Pittsburgh Schools Release Test Results

Eighth graders made strong gains on standardized reading and math tests this year, but Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt says scores continue to dip when students reach high school. He told an audience of mostly school employees today that the district is still in the beginning stages of a change at the high school level that will not be "incremental... it must be systemic, and it must be deep."

71.4% of eighth-graders are reading at proficient levels or better, an increase of more than five percentage points since last year. 59.4% of eighth-graders scored proficient or better in math, an increase of almost three percentage points.

Those numbers drop significantly by 11th grade. 50.7% of 11th graders scored proficient or better in reading, and 43.3% in math.

Roosevelt says there are bright spots in this year's numbers. While the district still has a racial achievement gap, Roosevelt says it continues to narrow. And he says the district's Accelerated Learning Academies are seeing improvements in test scores that are equal or better than the district as a whole.

The state has not yet released information on whether the district is making Adequate Yearly Progress under No Child Left Behind. One of NCLB's goals is to have all children proficient or better in math and reading by 2014.

The school district has posted its test results online.