In the Pennsylvania suburbs, more than four out of five schools met the mark.
Overall, 46 percent of 259 city schools met state standards, down from 59 percent in 2010.
Among charters, 46 of 73 met state standards.
In the suburbs, 81 percent of 497 schools made Adequate Yearly Progress compared with 88 percent last year.
Statewide, the percentage of schools meeting the standard was 75.1 percent, down from 82.6 percent in 2010.
Ron Tomalis, Pennsylvania's education secretary, said in an interview that he was happy to see the student gains, which were about 1 percent. "To see the scores go up is always good - something to celebrate," he said.
Tomalis added, however, that only 39 percent of schools statewide met the Adequate Yearly Progress mark based on the test scores of all student groups. "That is a caution sign," he said.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, a school must show that all groups of its students - including minorities, the economically disadvantaged, and those in special education - meet the standards. Students are tested in math and reading in grades three through eight and in 11th grade.
Though fewer schools met the mark this year, overall student performance on the PSSA improved statewide, with 77.1 percent of students scoring at or above grade level in math and 73.5 percent of students meeting or exceeding the mark in reading.
Individual student achievement in the Philadelphia district was also up, for the ninth straight year. Math scores rose 3 percentage points over last year, to 59 percent passing, and reading scores were up 2 points, to 52 percent passing.
The same information about student performance in the Pennsylvania suburbs could not immediately be obtained.
