The following charts show the 8th and 11th grade PSSA scores for the classes of 2005 through 2010, providing a view of the progress of each of these classes as it moves from grade 8 to grade 11. The vertical black line marks the start of Superintendent Roosevelt's administration at the end of the 2004-05 school year.

The general pattern of achievment in reading is an arc peaking around 2005. For math the trend was upward until the 2008-09 PSSA score, resulting in a pattern loosely resembling that in the reading chart.

After the above charts were posted a commentator suggested that perhaps the results would look better if we focused on a different measure, such as students moving out of the "below basic" category. For these charts of course the goal would be lines that slope downward over time, as students move out of the "below basic" category. However, the results of this longitudinal look at the percentage of students in the classes of 2005 through 2010 in the "below basic" category as they moved from grade 8 to grade 11 shows recent increases in the percentage of students at the below basic level.

Data Source:

2005-09 Preliminary PSSA data from the PA Department of Education

2000-04 PSSA data from the PA Department of Education
http://www.pde.state.pa.us/a_and_t/cwp/browse.asp?a=3&bc=0&c=27525