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The percentage of students statewide testing at proficient or advanced levels in the 2025 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment and Keystone exams remains low. (Alex Brandon – Associated Press)<\/p>\nStudents across Pennsylvania \u2014 including in Berks County \u2014 continue to perform below expectations on state standardized tests.<\/p>\n
The state Department of Education earlier this month released school-level data for the 2025 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment and Keystone exams.<\/p>\n
And following a trend that was fueled by the disruptions to classrooms caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentage of students testing at proficient or advanced levels remains low.<\/p>\n
In English, the percentage of students statewide who tested proficient or advanced in English was 49.9%. That\u2019s a decrease from the 53.9% that tested proficient or advanced last year.<\/p>\n
In math, scores rose for the second straight year. Statewide, 41.7% of students tested proficient or advanced, compared to 40.2% last year.<\/p>\n
The state adopted new standards in science this year, which led the state to waive assessment scores in science this year.<\/p>\n
The percentage of students statewide testing at proficient or advanced levels in the 2025 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment and Keystone exams remains low. (Alex Brandon – Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Acting Secretary of Education Dr. Carrie Rowe said in a statement announcing the release of the scores that while other measures of schools success \u2014 such as attendance rates, graduation rates and career readiness \u2014 have shown improvement, more work needs to be done to improve test scores.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we see progress, we are focused on raising these scores by working closely with Pennsylvania school districts to ensure teachers have access to the best possible training and professional development,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Rowe also said the state is examining whether Pennsylvania\u2019s current state standards \u2014 some of which have not been updated in more than a decade \u2014 still align with the skills and knowledge students really need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.<\/p>\n
Berks results<\/p>\n
Scores on standardized testing in Berks were a mixed bag, with close to half of the 94 schools that were assessed performing below the statewide mark in both English and math.<\/p>\n
In English, about 52% of Berks schools saw students perform below the statewide number. That\u2019s an increase from the 48% below the statewide score last year.<\/p>\n
And in math, about 48% of Berks school tested below the state mark. That percentage was about the same as last year.<\/p>\n
Individually, Kutztown High School had the highest proficiency score in the county in English (78.4%), followed by Wilson High School (75.7%) and Tulpehocken High School (74.3%).<\/p>\n
In math, Honeybrook Elementary Center in the Twin Valley School District had the highest proficiency score (67.0%), followed by Tulpehocken High School (66.3%) and Twin Valley Elementary Center (66.3%).<\/p>\n