Rating school performance: A 2-day series

As part of an effort to draw a general picture of school performance in Western Pennsylvania, the Tribune-Review gathered state Department of Education statistics for public and charter schools in 143 districts from several databases.

The performance score for each district is the average of the School Performance Profile scores for each school in a district. The state assigns a profile score for each building, but not for the district as a whole.

The profile score — measured on a 100-point scale, with 70 generally considered acceptable — is based on several factors. Standardized test scores carry the most weight, but the score considers attendance, graduation and retention rates, and the percentage of gifted students, special-education students and experienced teachers.

Not all indicators apply to every school, even within the same district.

Per-pupil spending includes salaries for educators and support staff as well as transportation, building maintenance and other expenses.

The percentage of low-income students, an indicator of a district's poverty rate, refers to students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

Click on the stories in this package to see county-by-county school district and charter school performance data for Western Pennsylvania.

This project is the work of the Tribune-Review's intern class of 2015: Reporters Emily Balser, Point Park University; Matt Faye, Arizona State University; Katishi Maake, University of Maryland; Katherine Schaeffer, Kent State University; Wynston Wilcox, Ohio University; and Matthew Zabierek, University of Connecticut; graphics designer Alexa Miller, Ohio University; photographers Alexandria Polanosky and Nate Smallwood, Ohio University; and copy editor Phillip Poupore, Point Park University.