More than 72 percent of Pennsylvania students performing on grade level
HARRISBURG – A record number of Pennsylvania students are performing on grade level in reading and math, with increases seen across the board for the first time ever in all grades and subjects tested, Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak announced today.
The results released today come from the annual Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, known as the PSSA and given in reading and math in grades 3-8 and 11. Students who score “proficient” or “advanced” are considered to be performing on grade level.
Overall, nearly three-quarters of Pennsylvania students scored on grade level in reading and math in 2009. And as evidence of Pennsylvania’s sharp progress, over the last seven years the percent of students getting the lowest grade in math dropped by 63 percent in grade 5 and by 54 percent in grade 8.
Pennsylvania is even showing that success in middle school – perhaps the hardest grades to reach – is possible. The percent of students scoring on grade level in 8th grade has increased by almost 40 percent in math and reading since 2002.
“Pennsylvania’s investments in increasing student achievement are working, and for the sake of our economic future we cannot afford to lose momentum now,” Secretary of Education Gerald L. Zahorchak said. “The last stage of any race is the hardest, and we need to accelerate our progress in helping the toughest-to-reach students succeed in the classroom.”
Governor Rendell’s proposed budget would build on student success by continuing to fund schools using a six-year formula enacted by the General Assembly last year. The formula, crafted as a result of the legislature’s “Costing-Out Report,” is intended to ensure all schools have the tools needed to bring all students to proficiency while minimizing the burden on local property taxpayers.
Zahorchak noted there is a clear link between adequate funding and student performance. In 2008, school districts with the largest funding gaps averaged 78 percent more students below grade level than districts with adequate resources.
“These results point to the importance of continued investment in Pennsylvania’s school funding formula to support proven academic programs in all 500 school districts,” Zahorchak said. “Our educators deserve our gratitude and respect for their success in helping students learn, but don’t think for a minute that we can continue making progress without adequate resources in every classroom.”
Pennsylvania school districts are currently in the annual process of reviewing their school-level PSSA results in order to verify the schools where individual students are reported and file any necessary Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) appeals.
The Department of Education will release school- and district-level PSSA and AYP results later this summer.