Henry students beat city, state

A detailed review of Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) results for the 2004/2005 school year (last year), shows that Henry students again bested district and state results in key measures.

Third Grade

79% of Henry's 3rd graders proved advanced or proficient in math:
27% higher than the district.

65% of Henry's 3rd graders proved advanced or proficient in reading:
28% higher than the district.

Henry's 3rd grade proved proficient in math at a rate
23% higher than the rest of the state.

Henry's 3rd grade proved proficient in reading at a rate
10% higher than the rest of the state.

Fifth Grade

71% of Henry's 5th graders proved advanced or proficient in math:
25% higher than the district.

56% of Henry's 5th graders proved advanced or proficient in reading:
21% higher than the district.

Henry's 5th grade proved proficient in math at a rate
2% higher than the rest of the state.

Henry's 5th grade proved proficient in reading at a rate
5% higher than the rest of the state.

Eighth Grade

68% of Henry's 8th graders proved advanced or proficient in math:
29% higher than the district.

72% of Henry's 8th graders proved advanced or proficient in reading:
32% higher than the district.

Henry's 8th grade proved proficient in math at a rate
11% higher than the rest of the state.

Henry's 8th grade proved proficient in reading at a rate
1% higher than the rest of the state.

As noted in the Inquirer, the federal No Child Left Behind act's goals for schools were higher in 2004/05 than the year before. Schools that made "adequate yearly progress" in 2003/04 could not slide on the same rate of progress in 2004/05: the improvement curve was steeper.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, in 2004/05, NCLB required schools to have: "at least 45% of the tested students achieve Proficient or higher on the mathematics assessment and 54% of the tested students achieve Proficient or higher on the reading assessment." Not only did Henry students cruise past the NCLB standard, they passed many of their suburban peers - the Inquirer notes several suburban districts that met a lower NCLB standard in 2003/04, but couldn't meet the higher standards in 2004/05.

For a detailed look at Henry's 2003/04 results, see What do the numbers say?.