Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools are listed as meeting state standards based largely on PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) scores.
In the Philadelphia School District, 44.5 percent of schools made the mark, a slight increase over 43 percent last year. Including charters raises the score to 49.7 percent.
In the suburbs, 85 percent of schools met state standards. That's an increase over 79 percent last year.
Statewide, the percentage of schools meeting the benchmarks also increased, by just over 6 points to 78 percent.
That percentage would have been just about flat this year except for the use of a new method of meeting state standards called the "growth model." It uses a statistical projection to give students in some grades credit for future PSSA gains.
Statewide, 331 schools, 13.5 percent of the number that met the benchmarks, did so because of the growth model.
In the Philadelphia region, more schools showed gains in fifth-grade math and reading than in 11th grade, an Inquirer analysis shows.
Among 206 city schools with fifth graders, including charters, 59 of the 123 that improved in reading posted double-digit jumps. In math, 109 improved, 57 by double digits.
Of 286 schools in the suburbs, 167 improved in reading, including 39 by double digits. In math, 132 improved, 25 by double digits.
Among those showing sizable gains were schools in Philadelphia and suburban districts including Bristol Township in Bucks County, Kennett Consolidated in Chester County, William Penn in Delaware County, and Cheltenham in Montgomery County.
