District Schools will be closed for students and staff from April 14th-17th, for Spring Recess.
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This report summarizes the evaluation of the first year of the School District of Philadelphia’s implementation of the Illustrative Math curriculum, using data from surveys and focus groups to identify facilitators and barriers to implementation within SDP’s context.
As part of an ambitious vision for mathematics equity and achievement, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) adopted Illustrative Math (IM) for the district-wide K-12 math curriculum in 2023-24. In Year 1, the Office of Research and Evaluation conducted focus groups to answer the question: What were the barriers and facilitators to implementing Illustrative Math with integrity? This slide deck summarizes the findings from these focus groups and provides recommendations for continuing to improve the implementation of Illustrative Math.
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.
In January 2024, the Education Recovery Scorecard issued a report on the first year of Covid-related academic recovery for school districts in 30 states. According to the research team, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is outpacing other large urban districts nationwide and many districts in Pennsylvania in recovering from the pandemic. In math, Philadelphia students recovered nearly half a grade level of learning during the 2022-2023 school year. In reading, Philadelphia students also made gains over the same period.
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.
On November 8, 2023 PDE published the results of the state standardized tests administered in the 2022-23 school year. Statewide results show mixed results for ELA, with improvement from 2022 for 3rd grade but declines for 7th and 8th grades. PSSA math and science scores improved over 2022 for all grades across Pennsylvania. Although proficiency rates for SDP students are lower than statewide rates, SDP students’ year-over-year results align with the statewide results; we see overall signs of post-pandemic improvement, especially in grades 3-8 math and science.
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.
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.