Pittsburgh Public Schools Receive Low Marks In New Report

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - There's troubling news this morning for the region's largest school district.

A new report shows a drop in test scores for Pittsburgh Public Schools.

The School Performance Profile is the report card of school districts from the state Department of Education. Its factors include attendance rates, graduation rates and school performance on standardized tests.

The report indicated that a majority of the Pittsburgh Public Schools performed poorly.

Here are some of the numbers from the report:

• Out of a possible 107 points, 34 of 51 schools scored below a 60.
• Science & Technical Academy was the only school to score between 80-89.
• Beechwood K-5, CAPA 6-12 and Concord K-5 scored between 70-79.

According to our news partners at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, school board president Regina Holley said she was "shocked" by the scores.

"We got some work to do," said Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent, Anthony Hamlet, Ph.D.

Hamlet said he expected the profiles would receive low academic scores. Standardized tests account for a huge portion of the profiles. This was the first year the scores from the more rigorous PSSA tests were factored.

Hamlet said it's time to examine the system, and implement new practices.

"Beginning to unpack those standards and digging down and understanding, making sure the system is working in conjunction in what the state is asking our schools to do," he said.

Hamlet said he's already told the district's principals that he's here to support them and lead the change to improving the scores.

"I'm taking the onus at the central office to make sure that we are prepared to support you as an instructional leader as the key, leveraging driver for change in our school district," he said.

It is not known how Pittsburgh's scores will compare with other districts across the state.

The Department of Education is expected to release more profiles next week.

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