Math achievement in Philadelphia is improving but remains very low, data show

Board members expressed hope about the numbers but also said more must be done to help schools get on track to meet the goals of the district’s Goals and Guardrails strategic plan.


Children sit in their classroom at Alexander Adaire Elementary in Philadelphia. Though Philly students are making gains in math, Board of Education members said Thursday more must be done. (Kriston Jae Bethel for Chalkbeat)Children sit in their classroom at Alexander Adaire Elementary in Philadelphia. Though Philly students are making gains in math, Board of Education members said Thursday more must be done. (Kriston Jae Bethel for Chalkbeat)This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters

Philadelphia students’ proficiency rates in math are rising modestly but still remain low, according to an update the Philadelphia Board of Education received Thursday.

Deputy Superintendent Jermaine Dawson told board members that on the district’s most recent internal assessments — called “Star Assessments,” which are different from the state’s annual standardized tests — 22.8% of students in grades 3-8 scored at or above proficiency in math, an improvement from 18% at the beginning of this school year.

Dawson’s presentation was part of an update on the district’s Goals and Guardrails initiative, a strategic plan adopted by the school board just over four years ago that set targets for academic achievement. Board members expressed hope about the numbers but also said more must be done to help schools get on track to meet the initiative’s aims.

Students in all racial and ethnic groups improved, although persistent disparities on the Star Assessment for math state tests remained. For instance, 13% of Black students were proficient in math, compared with 14% of Hispanic, 43% of white, 50% of Asian American, and 30% of multi-racial students, according to the Star Assessments.

Board members also got an update on trends for state tests. The percentage of third through eighth graders who scored proficient or advanced in math on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, or PSSA, rose from 16.5% in 2021-22 to 22% last school year, said Joy Lesnick, the district’s deputy chief of research, evaluation, and academic partnership.

The Goals and Guardrails plan calls for 52% of students in grades 3-8 to be proficient on the PSSA by 2030. The state released last year’s PSSA scores in November.

This school year is the second that the district is using a math curriculum called Illustrative Math. It’s part of a $100 million curriculum overhaul the district adopted in 2022 shortly after the arrival of Superintendent Tony Watlington.

Read the full story on Chalkbeat.

Page 1 of 2
Next Page