The Keystone exams are end-of-year standardized state assessments typically administered to Pennsylvania students in grades 8-11 as they near completion of the associated English, Algebra, or Biology course. This brief describes annual Keystone exam performance trends between the 2018-19 (pre-Covid) and 2022-23 school years.
This data brief reports on 2022-23 PSSA performance for SDP students who qualify for special education services and have an active Individualized Education Program (IEP). Results are summarized by primary disability category.
At the School District of Philadelphia, PSSA performance is the focus for three of the five goals adopted by the Board of Education. This data brief describes District-wide trends in PSSA performance between the 2018-19 (pre-Covid) and 2022-23 school years.
Since the 2021-22 school year, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) has administered Star assessments as a universal screener and progress monitoring tool for all grades, K-12. This report summarizes findings on participation, performance, and growth across Fall and Spring Star testing windows in 2022-23, with comparisons to 2021-22 outcomes and details on performance of different student groups. A report addendum extends the analyses to focus on the relationship between attendance and student performance on Star assessments.
The ACCESS assessment is administered to English Learners (ELs) annually each winter to measure their progress toward English proficiency. Star Computer Adaptive Tests (CATs) are a suite of assessments administered 3-4 times during the school year to students in grades K-12 that measure students’ reading and math skills, monitor achievement and growth, and track how well students understand skills aligned to state and Common Core standards. Although some ELs are excused from participation in Star, most take Star Reading and Math. This report examines EL performance on the ACCESS and EL performance on Star within the context of ACCESS performance.
The School District of Philadelphia’s Board of Education established Goals and Guardrails that outline achievement goals through the 2025-26 school year. Goals 1 and 3 of this framework aim to increase the percentage of students in grades 3-8 scoring Proficient or Advanced on the PSSA ELA and PSSA Math each year, respectively. Star Reading and Star Math results are used as “Leading Indicators” to track progress toward these goals. This report examines the statistical relationship between Star performance and PSSA performance in 2021-22.
This brief describes the District-wide tests administered at the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) during the 2021-22 school year and provides details about student participation.
The School District of Philadelphia’s Board of Education’s Goal 4 is focused on improving the reading and math performance of grades 9-11 students on the Keystones. To track progress toward the Goal, the District examines the performance of students on “Leading Indicators,” the within-year assessments of reading and math skills administered multiple times between the annual Keystone exams. This report examines the statistical relationship of Winter and Spring Star performance and Keystone performance in 2021-22.
This research brief highlights the changes in the percentage of students scoring in the Proficient or Advanced performance groups on the PSSA exams from 2019 (pre-Covid) to 2022 (post-Covid) in Pennsylvania school districts.
The 2021-22 school year was the first year that the PSSAs and Keystones were administered normally since 2018-19 (pre-pandemic). These briefs describe District-wide performance trends on the PSSAs and the Keystone exams from 2014-15 to 2021-22.