Pennsylvania: 2025 Assessment Results
Fourth year of declining ELA scores, but math on the rise
2025 State Test Score Results Data Series
Welcome! This newsletter is published by the Education Data Center and is designed to provide updates on 2025 state assessment data. We’re sharing high-level insights on ELA and math state summative assessment outcomes for students in grades 3-8. You can expect to find the following for each state:
Overall ELA and math achievement trends;
ELA and math results disaggregated by achievement level;
Maps of ELA and math results by district or county in 2025;
Top-performing school districts in ELA and math in 2025; and
ELA and math results by race/ethnicity in 2025.
We have included additional information about the state assessment at the end of this post, for reference.
Update! You can now find all available 2025 assessment data on the EDC’s website here. You can also try using Zelma, EDC’s AI assistant, to ask questions about the data for your state of interest.
Trends Over Time
In November, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) released the 2025 state summative test results from the Pennsylvania System for School Assessment (PSSA). Notably, ELA and math demonstrate two distinct trends in Pennsylvania: while math scores have steadily risen in the post-pandemic era, ELA scores in 2025 have declined for a fourth year.
In response to the release of the assessment data, Acting Secretary of Education Dr. Carrie Rowe described how the state plans to improve student achievement going forward:
“While 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, increasing support for structured literacy in our classrooms, raising awareness of the effectiveness of the PA Firefly benchmarking tool, and examining whether or not Pennsylvania’s current state standards – some of which have not been updated in more than a decade – still align with the skills and knowledge students really need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.”
Overall, in 2025:
ELA: Approximately 48.5% of students in grades 3-8 reached proficiency in 2025, a steep drop from 53% in 2024.
Math: Approximately 41.7% of students reached proficiency in 2025, above 40.4% in 2024.
Figure 1. ELA and Math Achievement Trends
Figure 2. Pennsylvania Results by Achievement Level
A Closer Look at 2025
Figure 3. 2025 ELA Proficiency by School District
Figure 4. 2025 Math Proficiency by School District
Pennsylvania School District Spotlight
Figure 5. Top-Performing School Districts in 2025 in ELA and Math
Pennsylvania Results by Race/Ethnicity in 2025
Figure 6. Proficiency by Race/Ethnicity in 2025 in ELA and Math
Pennsylvania State Assessment Background
Please see below for additional information on the state assessment data used for this summary. The data represent ELA and math outcomes for students in Grades 3-8 only.
Assessment Name: Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA)
Years Included in Analysis: 2015 - 2025
Additional Information: More information on the PSSA can be found here.
Data presented here are specific to this state’s assessment and are not comparable to assessments administered by other states. For questions, please reach out to info@eddatacenter.org.