Northern Lehigh School District students have fared well on this year's School Performance Profile Score.

Assistant Superintendent Karen Nicholas shared the results of the scores with the school board last week.Nicholas told the board that the district's score was 77.5, which came in just below that of last year's 77.8 score.She said the state arrives at the school performance profile score by using several criteria.It's based on a 100-point scale, with a grade of 70 or below signaling the need for improvements, and that 80 percent of the score is based on the Keystone Exams, Nicholas said.The other factors are attendance rates, graduation rates, college readiness tests, and industry-standards based assessments, she said.Nicholas noted that former Gov. Tom Corbett's administration called the school performance profile scores an accurate gauge of how each school was performing.However, Nicholas said that Gov. Tom Wolf is now hinting that possible changes could come with the Keystone Exams and SPPS.The state is also re-examining the PSSAs, which are administered to students in grades three through eight, she said.Nicholas also reminded the board that the Pennsylvania Department of Education received a one-year waiver from the U.S. Department of Education from using the PSSAs to rate schools and evaluate teachers.Bulldog BlockAlso as part of her report, Nicholas reviewed the purpose of the Bulldog Block.She explained the courses/activities that are available, and said it was created to remediate the students who did not pass the Keystone Exams.Nicholas said the students have two opportunities to pass the Keystone Exams, and if they do not pass the exams after the second time, they are required to take the project-based assessment.Bulldog Block offers the time period in which students are able to receive that remediation, she said.For students that have already passed the Keystone Exams, the block offers opportunities for enrichment or other activities of their choosing.