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Dear School District of Philadelphia Community,

Yesterday, the Nation’s Report Card, which was first administered in 1969 and is given every two years in all 50 states and 26 urban districts, was released. It showed that the School District of Philadelphia:

• Increased 4th grade math scores by 7 points since 2022 – outpacing all but four of the participating districts, as well as the national public school average, and the average for comparable large cities.
• Is one of only four of the participating districts whose performance in 4th and 8th grade math and reading has remained steady since 2019, outpacing Pennsylvania state average improvements over that timeframe.
• Did not see declines across all four tested areas, as was the case with national public and large city school districts, since 2019.

In addition, over the past two years, the School District made significant improvements in state assessments, more than 3,500 students increased their regular attendance, the 4-year graduation rate increased by 6.3 percentage points, performance in nine out of 13 key areas improved, and the number of student dropouts decreased by more than 1,400 students. Additionally, for the first time in a decade, the District’s student enrollment increased by 1,841 new students.

The national NAEP data affirms our state data, and shows that the District is making significant progress, we are on the right track, and yet we have a long way to go. By investing more targeted resources in teachers and curriculum support, high-impact tutoring, as well as strategies that build stronger partnerships with parents and families, we will continue making progress, using Accelerate Philly as our roadmap. We are committed to reporting the return on investment for the federal, state, and local funding that we receive. Thank you for supporting our children and our aspiration to achieve the Board of Education’s Goals & Guardrails and to be the fastest-improving, large urban school district in the nation.

In partnership,

Tony B. Watlington Sr., Ed.D.
Superintendent
The School District of Philadelphia