1
What's the one class at Penn (William) High School every student should take?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
English Language Arts
N/A
State avg 41.4%
District avg 23.7%
County avg 41.3%
District avg 23.7%
County avg 41.3%
Test scores
See how it ranks: all Delaware schools by score · New Castle County schools by score
DeSSA + Smarter Balanced, SY 2024-25
All grades, all students. % Proficient.Mathematics
N/A
State avg 34.0%
District avg 18.2%
County avg 33.9%
District avg 18.2%
County avg 33.9%
Science
17.3%
State avg 24.2%
District avg 13.0%
County avg 25.4%
+4.2pp since 2023-24
District avg 13.0%
County avg 25.4%
+4.2pp since 2023-24
Social Studies
20.9%
State avg 41.7%
District avg 29.7%
County avg 42.7%
+11.5pp since 2023-24
District avg 29.7%
County avg 42.7%
+11.5pp since 2023-24
What this means: On the DeSSA + Smarter Balanced, Delaware's statewide test, about 17 of every 100 students at this school are at grade level in science and about 21 of 100 are at grade level in social studies. Across all Delaware schools, those numbers are about 24 and 42. Science scores are up about 4 points since 2023, while social studies scores are up about 11 points.
By grade, SY 2024-25
School score vs state average per tested grade.| Grade | English Language Arts | Mathematics | Science | Social Studies | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | State | n tested | School | State | n tested | School | State | n tested | School | State | n tested | |
| Grade ALL | N/A | 41.4% | N/A | N/A | 34.0% | N/A | 17.3% | 24.2% | 393 | 20.9% | 41.7% | 355 |
2-year history
All grades, all students. Penn (William) Delaware avgScience
| Year | School | District | County | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SY 2024-25 | 17.3% | 13.0% | 25.4% | 24.2% |
| SY 2023-24 | 13.1% | 10.7% | 22.7% | 20.7% |
Social Studies
| Year | School | District | County | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SY 2024-25 | 20.9% | 29.7% | 42.7% | 41.7% |
| SY 2023-24 | 9.4% | 15.5% | 30.1% | 28.6% |
Recent discussions
From the Penn (William) High School community.How to read these scores
What is DeSSA + Smarter Balanced?
DeSSA + Smarter Balanced is the statewide standardized test administered by Delaware public schools.
What does "% Proficient" mean?
It is the share of students at the school who performed at grade level or above on the test, summed across the top two of four performance levels. A higher number is better.
How should I read a single score?
Each percent represents the share of tested students who performed at grade level or above. Compare the school number against the state, district, and county averages on this page to see whether it is above or below typical.
How is the state average calculated?
It is a weighted average, not a simple average of each school's number. We multiply each public school's score by how many of its students tested, add those together for all schools in Delaware, and divide by the total students tested that year. This way a big school with 1,500 students counts more than a small school with 50 students, which is the right way to ask "how did the typical student do this year?". District and county averages on this page use the same method, just scoped to that district or county.
Where does this data come from?
Delaware Department of Education, Delaware System of Student Assessment (DeSSA) for Science/Social Studies + Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment for ELA/Math. School-level All Students subgroup from the Delaware Open Data Portal (Socrata, dataset `ms6b-mt82`). Headline metric is the cumulative "% Proficient" rate (top 2 of 4 levels).
How often is it updated?
DeSSA + Smarter Balanced is administered once a year (spring). Results are released by the state in the summer or early fall. We refresh this page after each annual release.