Allegheny Institute Blog

The PSSA scores for students in the 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 11th grades in the Pittsburgh Public
Schools were released yesterday. The superintendent is positively bullish on the numbers, referring to them as “very, very, very good” and proof that his initiatives are working.

Here are the numbers: combined scores for reading increased from 51.9% to 53.3% (those scoring at the proficient or advanced level) and combined scores for math went from 54% to 55.7%. When the results are separated out by grade level, the best improvement came in 3rd grade reading where the proficient/advanced performance went from 51.6% last year to 59% this year. Meanwhile scores in grade 3 math and grade 5 reading and math fell from the previous year’s performance.

The superintendent did point out that there remains a significant racial achievement gap between white and black students. Across the four grades in reading, 72.1% of whites performed at the proficient/advanced level while only 38.4% of blacks achieved that same level. A similar gap exists in the math performance category. And that gap is not closing.

Now here’s the troubling part. As today’s Policy Brief points out, the percentage of white students in the district is falling and the ratio of whites in the district compared to whites in the City as a whole is far out of line. As the district’s enrollment becomes more black, the performance of whites on the PSSA will have less of an effect. And the black performance across all grades on math and reading fell from last year to this year. And while the white student scores are reasonably heartening, they still lag most suburban school districts where advanced/proficient levels are commonly in the high 80 to 90 percent range.