English Language Arts / Literature
17.8%
State avg 51.1%
District avg 40.7%
County avg 59.2%
-1.9pp since 2023-24
District avg 40.7%
County avg 59.2%
-1.9pp since 2023-24
Test scores
See how it ranks: all Pennsylvania schools by score · Allegheny County schools by score
PSSA + Keystone, SY 2024-25
All grades, all students. % Proficient or Advanced.Mathematics / Algebra I
6.4%
State avg 43.0%
District avg 28.7%
County avg 51.2%
-5.8pp since 2023-24
District avg 28.7%
County avg 51.2%
-5.8pp since 2023-24
Science / Biology
N/A
State avg 50.6%
District avg 35.9%
County avg 56.2%
District avg 35.9%
County avg 56.2%
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 18 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 6 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores are down about 2 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 6 points.
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of PA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
15.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.7%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-26.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 15% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 42% typical for Pennsylvania schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
By grade, SY 2024-25
School score vs state average per tested grade.| Grade | English Language Arts / Literature | Mathematics / Algebra I | Science / Biology | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | State | n tested | School | State | n tested | School | State | n tested | |
| Grade 6 | 16.2% | 51.3% | 99 | 5.1% | 38.3% | 98 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Grade 7 | 17.7% | 50.0% | 79 | 10.3% | 34.4% | 78 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Grade 8 | 19.4% | 50.1% | 103 | 4.8% | 31.1% | 105 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2-year history
All grades, all students. Pittsburgh Pennsylvania avgEnglish Language Arts / Literature
| Year | School | District | County | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SY 2024-25 | 17.8% | 40.7% | 59.2% | 51.1% |
| SY 2023-24 | 19.7% | 42.3% | 62.1% | 55.1% |
Mathematics / Algebra I
| Year | School | District | County | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SY 2024-25 | 6.4% | 28.7% | 51.2% | 43.0% |
| SY 2023-24 | 12.2% | 27.3% | 49.7% | 41.4% |
Science / Biology
| Year | School | District | County | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SY 2024-25 | N/A | 35.9% | 56.2% | 50.6% |
| SY 2023-24 | 26.1% | 48.8% | 68.6% | 62.7% |
How to read these scores
What is PSSA + Keystone?
PSSA + Keystone is the statewide standardized test administered by Pennsylvania public schools.
What does "% Proficient or Advanced" 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.
What does 17.8% mean for English Language Arts / Literature at Pittsburgh South Hills 6-8?
It means about 17.8 percent of students tested at Pittsburgh South Hills 6-8 performed at grade level or above on the PSSA + Keystone English Language Arts / Literature test in 2024-25. The statewide average for Pennsylvania that year was 51.1%. The other students fell into the lower performance levels.
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 Pennsylvania, 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?
Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) for grades 3-8 and Keystone Exams (Literature, Algebra I, Biology) at the high-school level. School-level All Students subgroup, "Percent Proficient and above" column from the PDE school-level data downloads. Top 2 of 4 PA performance levels (Proficient + Advanced).
How often is it updated?
PSSA + Keystone 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.