Emmaus High School Student Government Association members Brooke Iobst and Leah Tass reported at the Sept. 26 East Penn School District meeting Emmaus and Freedom High schools teamed up to raise $10,000 for pediatric cancer awareness this year. The field hockey and soccer teams both have had solid recent wins. Powderpuff football is planned Oct. 5 and the pep rally will be held Oct. 7.

Emmaus Public Library Youth Services Director Susan Monroe gave a report on the summer reading program success. The summer reading program has been in place since 1968 and has seen an increase in kids attending the programs. A total of 366 students attended the program, with 186 students from EPSD schools. Students from every school in the EPSD attended. The program saw an increase in the attendance by high school students and aims to teach kids how to read for fun, not just work.

The Emmaus library also worked with Animal Behavior and Conservation Connection to offer the Birds in Flight program which involved over 200 adults and kids in education and conservation of many birds including white shoulder hawks, conures and turkey vultures. The library was also awarded a grant from Read USA for Communications in America. Because the Emmaus library is the leader for the Read USA Communications in America team, they are using the grant to get kids involved in looking at what is good in the Lehigh Valley. It is part of What’s Good Pennsylvania and locally What’s Good Emmaus and encourages kids to tag good things on social media with the hashtag #WhatsGoodEmmaus. The program will continue throughout the year.

The EPSD State Assessment Summary was presented by Assistant Superintendent Kristen Campbell, Supervisor of Secondary Curriculum Laura Witman and Supervisor of Elementary Curriculum Michele James. The assessment aims to measure the students’ knowledge and skills at a national level and compares the EPSD with similar districts statewide.

The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment and Keystone exams are standardized assessments used currently by the EPSD. The assessments look at English as a Second Language, mathematics, science and developmental reading. The PSSA is an annual assessment administered in classrooms in grades three through eight and in English language arts and mathematics.

Pennsylvania adopted more rigorous PA Core Standards in late 2013 and the 2015 PSSA marks the first time the assessment was fully-aligned to the standards.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education website, “These new, more rigorous standards aim to better prepare students for the 21st century work force.”

Assessment scores represent a snapshot in time of student performance and are not considered the sole indicator of student achievement. Standardized assessments, like the PSSA, help Pennsylvania meet federal and state requirements, as well as provide educators, stakeholders and policymakers with important information about the students and schools, and inform instructional practices.

The Keystone exams are end-of-course assessments designed to assess proficiency in the subject areas of algebra I, algebra II, geometry, literature, English composition, biology, chemistry, U.S. history, world history and civics and government.

The Keystone exams are one component of Pennsylvania’s new system of high school graduation requirements. Keystone Exams will help school districts guide students toward meeting state standards.

The students in grades nine and 10 have a Keystone exam graduation requirement which is a concern because while the EPSD has a tradition of high test scores, the scores for first time exam takers in grades nine and 10 have a fair percentage of students needing to retake or re-mediate the examination as a requirement for graduation.

In overall results concerning both examinations, the EPSD is well above the state average and the EPSD has been improving at various levels on those tests; however, when compared to schools of similar demographics, the EPSD is underperforming in mathematics and ELA. The differential is larger in math than ELA.

EPSD also is behind all but two of the compared school districts in the percentage of SAT scores 1550 or higher by more than 10 percent. The EPSD also has the lowest graduation requirements compared to the similar schools examined.

The full report will be available Nov. 3 on the Pennsylvania Value Added Assessment System public website. PVAAS is a statistical analysis of Pennsylvania state assessment data, and provides Pennsylvania districts and schools with growth data to add to achievement data. This lens of measuring student learning provides educators with valuable information to ensure they are meeting the academic needs of groups of students, as well as individual students.

PVAAS is one of the tools provided to districts from PDE. Districts, schools and teachers are using PVAAS (growth data), in conjunction with achievement data, to make sure students are on the path to proficiency and beyond.

Utilizing all the data available (growth and achievement), educators are able to make data-informed instructional decisions to ensure the academic growth and achievement of all students. To augment the test performance of the EPSD, the assessment summary recommends curriculum revision to math and literature sooner than originally scheduled. The original curriculum revision is scheduled such that mathematics would receive a revision starting in 2019. The recommendation is for a committee to be formed now through 2017, a pilot of the grade six program be formed 2017 to 2018 and the addition of an AP science principles course be added to the roster.

ELA will be augmented by the addition of an AP language and composition course and science will receive Honors STEM physics, as well as global scientific inquiry as added courses available to students.

Director Charles Ballard questioned the Keystone graduation requirement, stating Governor Tom Wolf signed a bill earlier this year so the Keystone exams would be held in advance for two years. It is the understanding of the summary the requirement is still in place for ninth and 10th grades for 2016.

Superintendent Dr. Michael Schilder recommended that while the state figures out the recent developments in regard to the Keystone examination’s graduation requirement, the school district go forward with preparations so students and faculty are not left scrambling if the district were to halt preparations and the exam were to still be required. Schilder also cautioned “we test too much... however, I would never go so far as to say we should never test at all. We need testing results and when you have testing results, you need to handle it responsibly and compare them to benchmark districts.”

It was noted Emmaus High School student Carson Landis set a new football field goal record of 42 yards.

Personnel matters were motioned by Ballard, seconded by Ziad Munson and adopted by unanimous roll.

The board approved the estimated expenses for the individuals attending the educational conferences, motioned by Director Paul Champagne, seconded by Ballard and adopted by unanimous roll.

The third and final reading and adoption of board policy series 300 was motioned by Director Ken Bacher, seconded by Ballard and adopted by unanimous roll.

The legislative report provided by Ballard was limited due to the inactivity of senate, who met only three days this week and will likely be unable to get any bills passed that have been presented for the remainder of this legislative year. House Bill 993 would reverse the ability for school boards to perform reverse assessment appeals, which was supposedly taken off the agenda, but was supposedly put back on the agenda. Ballard urged residents and members to call their local senator and congressman and ask they vote against the bill to keep Pennsylvania a fair playing field against everyone else doing assessment appeals.

There was an executive session 7 p.m. Sept. 26 prior to the regular board meeting.

A special board meeting will be held 6 p.m. Oct. 10 to interview the board vacancy candidates; three applications for the board vacancy were received.

The next regular board meeting will be 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10.