The measuring stick for public schools in Pennsylvania is the School Performance Profile. Locally, 28 out of 35 school buildings scored above 70.0, the number tabbed for acceptable achievement, according to results recently released by the state.

Jim Thorpe Area High School was the highest scoring school in the area at 88.2."Our high school was a standout and did a fine job, while our elementary schools dipped a little bit," Jim Thorpe Superintendent Brian Gasper said. "We have looked at the data we have and we'll work to address the areas of concern in our elementary schools. We're always assessing the progress of our students so that they can be educated at the optimum level."The seven schools scoring below 70.0 were L.B. Morris Elementary School (69.0) in the Jim Thorpe School District; S.S. Palmer Elementary School (69.7) and Palmerton Area High School (58.9) in the Palmerton Area School District; Panther Valley Elementary School (57.4), Panther Valley Middle School (64.1) and Panther Valley High School (64.3) in the Panther Valley School District; and Weatherly Area Senior High School (56.7) in the Weatherly School District.A dip in a school's SPP score, Gasper noted, doesn't necessarily mean students aren't performing well."It's a combination of performance and growth," he said. "For example, around 70 percent of our elementary school students are proficient in reading. That's a very good score, but they may not have had the growth from the year before. You set a bar and then you have to continue to grow."What is the School Performance Profile?The SPP replaces Adequate Yearly Progress and is measured largely on scores from the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams. Scores on other assessment tests, academic growth, attendance, graduation rates and participation in Advanced Placement courses also play a role in the scores.While the SPP is what the public grades schools on, Gasper doesn't wholeheartedly believe that is the only way to measure performance."It is just one data point," he said. "We get a baseline for students and then we use benchmarking tools throughout the year. In the end though, we are satisfied with our scores and hope the trend continues in the positive direction."Gasper said to his knowledge, there is no correlation between the SPP scores and how much funding districts receive.This is the second year SPP scores have been used in the state.Statewide resultsAccording to acting Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Carolyn Dumaresq, 72 percent of the state's 2,947 public school buildings scored 70 or higher."I am pleased that our students and educators continue to meet the challenges of a more rigorous academic program and I congratulate them for a job well-done," she said.Districts had been waiting quite some time for the profile scores after their release was initially delayed.The Department of Education attributed that to verifying and correcting information due to this being the first year student growth data for individual teachers was used in the new educator evaluation system.Based on a scale of 100, the average SPP score for traditional public schools in Pennsylvania was 76.9.Local technical school top in its classCarbon Career & Technical Institute's score increased from the previous year."We are proud to announce that our SPP academic score for the 2013-14 school year rose 3.7 percentage points to 79.2," CCTI Administrative Director Dave Reinbold and Principal Brent Borzak said in a statement.Of the 18 comprehensive career and technical schools in Pennsylvania, CCTI's score is the highest in the state. The score also compares favorably to all high school buildings throughout the county and state."Last year we studied the elements that were used to determine our score and developed plans to raise the score in the future," Reinbold and Borzak said. "We revised our curricula, master schedule and delivery systems, and worked as a team to maintain our high standards for grading, attendance and work ethic."Because growth from year to year is part of the scoring formula, Reinbold said CCTI would continue to look to the future."Maybe now we look at smaller class sizes, and that might mean more teaching assignments or bringing in additional staff, but we want to keep giving our students the opportunity to succeed."Lehighton achieves full proficiencySimilarly, Lehighton Area School District Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said he was pleased with the SPP results for his buildings."In the county, seven buildings improved their score from the 2012-13 school year and I'm proud to say Lehighton represented four of them," Cleaver said. "It's a great accomplishment for our district."Charter schools strugglePennsylvania's cyber charter schools, however, did not score well. Scores ranged from 66.0 for 21st Century Cyber Charter School to 28.9 for ACT Academy Cyber Charter School."While we are heartened that our overall 55.5 score on the SPP surpasses the majority of cyber charter schools across the state, we have initiated changes to our curriculum and instructional model this school year in an effort to significantly increase our students' academic performance moving forward," said Dr. Michael J. Conti, Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School chief executive officer. "It's always challenging to help our students excel academically in an atmosphere where a very high percentage of them are new to our school, but we continue to make inroads to overcoming them, and are hopeful our scores will reflect those changes on future profiles."