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Understanding why Pennsylvania schools are falling behind

A disturbing trend in education across Pennsylvania

The common understanding is that Pennsylvania schools are falling behind. The question is why that is the case. Few explanations could help us grasp the nature of the problem.

This post examines, albeit briefly here, a few issues, which might explain the reason certain schools across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are not meeting expected goals. Let us examine a few initiatives taken by State officials hoping to curb the current perception about Pennsylvania schools.

Why schools are falling behind in Pennsylvania?

Over the last few years, the consensus is that many Pennsylvania schools are not performing according to state expectations. Many schools, especially those in urban areas, predominantly in Philadelphia, are performing poorly. Despite several efforts designed to remediate the performance problem, some schools have fallen behind. What might be at the roots of this reality?

The debate is still growing about the cause [or the causes] for the state’s menial performance scorecard. However, the understanding is that most schools across the Commonwealth face leadership problems. Over the years, education officials have invested in efforts designed to make school leaders proficient.

Both State and local officials have relied on the idea that school leadership is the key to addressing the shortcomings of Pennsylvania schools. This is the best way, some are convinced, to solve the school performance problem. School officials have placed their hope on school professionals, chiefly school leaders, to make a difference in the classrooms.

The reliance on school professionals as a way to deal with both pedagogic and structural issues in education is not a recent phenomenon in Pennsylvania. In the late 1990s, the Commonwealth adopted a robust professional program. The goal was to develop strategies and techniques, which would make it easier for educational entities to have the best professionals in their roster. These initiatives were supposed to help strengthen professional standards in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership Standards

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania developed a few programs designed to help remediate the performance problem. Many of these initiatives were intended to help school entities accomplish their goals. It was perhaps a way for them to revamp schools across the Commonwealth.

Presently, the effects of these programs are unsettled. In some cases, the results are mixed about the effects of these initiatives. It is not clear whether they could help schools improve their performance. Considering that many schools across the Commonwealth had been struggling, there was a need to come up with a more effective approach.

School officials across Pennsylvania developed a program known as the Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership program, which is commonly known as the PIL Standards. Initially, the purpose of the program was to help local school leaders turn around failing schools. Another goal of the program (perhaps unstated) was to help school leaders make the best of available means to improve their school.

Did the Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership standards work? Did the PIL (PILS) meet highly anticipated expectations? I am not sure, for the debate is ongoing.

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