Philly school board takeaways: Here’s how the district is doing on Keystones, algebra

The city school board on Thursday night took a hard look at some secondary school outcomes, examining everything from how many Philadelphia School District students pass Keystone Exams to how many schools offer eighth graders Algebra I.

Here are some takeaways from the board’s Goals and Guardrails progress monitoring session:

Districtwide, 53.9% of Philadelphia students passed Pennsylvania’s Keystone literature exams by 11th grade in 2022-23. That’s up from a 47.6% pass rate in 2018-19.

In algebra, 30.1% of students passed the Keystone by 11th grade, down from 36.3%.

Keystone pass rates in biology fell to 31.4% from 34.9%.

And on the NOCTI exam, given by the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute, the standard for career and technical institute students, the number of students who scored competent or better on the test jumped to 49.1% in 2022-23 from 43.4% in 2021-22.

Among district ninth graders, 23.8% were “firmly on track” by the end of the second quarter this school year, meaning they are passing courses in four core subject areas — English, math, science and social studies — and are earning an A or B in all courses. Another 32.7% were on track but at risk, meaning they earned Cs or Ds in some courses, and 43.5% are off track.

Why does it matter?

“The research tells us that students who are able to make it through that ninth-grade year have a greater chance of being successful and completing high school on time,” Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. told the board.

Last year, algebra was offered to eighth graders in just three schools; this year, it’s offered in 16 schools via an initiative that allows a teacher to work with students in multiple schools, some remotely.

Early access to algebra is often key for student access to Advanced Placement and dual enrollment classes.

“If students are ready to take on more rigorous content, why are we holding them back, why are we standing in the way of that?” said Jermaine Dawson, deputy superintendent.

Watlington agreed.

“We have Algebra I offered in a minority of schools. It should be offered in every school with middle grade bands. We can’t get there overnight, but we’re working in that direction,” the superintendent said.

Officials promised changes in the 2024-25 school year, including upping the number of minutes students taking Algebra I spend in class. It’s changing from 45 minutes to 90, Dawson said.

“It is very hard to expect students to really demonstrate mastery at a high level when they only have instruction for 45 minutes,” said Dawson, a former math teacher.

“We have to make sure that we have the tools for good strong teachers who are prepared to teach math,” the deputy superintendent said.