“That’s how we roll,” said Andrea Brown jokingly. “The Three Amigos,” Geraldine Abrams quickly snapped. “Yes!” said Leah McCord in agreement. The women, in harmony, chuckled and finished reviewing their preliminary Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) data, which was released by Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) on September 9th at an Education Committee Meeting.
Geraldine Abrams, Andrea Brown, and Leah McCord all have decades of experience in teaching and school administration.
Now, all three African American women have instantly developed a “sisterly” bond to work towards creating an equitable, enriched learning environment for all 565 kids at Pittsburgh King K-8.
Principal Leah McCord, the newest member of the team, relies on her assistant principals because “they have the pulse of the community, relationships with families, insight, and productive information.”
Abrams and Brown, who have been friends since 1971, warmly welcomed McCord in May when she was slated to become the school’s next principal. “We agree on everything,” said Brown, who became a PPS teacher in 1990, “and through discussions, we feed off of each other to decide what is best for the children and school.”
This month the district shared preliminary student achievement results, showing significant gains for the North Side school.
In Science, Pittsburgh King’s fourth graders achieved the second highest gains in proficiency, moving up 25.3 percentage points. In Mathematics, 4th – 8th graders (excluding 7th grade) also showed double digit gains in scoring proficient on the latest PSSA test. In Reading, 3rd and 4th graders showed double digit gains in proficiency.
Pittsburgh King’s 4th graders, who are current 5th graders, showed double digit gains in all three subjects- Reading, Science, and Math.
One of the District’s three goals is the elimination of racial disparities in academic achievement and the District’s third largest K-8 school showed the greatest improvements in proficient scores for African -American students in mathematics. With a 17.2 % gain, Pittsburgh King’s African-American students scoring proficient or advanced in math, increased from 30.1% in 2013 to 47.3% in 2014. For reading, the percentage of African-American students scoring proficient or advanced increased from 21.9% in 2013 to 33.5% in 2014.
“We started looking at data from the beginning,” said Abrams, who joined PPS in 1988, “and set realistic achievement goals.” Last year, Pittsburgh King created intervention groups, closely monitored student progress, and rewarded students with pep rallies, ice cream socials, and Olympic-themed goal parties.
The administration also rewarded the staff with meeting recognitions and, earlier this month, a teacher’s lounge equipped with brand new furniture and appliances purchased by the trio with their own money.
The rewards and growth in test scores play a bigger role in eliminating the way other people see Pittsburgh King. “These findings diffuse some of the negative energy the families or communities may have about the school,” said Abrams.
Abrams is excited for the students, stating, “they now have confidence in test taking from seeing what they have already accomplished.”
McCord and Brown agreed with her statement.
Pittsburgh King plans to increase the number of identified Gifted students, further expose the children to neighboring resources like the Children’s Museum, and through a three-year plan, introduce an Algebra class to 8th grade students.
The school also plans to maintain their current test preparations and equity work that were started by former principal, Dr. Shana Nelson and continue using data to shape interventions. “We are excited with our newly formed data team. The focus of the school data team will be to assist teachers in having a deep understanding of data and how to conduct data mining,” said McCord.
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