August Newsflash
District cheers rise in PSSA scores while eyeing more progress
Philadelphia School District officials are celebrating Philadelphia's rate of improvement on the state's standardized test, the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). About 30 percent of the District's fifth, eighth, and eleventh graders scored advanced or proficient in reading and math on this spring's test, with overall scores growing by six points over last year.
Test score gains of five percent or more are generally considered to be statistically significant, according to the District's outgoing academic chief, Joseph Jacovino.
Philadelphia's gains on the PSSA exceeded statewide gains, as has often been the case since the test was instituted in Pennsylvania in 1995.
The rise in scores over last year was highest for eighth graders. The percent of eighth grade students scoring advanced or proficient in both reading and math grew by 11 points on average. The percent of advanced or proficient fifth graders rose six points in reading and seven points in math.
Both fifth and eighth grades also saw significant decreases in the percentage of students scoring below basic, the PSSA's lowest performance level.
Eleventh grade test scores, however, were stagnant. In reading, the number of advanced or proficient students dropped by more than three points over last year. While in math there was only a one-point increase in students reaching advanced or proficient levels.
Expressing confidence that the progress can be extended to high schools, District CEO Paul Vallas lauded the overall gains on the PSSA. He also acknowledged that the District has a long way to go to ensure all students are scoring at advanced and proficient levels.
"We saw great growth at the grades that were part of the managed instructional system," Vallas told reporters at a July press briefing. "Next year when the managed instructional programs are extended through 11th grade, I think you're going to see a similar boost at the 11th grade level."
Jolley Bruce Christman, senior research associate with the local organization Research for Action says the test score gains are worth celebrating.
But "this is only one indicator of student performance," Christman pointed out, urging District officials to consider other indicators such as dropout, graduation, and college-going rates when measuring progress.
Ultimately, sustaining this year's gains on the PSSA will be key to improving student achievement throughout the District, said Christman.
"What we're all interested in is consistent, long-term improvement," she said.
PSSA results reveal that a significant racial "opportunity gap" persists among students in the District. While 55 percent of White students scored proficient or advanced in reading, the figure drops to 29 percent for Black students and to 26 percent for Latino students. Asian students, however, scored proficient or advanced in reading at just 4 percent below their White counterparts. For Black and Latino students, the gap narrowed this year in reading, but widened in math when compared to Whites.
While the citywide PSSA results were released in late July, a school-by-school breakdown of test scores will not be available until mid-August. Vallas said he expects at least 125 schools (up from last year's 58) to make federally-mandated "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) this year. This increase in proficiency in reading and math is required under the 2002 'No Child Left Behind' law.
Under 'No Child Left Behind', 79 of the District's "Corrective Action II" schools - which have failed to make AYP for five consecutive years - could face a management overhaul if they failed to meet state achievement goals on the 2003-04 PSSA. District officials say that the other 81 Philadelphia schools in "Corrective Action II" have already undergone a management overhaul as part of the state takeover.
"Some schools that will remain in Corrective Action II might have made real improvement, while other schools may not have made any improvement at all," said Vallas. "We're going to have to disaggregate that data to make that determination."