Phila. school test scores up for sixth straight year Posted on July 2nd
Philadelphia public schools’ test scores are up for a record sixth year in a row - but more than half of all students are still performing below grade level in math and reading.
Touting city children’s progress, school district officials yesterday released Pennsylvania System of School Assessment results. Students in third through eighth grade, plus 11th graders, take the exam in reading and math annually.
“At the end of the day, our children are learning more, and more are where they need to be in this 21st-century society,” Sandra Dungee Glenn, chairwoman of the School Reform Commission, said at a news conference announcing the scores.
In reading, scores were up four points to 45 percent of all students scoring advanced or proficient; math scores were up four points to 49 percent. Since the 2001-02 school year, reading scores have jumped 21 percentage points and math scores 29 percentage points.
The number of students who scored worst on the test this year - those in the “below basic” category - fell as well, with 31 percent below basic in math, down from 34 percent, and 33 percent below basic in reading, down from 37 percent.
Gains were seen across the board, with students in most grades and subjects boosting scores. Poor students, English-language learners, and students with disabilities also made strides.
District officials attributed the steady progress to a unified core curriculum, a focus on using data to show strengths and deficiencies in learning, and targeted professional development.
Still, gaps remain. White and Asian students still outperform African American and Latino students in reading and math. But the gaps are narrowing.
In reading, for instance, Latino students’ scores jumped to 38 percent proficient or advanced, up from 34 percent. In math, black students jumped to 43 percent proficient or advanced, from 39 percent.
Charter schools fared best, posting 52 percent of students proficient in math and 52 percent proficient in reading. District-run schools came next, with 51 percent proficient in math and 47 percent proficient in reading. Schools run by private managers had 31 percent of students proficient in reading and 35 percent proficient in math.
All three made gains, however, and the outside managers began with the district’s worst-performing schools in 2002.
The state is expected to release school-level results for all districts statewide later in the summer.
The news came as final details of the state budget were being hammered out in Harrisburg. Philadelphia is banking on $80 million in additional state aid toward its $2.3 billion spending plan.
“Harrisburg, I hope you’re paying attention,” said Greg Wade, president of the district’s Home and School Council, pointing to the improved scores.
Dungee Glenn nodded.
“The investments are yielding results,” she said. “The public is getting a return on its investment.”
Dungee Glenn said the district would continue to build on best practices and weed out things that are no longer working, focusing attention on the most troubled schools. Schools chief Arlene Ackerman, who was out of state yesterday, has said she would introduce a weighted funding formula that gave more resources to schools with needier populations.
Ackerman expressed her enthusiasm for the district’s progress in a statement.
“Any large, urban school system in America would be happy to claim a system-wide gain of this size,” she said.
Still, Dungee Glenn said, her celebration is tempered by the fact that the district of 166,000 students still has tens of thousands of children not meeting standards.
“The flip side of this is we have a long way to go,” she said.
Contact staff writer Kristen Graham at 215-854-5146 or kgraham@phillynews.com.