Pennsylvania student performance improving, but still below pre-pandemic levels

While Pennsylvania’s academic levels have yet to return to pre-pandemic performance levels, recent data indicates that students are gradually regaining lost ground.

Pennsylvania students are making steady progress in recovering from pandemic-era learning disruptions, according to experts at a recent education meeting headed up by state lawmakers.

Last week, the state House Education Committee held an informational meeting to examine student success and school performance measures as outlined in the Future Ready PA Index, the state’s tool for evaluating K-12 education. 

The Future Ready PA Index, in place since 2018, evaluates student outcomes across three categories: academic performance, student progress, and college and career readiness.

“While we have not reached the thresholds from pre-pandemic school years, since the close of the pandemic in the 2020-21 school year, all state assessment proficiency rates in reading, math and science have increased modestly year over year,” said Dr. Carrie Rowe, state deputy secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.

Recent data from the Future Ready PA Index indicates that students are gradually regaining lost ground, Rowe said.

The statewide average for students proficient or advanced in English Language Arts is 53.9%, down from 60% in 2019.  For math, the statewide average is 40.2%, only slightly below the 42.4% average in 2019, and up from 32.8% in 2021. For science, the average is 59.2%, down from 68% in 2019.

In Pennsylvania, high school graduation rates have increased continually and have actually surpassed pre-pandemic levels, Rowe said. The state has an 87.6% graduation rate. 

Many at the meeting believed additional funding for schools across the state would help to bridge academic gaps even more. Last year, the state budget included an historic $1.11 billion education funding increase. In his recent budget proposal, Gov. Josh Shapiro included an additional $526 million to close the education funding gap between poorer and wealthier school districts. It also calls for capping cyber charter tuition at $8,000 per student.

Maura McInerney, legal director of the Education Law Center, said that additional funding has positively affected many schools.

“Some districts have reopened their school libraries, developed curriculum, hired more teachers to reduce classroom sizes, and many districts which did not offer a full-day kindergarten are now able to afford to do so,” she said.

House Committee Chair Rep. Pete Schweyer (D-Lehigh), hopeful that next year’s results will show even more gains, noted that the latest results in the Future Ready PA Index “are for the 2023-24 school year and do not yet show the impacts of last year’s historic education investments.”