A+ Schools recently released their 2017 Report to the Community on Public School Progress in Pittsburgh
The annual Report to the Community “provides detailed information so families can monitor progress in each of Pittsburgh’s public and charter schools—and make informed decisions about school improvement.”
A+ Schools noted some positive highlights and remaining challenges from the report.
Some positive highlights in the data include:
- The district’s graduation rate increased by 10% in one year (70% overall last year compared to 80% this year).
- Five PPS schools and two charter schools had gaps in student achievement of less than ten points across multiple grades on some standardized tests.
- 66% of the district’s seniors earned grade point averages that qualified them for the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship (2.5 GPA or higher).
- 68% of district schools met or exceeded state growth standards in English Language Arts.
- 46% of district schools met or exceeded state growth standards in Mathematics.
- Third grade reading scores increased by 8 points overall, and by 12 points for African-American students.
But challenges remain:
- Enrollment in Pittsburgh Public Schools decreased significantly over the past four years, down 2,437 students since the 2013-14 school year.
- There is still a disparity between black and white students who qualified for the full Pittsburgh Promise scholarship (with a GPA of 2.5 or higher), with 83% of white students eligible, compared to 51% of black students.
- Black students (53% of the total school population) still account for most of the total number of suspensions (77%).
- White students account for 67% of those enrolled in the gifted program, while black students only represent 18.5% of those enrolled in the program.