Standardized test results showed that students statewide are becoming less and less literate, while minuscule percentages of Philly students are proficient in reading and math.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education released results from the 2024-2025 school year’s standardized assessments, revealing mixed outcomes for students statewide. While math scores saw incremental gains, students continued to struggle in reading and science proficiency, raising questions around curriculum effectiveness and return on taxpayer investment.
Statewide, students showed a modest rise in math proficiency, with PSSA scores increasing from 40.2% to 41.7%, while high school Keystone Algebra scores climbed to 44.3%, up from 41.6% last year. In Philadelphia, early signs of math improvement appeared, with roughly a quarter of students in third through eighth grade reaching proficiency.
English Language Arts scores, however, fell across the board. PSSA scores in reading dropped from 53.9% to 49.9%, marking a concerning four-point decline. Philadelphia mirrored the statewide trend, with just one-third of students achieving proficiency in reading, down slightly from the previous year.
Critics say the slight improvements displayed in portions of the assessments do not assuage concerns about the broader issues at play.
“Imagine a hospital with a 17% survival rate. Would you be willing to listen to the hospital’s CEO brag about his facility’s ‘groundbreaking health improvements’? Probably not,” wrote Nathan Benefield, chief policy officer at the Commonwealth Foundation, regarding Philadelphia School District. “So why celebrate a school district where only 17% of fourth graders can read at grade level?”
According to Pennsylvania’s Acting Education Secretary Dr. Carrie Rowe, the results are leading officials to reexamine “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.”
While state officials scramble to spin the assessments positively, families and education advocates across the state are questioning how effectively taxpayer dollars are being spent—particularly in large urban districts like Philadelphia, which received a $193 million increase in the latest budget.
“Philadelphia kids don’t need hollow platitudes. They need better school options and the freedom to chart their own educational course regardless of their zip code,” continued Benefield. “Only then will we see genuinely ‘groundbreaking academic improvements.’”
Thankfully, not all indicators statewide were negative. Four-year graduation rates in Pennsylvania rose to 88%, and regular attendance improved for the second year in a row to 79.6%. Both figures outpace national trends, which have declined post-COVID.
Philadelphia saw its own attendance rate rise, and dropout rates declined by more than 800 students year-over-year. These improvements suggest administrative changes are helping keep students in school, though the effectiveness of classroom time remains a major concern.
Data indicated that schools using the Department of Education’s new PA Firefly benchmarking tool scored 5.5% higher, on average, than schools that did not. The free tool intends to help teachers track progress without sacrificing valuable class time.
As state-mandated curriculum reforms roll out over the next two years, including a requirement for evidence-based reading programs by 2027-28, pressure is mounting on public school leaders, especially in cities, to show results.
