Philly students have shown improvement in a number of areas over the past three years, including test scores, but some measures are still far from the targets set by the city’s Board of Education. 

According to preliminary performance data from 2021 to 2025, presented at a school board meeting in early October, students saw major increases in math test scores and attendance, as well as a decrease in student dropouts. However, reading scores dropped slightly. 

Also, despite improvements, many of the reported test scores still did not meet projected targets.

“Rebounding from the pandemic”

In Pennsylvania, school students are required to take two standardized tests: the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) or the Pennsylvania Alternative System of Assessment (PASA) for students with disabilities, and the Keystone exams in grades 8-11. 

The PSSA tests for students in grades 3-8 include ELA (English Language Arts) and Math exams. 

The percentage of third graders who scored Proficient or Advanced on the PSSA ELA  increased from about 28% in the 2021-22 school year to above 31% in 2024-25. 

In math, the percentage of third graders scoring Proficient or Advanced increased from above 20% in 2021-22 to above 33% in 2024-25. 

While the percentage of students in grades 3-8 scoring Proficient or Advanced for PSSA Math increased from 16.5% in 2021-22 to 25.1% in 2024-25, reading scores dropped slightly.

The percentage of students in grades 3-8 scoring Proficient or Advanced for PSSA ELA dropped from 34.4% to 33.2%. 

School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Tony B. Watlington said in a statement that the data reflects “a product of hard and strategic work for teachers, principals and support staff” and new, “standards-aligned curricula across the city.” 

Watlington also said the district is still rebounding from the pandemic, but is still committed to “accelerate academic achievement.” 

The district still has goals to meet by 2030. 

One goal, set by the city Board of Education, aims to see the percentage of students in grades 3-8 who are proficient on the state ELA exam reach 65.0% by August 2030 — with the current numbers at just above 33%, that would require dramatic improvement. 

The second goal is achieving proficiency scores for 62% of 3rd grade students on the state’s ELA assessment — currently, just 31% of 3rd graders passed the ELA in the 2024-25 school year.

Finally, the goal is to get 52% of students in grades 3-8 scoring as proficient on the state math assessment by August 2030. The latest data shows only around 25% of students passing the state’s math test — so hitting that goal would require a doubling in those who receive proficient or advanced scores. 

Other preliminary results show that student attendance improved — increasing from 57.3% in 2021-22 to 61.4% in 2024-25 for regular attendance (90% or more days). 

Teacher attendance rose by 8.2 percentage points as well — rising to 85.7% in 2024-25.

Additionally, the number of student dropouts in grades 7-12 dropped from almost 4,000 in 2021-22 to 1,680 in 2024-25. 

Preliminary data

These results are still preliminary, the district emphasized. Final results and data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education are expected in November. 

The district’s plans for improving test scores and data includes supporting new curricula for K-12 math, ELA and Science, plus a push for improvements in grades K-8, and “more aggressive strategies” like high-impact tutoring.