(The Center Square) – As the dust finally settles around the state budget, the Pennsylvania Department of Education has announced the results of assessments for last school year.
Results of the tests and the state’s Future Ready Index were mixed with strong attendance and math gains but decreases in performance in language arts, literature and biology.
“Assessments give educators information they need to understand student progress and to direct support where it is needed most,” said Acting Secretary of Education Dr. Carrie Rowe. “This year, the data shows that Pennsylvania’s targeted investments in education have resulted in more students attending school regularly, graduating on time, and leaving school equipped with the skills to choose a good career and chart their own course in life.”
The assessments are broken into two categories. PSSAs evaluate students’ English and math skills between third and eighth grade with the addition of science in fifth and eighth. Keystone exams are given to high schoolers completing algebra, biology and literature.
PSSA scores in math rose from 40.2% to 41.7% English and language arts dropped from 53.9% to 49.9%. Science scores weren’t recorded due to a change in state standards.
In the Keystone exams, generally taken by high school juniors, Algebra proficiency rates increased from 41.6% to 44.3%. Literature and biology assessments both dropped 1.1%, from 63.2% to 62.1% and 50.5% to 49.4%, respectively.
Areas where more than half the state’s students scored “proficient or above” were Keystone’s literature at 62.1%, sixth grade English language arts at 50.8%, third grade math at 53.6%, and fourth grade math at 50.6%.
The lowest performances were in middle school math. Sixth grade students ranked at just 37.8%. Seventh grade came in at 33.7%. Eight grade students were at 30.5%.
Four-year graduation and attendance rates both made modest gains to 88% and 79.6% respectively. The state’s Career Standards Benchmark, which requires students to hit milestones planning toward their future, remained stable at 91.3 percent.
“While we see progress, we are focused on raising these scores by working closely with Pennsylvania school districts to ensure teachers have access to the best possible training and professional development, increasing support for structured literacy in our classrooms, raising awareness of the effectiveness of the PA Firefly benchmarking tool, and examining whether or not Pennsylvania’s current state standards – some of which have not been updated in more than a decade – still align with the skills and knowledge students really need to succeed in the classroom and beyond,” said Rowe.
The new budget marked a big win for legislators seeking to make curriculum-based improvements to the state’s education system. Ten million dollars will go toward implementing structured literacy, or “the science of reading,” in schools.
At signing, Gov. Josh Shapiro said, “For our youngest students, this budget invests in something known as structured literacy, which puts a renewed emphasis on teaching them to read well – and training our teachers to teach reading effectively.”
Struggling schools will also see a $565 million investment toward righting inequities created by the state’s former basic education funding. During last year’s appropriations hearings, lawmakers were already impatient to see results from the new funding formula, questioning the system’s ability to come back from past failures.
Parents and community members can view detailed reports about their districts at the state’s Future Ready Index.
