James Fogarty, executive director of A+ Schools, presents the group’s annual Report to the Community on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024, at Frick Educational Center in Squirrel Hill South. Fogarty cited chronic absenteeism rate as a key factor affecting a school’s success. (Photo by Anastasia Busby/PublicSource)
An updated report on the performance of the Pittsburgh Public Schools suggests that attendance has improved, but disparities and some pandemic-era learning loss difficulties persist.
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An annual community report released by the nonprofit A+ Schools highlighted ongoing disparities in Pittsburgh Public Schools while noting progress in reducing chronic absenteeism.
Recently, A+ Schools has shifted its focus to reducing chronic absenteeism by supporting workarounds to the obstacles that drive down attendance.
“In the current system, the current structure, what we’re finding is our kids are facing a lot of barriers and challenges to getting to school that poverty exacerbates, and what that ends up doing is impacting the learning, not just for the kids who aren’t showing up regularly, but also for the kids who are there every day,” said James Fogarty, executive director of A+ Schools.
Students are deemed chronically absent in Pennsylvania when they miss more than 19 days (10% of the school year). Research has found that chronic absenteeism impacts literacy, math, high school graduation and post-secondary success.
Chronic absenteeism is higher than average in 15 neighborhood PPS schools which have 40% or higher rates of chronic absence. The report found that segregation and chronic absenteeism throughout the district contributed to disparate rates of student achievement. Regular attendance in schools, by contrast, led to higher AP scores and better SAT preparation, according to the study.
Key takeaways from the report:
Shrinking student body, concentrated poverty
The district has lost more than 6,000 students in the last decade and is weighing potential closures and consolidations starting in 2026. Racial and economic disparities in schools have contributed to disproportionate achievement levels and uneven access to resources among students.
- The district enrolled 18,380 students in 2023-24, a 14% decline since 2019. Charter school enrollment grew by 22% in those years.
- Racial and economic segregation persist in PPS schools, and 82% of students in buildings with high concentrations of poverty are students of color.
- The median teacher salary was over $90,000 in 2023, potentially contributing to higher-than-average teacher stability with only 7% of teachers being new to the schools in the last year. Ten schools cycled through three or more principals in the last four years.
- Gifted education programming overwhelmingly benefits white and wealthy families. Only 26% of gifted students are economically disadvantaged. 64% of the district’s students are economically disadvantaged.
Texts and nudges curbed absenteeism
Nearly a third of the district’s students were chronically absent in the last year. Absenteeism rates in the district have been gradually decreasing, due in part to efforts driven by a partnership between A+ Schools and PPS, the report claims.
A+ Schools partnered with Everyday Labs, an organization that provides intervention strategies to reduce chronic absenteeism such as nudges and text messages.
- Chronic absenteeism fell by 6% from the previous year.
- Students experiencing homelessness are most impacted by chronic absenteeism. 65% of those students were chronically absent last year.
- Six PPS schools — Beechwood, Dilworth, Sterrett, Classical, Linden and Weil — significantly reduced chronic absenteeism in the last year.
- 60% of at-risk or chronically absent students whose families received text messages improved their attendance.
- 2,918 more kids attended school regularly in 2023-24 than in 2022-23.
English scores up, but some groups lag
There have been slight improvements in academic performance last year compared to the year before. However, certain student groups such as Black students, economically disadvantaged students and students with an Individualized Education Plan [IEP], have seen declines in academic scores since the pandemic.
- Proficiency in the English language increased across all grades in state-administered exams in 2022-23, compared to the previous year.
- However, overall proficiency scores dropped by eight percentage points from third grade to eighth grade.
- Students with IEPs showed the largest decrease — 16 percentage points — among all student groups.
- 45% of students scored proficient in third-grade math, but only 19% of students were proficient by eighth grade.
Shawn McNeil, assistant superintendent at PPS, said the district is committed to continuing the partnership with A+ schools to reduce the disparities and absenteeism rates.
“The report highlights the collective work that we need to continue to do to ensure that all of our students, no matter what school they’re in, no matter their race, economic status, all of these things, no matter what, they are able to experience high-quality teaching and instruction,” he said.
Lajja Mistry is the K-12 education reporter at PublicSource. She can be reached at lajja@publicsource.org.
This article first appeared on PublicSource and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.