82% of PA Schools Meet No Child Left Behind Marks

Pennsylvania’s schools are on-track, according to just-released Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test results.
76% of students met grade level goals for math and 72% scored at grade level in reading in last year’s PSSA tests. Students are tested in grades 3 through 8 and in 11th grade. For a second straight year, the percentage of students at grade level improved.
The data also shows 82% of Pennsylvania schools met federal No Child Left Behind benchmarks last year. In Allegheny County, 5 school districts, Pittsburgh, Penn Hills, Sto-Rox, Wilkinsburg, and Woodland Hills, did not meet all targets for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under No Child Left Behind. More that 40 public schools in Allegheny County and 5 charter schools did not meet AYP standards.

Acting Education Secretary Thomas Gluck says he's happy to report the number of students statewide below grade level has been halved in the past eight years.

"So we are approximately 210 thousand fewer students in below basic in math, and about 127-thousand fewer students remain below basic in reading."

Governor Rendell credits the improvement to increased state spending on education and urges the next governor, either Tom Corbett or Dan Onorato, to continue the trend.