Phila., suburban schools share in PSSA gains

Students in the Philadelphia area and across Pennsylvania continued to make gains on state math and reading tests, results released yesterday show.

Statewide, about 82 percent of third graders scored at grade level or higher in math and about 77 percent in reading. In 11th grade, 56 percent made the grade in math and about 66 percent in reading. Students in lower grades usually do better than those in higher grades.

"These results bring more good news for the commonwealth," state Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak said at a news conference yesterday in Harrisburg. "We've made great strides and gathered national attention for our achievement."

Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools are listed as meeting state standards based largely on PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) scores.

In the Philadelphia School District, 44.5 percent of schools made the mark, a slight increase over 43 percent last year. Including charters raises the score to 49.7 percent.

In the suburbs, 85 percent of schools met state standards. That's an increase over 79 percent last year.

Statewide, the percentage of schools meeting the benchmarks also increased, by just over 6 points to 78 percent.

That percentage would have been just about flat this year except for the use of a new method of meeting state standards called the "growth model." It uses a statistical projection to give students in some grades credit for future PSSA gains.

Statewide, 331 schools, 13.5 percent of the number that met the benchmarks, did so because of the growth model.

In the Philadelphia region, more schools showed gains in fifth-grade math and reading than in 11th grade, an Inquirer analysis shows.

Among 206 city schools with fifth graders, including charters, 59 of the 123 that improved in reading posted double-digit jumps. In math, 109 improved, 57 by double digits.

Of 286 schools in the suburbs, 167 improved in reading, including 39 by double digits. In math, 132 improved, 25 by double digits.

Among those showing sizable gains were schools in Philadelphia and suburban districts including Bristol Township in Bucks County, Kennett Consolidated in Chester County, William Penn in Delaware County, and Cheltenham in Montgomery County.

Philadelphia's Masterman and Central High Schools were the top two statewide in 11th-grade math and reading. Girard Academic Music Program's juniors were in the top 10 for reading. Unionville, Conestoga, and Radnor High Schools made the top 10 in math, and Unionville, Conestoga, and Plumstead Christian made it in reading.

Zahorchak said the growth model "shows that school districts are progressing toward their targets. . . . These are not gimmicks or artificial gains." Fifteen other states use similar systems.

This year's PSSA release had a political side. With the state budget in limbo, Gov. Rendell took the opportunity to plug for more spending on schools.

"These results continue to show that Pennsylvania is boosting achievement and that we've got tremendous momentum on our side," he said at a Harrisburg news conference. "Why would we think for a minute of stopping this progress?"

School districts celebrated their gains yesterday. In Bristol Township, three elementary schools were among the top 10 suburban gainers in fifth-grade math, and four were among the suburban top 10 in reading.

"We introduced programs to increase independent reading," elementary curriculum director Judith Scourfield wrote in an e-mail. "We changed our schedules to provide 60 minutes during the school day when children have the opportunity to work at their own level."

In the Kennett district, Mary Lang Elementary made big gains in math and reading, and the high school made strides in math. All schools met state goals. Success boils down to improving "what you teach, how you teach, and providing the supports for our staff," Assistant Superintendent Vicki Gehrt said.

The William Penn district's Bell Avenue Elementary School in Yeadon showed the largest suburban fifth-grade math and reading gains. Teachers there emphasize "engaged instruction instead of the textbook and the lecture, where students work in groups and learn from each other," curriculum director Gregory Wright said.

Cheltenham High School had the largest suburban 11th-grade math and reading gains. The staff met weekly to implement its action plan, Assistant Superintendent Darlene Davis said, and "our guidance counselors had discussions - one on one - with parents and students."

At North Philadelphia's Cayuga Elementary, 88 percent of students live in poverty, 21 percent don't speak English as a first language, and many transfer out during the school year. Still, it had the most-improved fifth-grade reading scores in Philadelphia - a 43-point jump.

Principal Evelyn Cortez said the progress was thrilling. Cayuga, she said, pays one-on-one attention to struggling students, has small classes, and even has younger students write letters of encouragement to test-takers.

"It was a whole school effort," she said. And "we got the parents into the same mind-set, and that's important."

The state's claim of national attention rests on a recent study by the Center on Education Policy showing that Pennsylvania was the only state among 25 with rising test scores for fourth, eighth, and 11th grades from 2002 to 2008 and rising scores at the basic, proficient, and advanced achievement levels.

To look up scores for your school, go to http://go.philly.com/pssaEndText