Phila. region improving its report card

Even as standards rise, more schools in Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs are making the grade in reading and math.

Still, weak spots remain. Across the state and around the region, high school scores and scores in underfunded districts continue to lag.

The region's gains buck a statewide trend. Overall, fewer Pennsylvania schools are reaching state goals - 72 percent of public schools passed, down from 78 percent last year, according to state data released yesterday.

In Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties, 79 percent of all schools made the mark, up from 78 percent last year.

City scores also improved. Of the Philadelphia School District's 265 schools, 113 - 43 percent - made the grade, up from 40 percent last year.

When charter schools are added to the mix, the overall city number rises to a 45 percent passing rate.

Still, the majority of Philadelphia schools - 57 percent in the school district, 55 percent overall - failed.

"We are pleased overall, but there is much more work to do," said Fernando Gallard, a district spokesman. Beginning next month, the district is dedicating $12 million to its 23 lowest-performing schools.

Students in third through eighth grade, plus 11th graders, take the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment in reading and math annually.

To make "adequate yearly progress" under the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools must have 56 percent of students scoring at proficiency in math, up from 45 percent; 63 percent for reading, up from 54 percent.

To pass, all students must score at grade level, including those in special-education classes, poor and minority children, and those who speak limited English.

Gerald Zahorchak, state education secretary, noted that the number of students who passed the tests statewide was up 29 percent since 2002, the first year of the law.

But, he said, efforts must be made "to bring students to grade level, as many low-income and minority students still lag behind academically."

There is good news, though. The region - city schools included - dominates the top-10 statewide list.

Masterman and Central Highs topped 11th-grade reading and math lists.

Sharon Parker, superintendent of the Unionville-Chadds Ford District, which also made both math and reading top-10 lists, said there is no complacency in the wealthy, high-achieving district.

The high school failed to meet state standards last year because of the performance of special-education students, and "it was a startling moment for us," Parker said. "We did a good bit of revision in instruction, looking at reinforcement of basic skills."

This year, all groups at the high school met the standards.

Schools with significant funding gaps fared poorly overall, Zahorchak said.

The districts with the largest funding gap, for instance, average 78 percent more students performing below grade level, compared with districts with adequate resources.

The solution is for the state to follow through on a six-year plan proposed by Gov. Rendell that would send more dollars to underfunded districts, Zahorchak said.

High schools remain the state's "greatest challenge," Zahorchak said, with 42 percent not making the grade.

In the region, 46 percent, or 72 of the region's 158 high schools, did not pass the state exams. In the suburbs, 35 percent of 82 high schools failed.

In the suburbs, Pottstown and Bristol saw the biggest declines in 11th-grade reading and math scores - Pottstown's math scores dipped 13 percent, and Bristol's reading dropped 16 percent.

Simon Gratz High in Philadelphia saw sharp declines, 24 points in math and 17 percent in reading.

"At the current pace, without significant intervention, it would take 40 years for all of our 11th graders to meet state standards," Zahorchak said.

To address the problem, the education secretary called for schools to "provide a rigorous curriculum . . . regardless of where the student lives."

That's in keeping with Rendell's stalled plan to require all students to pass tests to graduate.

Gallard, the Philadelphia spokesman, said that the district would attempt to address high school scores by adding an office devoted specifically to the city's large, comprehensive high schools, many of which did not pass the state exam.

And though some laud the progress made by Pennsylvania students, Ted Hershberg, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the director of the Center for Greater Philadelphia and Operation Public Education, said the gains are "not good enough, not fast enough. Far, far too many kids are not getting the quality of education they need."

The state is not providing the kind of education needed to compete in a global economy, he said.

"There is no place for complacency here, yet that is what we find everywhere," Hershberg said.

Some schools that had not met the standards last year made the grade in 2008.

William Tennent High School, in Bucks County's Centennial School District, hit its goals for the first time in six years.

Jenny Foight-Cressman, Centennial's director of teaching and learning, said that the key was the work with special-education students, who raised their reading score at the high school by 18 percentage points. Data were monitored every two weeks, she said, and shared with students.

"That helps them set goals for themselves," she said. "They have responded very well; they have taken greater ownership over their own education. That's really exciting."

In Bucks County's 900-student Morrisville School District, this year's 11th-grade scores were a cause for celebration. They were among the top 10 most improved in the Philadelphia suburbs. In math, the students improved by 26 percentage points in one year.

Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson said that the focus was on quarterly reviews of student performance, with "focused instruction on what they had not learned."

Even with the gains, the district still barely met proficiency standards on reading and was just below the benchmark in math. But Yonson said that for a district with high poverty and many transient students, "we're doing a great job, and we will continue to get better."

Montgomery County's Jenkintown district, which has an even smaller enrollment - 600 students - was among the top 10 in the suburbs for fifth grade, with increases of more than 30 percentage points.

"We say each individual child has to be accounted for and when a child is not getting it, we say, 'What are we going to do about it?' " said Superintendent Timothy Wade.

Browse PSSA scores for your school, and others across the state, at http://go.philly.com/pssaEndText