.
(All the data that follows comes from sources within the school districts or the PA Department of Education website.)
A) COST PER STUDENT
2009 Budget Students Cost per Student
T/E District $102,458,618 6173 $16,598
Great Valley $75,600,000 4212 $17,949
Conclusion: Our District is spending $1,351 more per student than the T/E District in 2008/2009.
B) SAT SCORES
Verbal 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
GV 549 535 542 538 546
Conestoga 575 573 584 583 574
Math 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
GV 543 534 546 536 548
Conestoga 585 579 596 596 582
Writing 2006 2007
GV 527 542
Conestoga 578 568
Conclusion: Our SAT scores are significantly lower than Conestoga, especially in Math.
C) 11th GRADE PA SYSTEM OF SCHOOL ASSESSMENT (PSSA) SCORES
The scores depicted in this chart represent the percentage of students in 11th grade who achieved the grade of “advanced” and the grade of “proficient” in the subject tests. ( Scores updated on 8-17-08 with the 2008 scores )
Reading (% Advanced / % Proficient)
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GV 42 / 42 51 / 33 56 / 29 56 / 31 53 / 34 52 / 33
Conestoga 52 / 39 62 / 32 73 / 23 67 / 24 65 / 30 69 / 24
Math (% Advanced / % Proficient)
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GV 38 / 35 46 / 25 42 / 32 46 / 27 48 / 32 45 / 31
Conestoga 56 / 26 61 / 24 71 / 19 62 / 22 62 / 28 65 / 25
Writing (% Advanced / % Proficient)
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GV 18 / 74 27 / 67 14 / 76 38 / 60 19 / 79 42 / 55
Conestoga 22 / 73 28 / 70 27 / 69 42 / 54 17 / 81 37 / 61
Conclusion: Our 11th Grade PSSA scores in Reading and Math are significantly lower than Conestoga. In the last 2 years, our Writing scores are slightly better than Conestoga.
D) NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
The following chart reflects both the actual number of National Merit Semi-Finalists and Commended Students at Great Valley as well as an adjusted number to reflect the difference in enrollment at the High Schools; Great Valley has 1251 students and Conestoga has 1970 (57% more students).
Scholarship Semi-Finalists / Commended Students
2005 2006 2007 2008
GV Actual 5 / 10 7 / 4 3 / 11 6 / 16
GV Adjusted 8 / 16 11 / 6 5 / 17 9 / 26
Conestoga 20 / 21 25 / 34 19 / 33 27 / 37
Conclusion: Great Valley is far behind Conestoga in the number of students recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program.
E) ADVANCED PLACEMENT PROGRAM
The Advanced Placement Program is one of several measurements that is used by academic institutions and publications to rate the academic performance of high schools. It should be noted that Conestoga High publishes this information every year for their taxpayers, while Great Valley does not. We filed a PA Right to Know Law request to obtain the information from Great Valley, while we merely had to review the published information from Conestoga to get their information. Great Valley did not track the number of students who take AP exams until this past school year.
% of students
taking AP exams 2004 2005 2006 2007
GV Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
Conestoga 29% 32% 32% 31%
Total # of exams
taken 2004 2005 2006 2007
GV 221 217 281 281
Conestoga 916 1148 1100 1103
% of exams with
score of 3 or above 2004 2005 2006 2007
GV 83% 84% 81% 80%
Conestoga 92% 93% 95% 93%
Conclusion: Great Valley is far behind Conestoga in the participation and performance in Advanced Placement Courses and Exams.
F) COLLEGE DESTINATIONS FOR THE GRADUATING SENIOR CLASSES
In 2007 at Great Valley, 91% of the seniors went on to higher education with 79% attending 4-year colleges.
In 2007 at Conestoga, 96% of the seniors went on to higher education with 91% attending 4-year colleges.
Another measure of academic performance is the destination colleges of the graduating senior class.
Conestoga publishes this information each year. They provide the public with a list of colleges and the number of seniors going to each college. Additionally, their list is greatly enhanced by providing it within ranges based on the students’ cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) and the mean SAT scores for each GPA range. This list provides high school students with an excellent guide for determining the caliber of colleges they may expect to attend based on their performance. It also provides the public with an excellent measure of the school’s performance.
Sadly, Great Valley has nothing like Conestoga’s list. Great Valley provides only a list of the destination colleges of the graduating class with an asterisk if more than one senior went there. Their lists also are for more than one year. We found that to be astounding and very sad. We asked to review their source information to identify the specific number of students going to each college, but they stated that they do not track it. Is it any wonder that our School District can not improve their academic performance when they do not track even the most basic data?
The following links provide the college destination information we received from Great Valley and Conestoga:
Great Valley Class of 2003 and 2004 College Destinations
Great Valley Class of 2004 and 2005 College Destinations
Great Valley Class of 2006 College Destinations
Great Valley Class of 2007 College Destinations
Conestoga Class of 2004 College Destinations
Conestoga Class of 2005 College Destinations
Conestoga Class of 2006 College Destinations
Conestoga Class of 2007 College Destinations
Conclusion: More Conestoga graduates are attending college than Great Valley graduates, and the colleges they are attending are of a higher quality. Great Valley’s tracking of this important information is woefully inadequate.
OVERALL CONCLUSIONS
- Since our neighboring School District has significantly better academic results with less money spent per student, there is no reason our District cannot improve our academic results.
- The School Board must demand improved academic results from our overpaid Superintendent.
- The School Board must establish measurable academic goals for improvement for the Superintendent and the District in order to monitor and measure the results.
CONTACT THE SCHOOL BOARD
Use the button on our website to contact each School Board Member to demand academic improvement in our District.
