{"id":322035,"date":"2026-11-06T00:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T00:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/322035\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T00:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T00:08:07","slug":"pennsylvania-officials-propose-changing-math-and-reading-cut-scores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/322035\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania officials propose changing math and reading cut scores"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know search engines like Google are changing the way you see news? Keep Chalkbeat\u2019s valuable education coverage at the top of your feeds by clicking here<\/a> and checking the box next to our name.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania state officials have proposed changing how they score students\u2019 performance on state math and reading tests, making it easier for students to be considered \u201cadvanced.\u201d <\/p>\n

The proposal, which Pennsylvania Department of Education officials shared with the state\u2019s Board of Education Thursday, would have implications for how the state measures student achievement and schools\u2019 success, and would apply to tests students took months ago. <\/p>\n

It comes after months of uncertainty over delayed test results<\/a> in Philadelphia, where families and teachers have repeatedly asked officials to release the scores they usually get in August. State officials acknowledged the department\u2019s cut score review contributed to the wait. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis delayed reporting. It\u2019s not great timing,\u201d Brian Campbell, director of the Department of Education\u2019s bureau of curriculum, assessment, and instruction, told board members Thursday. But he said the state was overdue in updating score thresholds set more than a decade ago, and this would create \u201ca new baseline.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students take state tests every spring to evaluate whether they meet grade-level standards. Students who score above certain thresholds are considered \u201cproficient\u201d or \u201cadvanced,\u201d while those who do not meet those minimums are rated \u201cbasic\u201d or \u201cbelow basic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those categories provide officials, families, and educators with a measure of student performance separate from schools\u2019 grading systems. A presentation shared during the meeting said the new score minimums would mean the number of students deemed proficient would \u201cremain statistically consistent with historical expectations.\u201d But changing the cut scores will make it difficult to compare student performance with previous years.<\/p>\n

We’re here to help.<\/p>\n

Every day, Chalkbeat Philadelphia reporters are answering your questions, following the money, and digging into what’s happening in the city’s public schools. Keep up with our free newsletter, delivered every Wednesday and Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Under the<\/a> proposal<\/a>, students would still need a score of at least 1,000 on PSSA math and reading tests to be deemed proficient, which was also the cutoff under the previous scoring system.<\/a> However, the minimum scores needed to be considered advanced would fall for nearly all grades.<\/p>\n

Campbell said the changes would result in more students classified as advanced. The department\u2019s presentation said the changes would have \u201cmixed impacts\u201d on the percentage of students classified as below basic.<\/p>\n

The state board is expected to vote on the proposal Nov. 19, which would change thresholds for both the K-8 focused Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, or PSSA, and the high school Keystone tests.<\/p>\n

A Philadelphia school district spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the proposal. <\/p>\n

Philly district officials have said since August that state test scores have been \u201con hold\u201d by the state, but they expect to release them in November. The delay has taken a toll on families seeking spots in the city\u2019s most selective high schools, who do not yet know whether they are eligible for some schools\u2019 lotteries<\/a>, with applications due Nov. 24.<\/p>\n

New cut scores would change decade-old thresholds<\/p>\n

The state last changed its score thresholds for PSSA math and reading tests in 2015 as part of an overhaul of its educational standards. Officials said at the time the aim was to be more rigorous<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The state changed cut scores for the statewide science test<\/a> earlier this year after overhauling standards for that subject. <\/p>\n

Campbell told board members \u201cit was always the intention\u201d that reading and math standards would also be reviewed. But he said adopting new standards for reading and math is still \u201cyears away.\u201d The department is recommending new cut scores in the meantime, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way students learn has changed, the way people interpret the content has changed, and the way the state interprets the performance levels may have changed,\u201d Campbell said. <\/p>\n

Nearly 90 Pennsylvania educators worked with the department on the review, Campbell said.<\/p>\n

If the board adopts the recommended scores later this month, the Department of Education will share final school-level scores with districts in the following days, according to a Thursday email from Education Secretary Carrie Rowe obtained by Chalkbeat.<\/p>\n

State-level assessment scores are expected to be released in \u201cearly 2027,\u201d Rowe said.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Redelmeier is a reporter at Chalkbeat Philadelphia. She writes about public schools, early childhood education, and issues that affect students, families, and educators across Philadelphia. Contact Rebecca at rredelmeier@chalkbeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Did you know search engines like Google are changing the way you see news? Keep Chalkbeat\u2019s valuable education…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[16473,102555,7624,37,539,28,30,29,85,11986,16512],"class_list":["post-322035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-capitol","tag-capitol-building","tag-freelance","tag-harrisburg","tag-pa","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-state","tag-state-house","tag-votebeat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}