In late December the Pittsburgh Promise Program secured a corporate grant from BNY Mellon.  The $500,000 gift is the Program's second largest corporate donation, trailing only UPMC's pledge of $100 million.  While corporations are certainly allowed to donate money as they see fit, we question whether they are doing a lot of good with the Pittsburgh Promise contribution-especially when compared to other worthy education grant opportunities.

They should be asking tough questions. Has the promise of college scholarship money led to academic improvement among students moving through the Pittsburgh public high schools? And has the Promise resulted in an increase in the number of juniors and seniors enrolled in Pittsburgh's public schools eager to take advantage of the program?

The Pittsburgh Promise was announced in December 2006 and made its first scholarships available to the class of 2008.  The criteria to receive Promise funds are that the student: (1) attends one of the school district's high schools since at least the ninth grade, (2) has an attendance record of at least 90 percent and (3) maintains a 2.5 grade point average.  Accomplish these modest goals and the student is eligible for up to $5,000 per year for four years to apply toward the college expenses at any number of Pennsylvania public and private institutions of higher learning.  This of course means the student will have to be accepted into either a two or four year program. Many Pennsylvania colleges and universities require the student take the SAT exam.

Academic Performance Slips

In 2005, the beginning of Superintendent Roosevelt's tenure, the average SAT score for all high schools was 900 (combined math and reading score), lower than the national score of 1028.  For 2009 the combined score had dropped to 879-the national score was 1016. Surely, the creators of the Promise Program had assumed the guarantee of scholarship money would cause SAT scores to rise. But a look across the ten high schools shows that since 2005, eight high schools have seen their total SAT scores fall-only Westinghouse and CAPA (Creative and Performing Arts) posted increases. 

Some of the schools' combined test score declines were rather substantial, including Allderdice, Langley and Oliver. In a further disappointment, nine of ten schools lost ground on the verbal portion with only CAPA registering a gain. Even more distressing is that six of the schools actually had lower scores in 2008-09 than in 2001-02-simply amazing considering the extraordinary level of expenditures per student in the City.  Consider too, that only four of the district's ten high schools posted average combined SAT scores greater than 900 with Allderdice the highest at 1039, just above the national average, while three schools were below 800 and one was just above 800.

One would have expected the opportunity to qualify for scholarship money to spur a jump in the percentage of students taking the SAT test. However, the number of students taking the college entrance exam fell from nearly 1,100 in 2005 to just over 900 in 2009.  This decline of 17 percent closely approximates the 16 percent decline in the District's total number of eleventh and twelfth graders.  The SAT participation rate has not changed much District wide-25.9 percent (test takers divided by number of junior and seniors enrolled) took the exam in 2005 while 25.6 percent did so in 2009.  Stunningly, four of the City's ten high schools have posted declines in their SAT participation rates since 2005.

Here's another question. Has the guarantee of a college subsidy had any measureable effect on PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) scores for eleventh graders?  After all, if college has been made more affordable by the Pittsburgh Promise, students who have been underperforming should have an extra incentive to perform better academically.  Since 2005 the percentage of eleventh grade students scoring proficient or higher in reading has increased in only four of the ten Pittsburgh high schools.  Moreover, only four schools in 2009 had more than fifty percent (and two of those just barely above 50 percent) of their eleventh graders score proficient or higher in reading-not an encouraging figure. Surprisingly, Allderdice, long a top performer in the City, recorded significantly large drops in the percentage of students scoring proficient or better on both reading and math.

From 2005 to 2009, just two of the District's high schools experienced a decline in the percentage of students scoring proficient or better on the math section of the PSSA test.  While this may seem to be welcome news, it must be pointed out that only two schools have 50 percent or more of their eleventh graders scoring proficient or better in math.  Meanwhile, three schools have only 20 percent or lower showing proficiency or better in math. A fourth is only at 34 percent with the remaining schools in the 40 to 50 percent range. And while Westinghouse math scoring improved, a still scandalously low 13 percent of students managed to reach proficient or higher.

Bear in mind these are the students who will be graduating in a year and either embarking on post-secondary education or entering the workforce.  The academic showing at most of the high schools does not bode well for students' success in either pursuit.  

This analysis raises another important question. Are we seeing some unintended consequences of the Promise Program?  Has the guarantee of college money from the District removed some of the incentive to work hard to earn scholarships through normal merit based selection sources?  After all, the main qualifications for the Promise Program are a 2.5 grade point average and a 90 percent attendance record.  A 2.5 grade point average is hardly a bar set high. It is not unreasonable to argue that students who are safely above the minimal qualifying criteria but not expecting to apply to the top tier schools could well slack off a bit.  It would have been far better to insist on hitting the national average SAT score for example.  And even that could have negative unintended consequences for students who could reach an 1150 score with a little extra effort.

Enrollment Still Falling

Presumably, the goals of the Promise program are two-fold:  to reverse the long-term trend of falling enrollment in Pittsburgh Public Schools and to improve the academic performance of its students.  By all accounts, the early returns are not encouraging. 

First, school enrollment has continued its decades' long downward slide. Since the Promise Program was unveiled in 2006, the District's overall student count has fallen from just under 30,000 to just above 26,000 with the eleventh and twelfth grade enrollment down by 500. And these are the students closest to benefitting from the Promise's largess incentive.  The obvious question has to be: Why would a parent move in to the City in order to put, say, a third grade student in the Pittsburgh public schools so as to qualify for a scholarship nine years later-and by so doing force the child to endure a subpar educational experience for nine years compared to most suburban districts?  Most parents recognize the need for education to take place throughout their school years if a child is to become ready for college or a decent career path. 

And secondly, academic performance shows no sign of significant overall improvement and has actually slipped at several schools. Indeed, SAT scores at most of the District's high schools are lower now than they were in 2005 and for the majority of schools, the test scores were pathetically low.

Challenge to Promise Donors

For the third year, we issue our challenge to the Promise funders and the Pittsburgh school district. Create a scholarship fund that will provide $10,000 per year for any student whose parents would like to choose a non-public K-12 school for their child's education.   That's half what the City schools spend on average.  Students using the scholarship funds would give up any claim to the Promise college scholarships.  The level of interest in such a program would give the community a fair assessment of what parents really want to see in the way of education reform.  What's to lose?  It cannot be any worse than what exists now and we will likely see significant education gains for a change.

An independent consultant hired by Pittsburgh Public Schools to study facility usage recommended closing 16 buildings and reconfiguring another 19 of the District's 70 facilities. The recommendations are based on a projected further 4,500 drop in enrollment by school year 2018-2019.  

The superintendent agreed with the findings and said, "excess building capacity is consuming taxpayer dollars that otherwise could be used to improve educational opportunities for students..."  But the underlying issue is why Pittsburgh families have abandoned the Pittsburgh Public Schools by leaving the City or finding alternative education opportunities for their children.  The heavy enrollment losses have occurred despite enormous efforts and expenditures by the District and civic supporters.

Enrollment in the District has been falling for many years. In the 2000-2001 school year enrollment was 38,500.  For the 2009-2010 school year enrollment has dropped more than 32 percent to roughly 26,123-a loss of more than 12,400 students since 2000-2001. The consultant's estimate of a decline 4,500 students over the next nine years would represent a 16 percent drop-half the percentage decline of the previous nine years.  Whether the forecast is optimistic remains to be seen.

The expected future enrollment slide was the principal reason for the creation of the Pittsburgh Promise college scholarship program.  Hoping to reverse the slide, the District, along with the Mayor and corporate leaders, promised all graduating students from the City a college scholarship if they met certain academic requirements.  This program was modeled after one in Kalamazoo, Michigan where enrollment after three years climbed by 15 percent.  It's been four years since the inception of Pittsburgh's Promise and enrollment has continued to fall, dropping 16 percent-the exact opposite of the Michigan experience. 

While the Superintendent has suggested the decline in enrollment is a result of the decline in City population, the facts don't support that contention. The City's enrollment has been dropping at a significantly faster rate than population. Since the last census, Pittsburgh has lost 7.3 percent of its population while District enrollment fell at four times that rate.  There are explanations for this.  First, families with children are moving out at a disproportionately faster rate than families without school age children or individuals with no children. Second, increasing numbers of parents are choosing non-public schools or home schooling.  

How will the abandonment of Pittsburgh Public Schools affect academic performance?  SAT results for Pittsburgh students shows there has been virtually no improvement in scores.  The average combined reading and math scores stood at 873 in 2001 before edging up to 895 in 2006.  However, in 2009 scores had fallen back to 879-so much for progress as school press releases and news conferences have attempted to portray.  In some of the District's high schools, scores are still well below 800.  Bear in mind that the average national scores during this time were over 1,000 and average scores for Pennsylvania students were around 1,000. 

Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test scores show similar results.  For 2009, 50 percent of the District's eleventh graders scored below proficient level in reading while 57 percent did so in math.  In 2006, those numbers were 49.1 percent and 59.8 percent respectively in reading and math.  It's very clear that academic achievement is languishing, which may well account for a large share of the student exodus.  Unfortunately, as parents who are very concerned about education remove their children from City schools, there is a strong likelihood that academic achievement in City schools will suffer even more as enrollment continues its long slide.

Of course, with students leaving the District, it would be reasonable to assume expenditures would be falling or at least not growing.  Not in Pittsburgh.  At the beginning of the decade the District reported operating expenditures of roughly $415.5 million.  The most recent report for 2007-2008 shows those expenditures have grown by 29 percent to about $534.7 million.  On a per pupil basis expenditures have grown from $10,700 to more than $17,800-a 66 percent rise.  Undoubtedly, much of this increase stems from the reduction in enrollment, but it underscores the preposterously high cost of educating students in the District.  Assuming spending grows by an average 3 percent per year for the next nine years (a conservative forecast considering past growth and the big jump in pension payments coming in 2012) expenditures per student will reach a jaw dropping $31,000 per student.

The consultant's report estimates that by closing some schools and consolidating others, the District can achieve savings of over $300 million in maintenance costs over the next ten years.  Whether that will ever happen remains to be seen. In the meantime, the District continues to short change students and taxpayers. Recommendations of meaningful reforms such as school choice are squelched by the District and its apologists practically before they are uttered. One must wonder: How bad does it have to get before parents and taxpayers become fed up enough to do something about the long running fiasco that is the Pittsburgh Public School District other than moving out of the City?  Is it reasonable to expect Pittsburgh to ever achieve real stability and begin to grow as long as the school district is so corrosive of its economic underpinnings? 

While waxing ecstatic last month about the Pittsburgh school district's improving achievement scores in the 2008-2009 school year, the Superintendent studiously avoided a thorough discussion of some troublesome results that should have been of great concern.

First, the percentage of third graders scoring at the advanced or proficient level fell in both math and reading.  Generally speaking, because third graders are the earliest age group to be tested, they tend to have better scores.  By and large, they are more malleable and teachable than older children. They are also less exposed to negative social influences that hurt or discourage learning. Thus, to have third graders slipping backward on test scores is never good, especially when the percentage of students at proficient or advanced levels already trails the less than sterling statewide average for 3^rd graders by a substantial margin (15 percentage points in reading and 10 points in math).  

The second and even more worrisome development was the big drop in the percentage of 11^th graders scoring proficient or higher on the math exam. The number fell from 52.4 percent in 2007-2008 to 43.3 percent in the 2008-2009 school year.  Moreover, the latest result is only marginally higher than the 2004-2005 percentage achieving proficiency status. And making matters worse, on the reading exam 11^th graders had a slightly lower percentage scoring at the proficient level than four years earlier-50.7 percent compared to 51.1 percent in 2004-2005.

What's more, 11^th graders in Pittsburgh compare unfavorably to statewide results in both math and reading.  The 2008-2009 statewide percentages of 11^th graders scoring proficient or better stood at 56 percent in math and 65.6 percent in reading putting the state as a whole 13 points higher in math and 15 points higher in reading.  But it gets worse. Consider the scores in the North Allegheny district for 2007-2008 (2008-2009 data not yet released) compared to Pittsburgh's. North Allegheny's 11^th grade had 90 percent of test takers score proficient or advanced in math compared to Pittsburgh's latest posting of just 43 percent. On the reading exam, 94.2 percent of North Allegheny 11^th graders scored proficient or advanced in contrast to 50.7 percent in Pittsburgh.  These gaps are nothing short of stunning, especially in light of the per student current operating expenditures in the two districts for the 2007-2008 school - just under $18,000 in Pittsburgh and just below $12,000 in North Allegheny, making Pittsburgh expenditures $6,000 per student or 50 percent higher.  

A more meaningful comparison of the education taking place in the two districts can be obtained by contrasting the percentages of students who score at the advanced level as opposed to looking at the combined proficient and advanced percentage. On the reading exam, where 11^th grade Pittsburgh students recorded virtually the same score in 2008-2009 as in 2007-2008,  24 percent of Pittsburgh 11^th graders reached the advanced level in 2007-2008. At the same time, 70 percent of North Allegheny students scored at the advanced level-46 points above or almost triple the percentage in Pittsburgh.

For all grades tested, North Allegheny's advanced level average for reading was 61.9 percent compared to 21.4 percent in Pittsburgh. On the math exams, the average advanced level percentage for all grades in North Allegheny averaged 70.2 percent compared to Pittsburgh's 30.6 percent. In both cases, the disparity is 40 percentage points. Clearly, the districts are light years apart in educational achievement of their students.

There is another set of shocking achievement test findings that point to serious deficiencies in Pittsburgh's education of its children. In the 2007-2008 school year only 19.4 percent of Pittsburgh school district 11^th graders scored at proficient or better on the science exam. And more appalling, only 5.6 percent of African-American students managed a proficient level score. Granted the science exam is the toughest PSSA exam the students take as indicated by the relatively low numbers attaining a proficient or advanced score across the state with 35.7 percent of 11^th graders statewide scoring proficient or advanced. However, much better scoring is possible as demonstrated by 11^th graders at Mt. Lebanon (71.8 percent) and Upper Saint Clair (72.2 percent) who scored twice as high as the statewide performance.

In sum, it is fair to say that after several years of spending nearly $20,000 per pupil and launching new programs to assist high school students, the results for Pittsburgh's 11^th graders are nothing short of pathetic.  Last year's 11^th graders -on average-are no better prepared to graduate and go into the work force or enroll in college than Pittsburgh's 11^th graders five years ago. Certainly, the chances of pursuing science or engineering careers seem very bleak for the overwhelming majority of these students. What a disgrace and indictment of the school system, the City's residents and its elected officials for endlessly tolerating such an outrage. And what a masterstroke sleight of hand by the Superintendent to divert media and public attention away from this educational fiasco.

These latest results, when widely publicized and explained, will certainly not help the district convince parents to keep their kids in Pittsburgh's schools, especially its high schools.  Undoubtedly, to prevent further abandonment of the City's schools, the bribe program called Pittsburgh Promise will have to be expanded in some manner to create more immediate benefits. Waiting to claim tuition benefits several years down the road might not be enough to hold people.

Perhaps some Federal program will provide grant money to create an expanded and immediate benefits scheme for students and parents who stay with the underperforming school system. After all, stopping enrollment decline and returning to growth appears to be the district's primary objective-that and expanding per pupil expenditures each year. 

11 Things Every Successful Website Needs
By Merle (c) 2009 (http://MerlesWorld.com) 

So you've put together a spectacular website, and you're ready to go live on the Internet for the whole world
to see. Not so fast there Bucky. In case you didn't know, there are a few essential requirements that every site
needs to include in order to be successful.

Let's review, shall we:

1) Privacy Policy/Disclaimer: Now, I'm not a lawyer and
don't claim to be one, but these two documents should be
standard issue for every site you have. People want to
know how you're going to use their personal information,
and a "privacy policy" does just that.

In today's litigious society you'll also need to include
a disclaimer/terms of use page. This protects you and
spells out to your visitors what they're agreeing to by
using your website. If you don't know where to start in
generating these documents, you'll find plenty of help
online.

DMA Privacy Policy Generator
http://www.dmaresponsibility.org/PPG/

OECD Privacy Statement Generator
http://tinyurl.com/5plgpc

Google Adsense & other Ad Networks Privacy Policy Generator
http://www.serprank.com/privacy-policy-generator/index.php

Privacy Policy Generator
http://www.freeprivacypolicy.com/

Free Site Disclaimer
http://www.easyriver.com/free_disclaimer.htm

This is not legal advice, and if you need help in this
department, consult with a local attorney.

2) Contact Us Information: I can't tell you how many sites I've
been to that fail to include a way to contact the owner. If
you can't include a phone number, at the very least have an
email address or a "contact us" form. By providing this
information, you'll make your visitors feel more comfortable
knowing there's a way to reach you should the need arise.

If you need a form and don't know how to create your own,
try one of these free form services.

Bravenet: http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/emailfwd/

Freedback: http://freedback.com/

Email Me: http://www.emailmeform.com/


3) Search Box/Site Map: If your site is rather large,
you'll also want to include a way to search, or have what
is called a "site map". There are many ways to add a
search function to your site, the easiest being to
use Google's free service at-
http://www.google.com/sitesearch/

or try PicoSearch: http://www.picosearch.com/

A site map sounds technical, but it's just one web
page that contains links to every page of your site,
usually broken down by category. Here are some
resources to help.

FreeFind: http://www.freefind.com/

4) Google Analytics/Tracking System: Once your site is
up and running you'll want to keep your eye on traffic.
Who's visiting your website, what pages are the most
popular, where is the traffic coming from. All of these
questions and more can be answered by using a good
analytics program.

There are several ways to add a thorough tracking system
to your site, but the easiest and one that won't cost
you a dime is Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics/)
Once registered, you can add as many sites as you like all
under one user ID and password. You'll be given some
code to copy and paste on your pages. Simple, easy, and
you're done.

5) Newsletter Sign Up/RSS Feed: There's an old saying
that people won't buy from you the very first time they
come to your website, so you need a way to stay in touch
with them to bring them back again and again. By offering
a newsletter, also known as an ezine, you'll be building
a list of possible prospects which is invaluable to any
site owner.

You'll find a multitude of free and low cost newsletter
services online. It's up to you, depending on your needs
and what you can afford. If you don't want to pay anything,
my favorite free services are:

FreeAutoBot: http://www.FreeAutoBot.com
Yahoo Groups: http://www.yahoo.com/groups

You can also offer an RSS feed for your newsletter, or
updates to your blog or site. This makes it easy for
others to keep up with your most recent posts. The
best service for this is...

FeedBurner: http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home

6) Consistent Navigation: This might sound like a no
brainer, but many folks get it wrong. No matter what
type of menu system you decide upon, make sure it stays
the same across the board on all pages of your site.

Your job is to guide your visitors through your website,
making sure they always know where they are and how to
get to where they need to go.

For more see:

Eye on Web: http://tinyurl.com/dyh9fm

Web Page Mistakes:
http://www.webpagemistakes.ca/website-navigation/

7) Search Engine Optimized Copy: At first glance you might
not think this is so important, but trust me it is. You
want your pages to rank well with the search engines and
there are a few steps you can take to ensure this happens.

Each page of your website should be optimized for 2,
or at the  most 3 keywords/phrases. Weave the keywords
into your titles and into the body of each page. You
can also include them in your image titles, alt tags,
even in the names you give your pages. Look at each
page individually and decide what it's about, then optimize
accordingly.

For help see:

MarketLeap: http://tinyurl.com/ce8ffd
CopyBlogger: http://www.copyblogger.com/seo-copywriting/

8) Social Media Share Button: With the popularity of
social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace,
you'd be foolish not to include an easy way for your
content to be shared with others.

You'll find many free services that will give you the
code you need to instantly add a "share button" to
your web pages so that visitors can instantly share
them with their friends.

To generate your own buttons see:

AddThis: http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php

TwitThis: http://www.TwitThis.com


9) Meta Tags: Some may tell you that meta tags are
dead. Don't listen. Meta tags should be included
in your HTML code at the top of every page. Many
search engines  will read them to pull a description
to include in their search results.

Again, each page should be optimized separately and
have a unique title, keywords, and description tags.

For help see:

Submit Express: http://www.submitexpress.com/metatag.html
Submit Corner: http://www.submitcorner.com/Tools/Meta/

10) Copyright Notice: Sounds simple but forgotten by
many. All pages should include a copyright notice. If
you don't want to have to update it manually every year,
find a simple Javascript that will automatically do
it for you. You'll find one such script at:

Uncle Jims: http://jdstiles.com/java/copyright.html

11) Trust Seals/Testimonials: I grouped these two items
together as they both instil trust and confidence in
your visitors. Remember, when someone comes to your
website, they don't know who you are and if you're
selling something, they may not feel comfortable giving
out their credit card information. To help them feel
more "warm and fuzzy", include trust seals for any
organizations you belong to:

For example:

iCop: http://www.icop.net
BBB: http://www.bbb.org/us/Business-Accreditation/
Honest E Online: http://www.honesteonline.com/index.html

Also, if you have testimonials from happy customers, or
ezine subscribers, weave them into your site copy. People
always love to hear that others have had a happy experience
with your products/services. Make sure you get permission
first from the testimonial writers before placing them
on your website.

So there you have it  - my short list of what every site
needs to succeed online. Now that you're armed with
this information, get out the magnifying glasses and
take a close look at your own website to see what
may be missing.

It's not hard to create a website, but for one that
stands out head and shoulders above the rest, you
need to include these important elements. When you
launch your next site you want it to be successful,
not average. So what are you waiting for? You've
got a lot of work to do, so get busy.
===========================================================
Merle's Mission Blog - "Rants, Raves and Random Acts of
Kindness" a self proclaimed "Internet Junkie" with a
passion for net marketing, affiliate marketing, social
networking. An avid Blogger and writer with several niche
sites to her credit. Find out more at
http://merlesworld.blogspot.com/
===========================================================

Copyright � 2009 Jayde Online, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

SiteProNews is a registered service mark of Jayde Online, Inc.

The Issue:

The Pittsburgh Public School system is too expensive, with general fund expenditures of nearly $20,000 per pupil. For these outlays, taxpayers are not getting a decent return as the district’s pupils continue to rank near the bottom of academic achievement across the state. As a result of high taxes and poor academic performance, the district continues to lose students with enrollment falling below 27,000, from 38,500 in 2001. In order to reverse this trend, the City and the School District have embraced a college scholarship program called the Pittsburgh Promise.

What We Know:

Despite spending lots of money on a per student basis, only 53 percent of 11th graders scored proficient on state reading exams and 44 percent scored proficient on math exams. At some high schools the proficiency level is less than 20 percent.

The district is hemorrhaging enrollment at a greater rate than the continuing declines of the City of Pittsburgh. Parents of school age children are moving to other school districts or looking for private, religious, or charter school options for educating their children.

Now the City, the School District and the foundation community has launched the Pittsburgh Promise, a program that would guarantee college aid to City public school students who maintain a minimum grade point average and attend a pre-approved post- secondary institution. The program amounts to little less than a bribe and is a poor substitute for a quality education.

Recommendations:

There is a better way. Pittsburgh could make a bold statement by offering families in the District a $10,000 voucher (1/2 of what they are currently spending per student) to send children to the school of their choice. Parents opting to take the vouchers would obviously forgo any Promise scholarship funds for their child, so those who choose the $10,000 would clearly value education quality now above the Promise scholarship money that requires keeping their kids in Pittsburgh schools for many years. Does the District have the courage to try that experiment? Doubtful if the past is any guide.

More simply, they could also simply reduce per student outlays by $5,000 to a far more reasonable, but still high, $15,000. Based on an enrollment of 26,000, that reduction would free up $130 million for scholarships, vouchers, or an assortment of other programs without the unseemly necessity of going to foundations and corporations for additional money for education in a City that already spends far too much for far too little return.

Allegheny Institute References:

Adding Up the Costs of Pittsburgh School District’s Failures

Promises, Promises

A Pittsburgh Education Success Story

School Lessons from Milwaukee

Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth

The Ongoing Abandonment of Pittsburgh Public Schools