Outcomes: what does the money actually buy?

State test results for Dallas and the same neighboring districts, shown alongside the district characteristic those results correlate with most strongly. Most recent results: 2025.

How Dallas compares on state tests

PDE district-level results · 2025 · percent scoring Proficient or Advanced

Test Students

Test scores and district poverty rate, statewide

PDE 2025 results · every PA school district with reportable data
Across all ~500 Pennsylvania school districts, the share of economically disadvantaged students and average PSSA proficiency correlate at r = −0.81. Each dot below is one district. A correlation of that size means most of the variation in scores between districts tracks this one characteristic.
Every PA district Compared districts Dallas SD Dashed line: trend

Horizontal: share of tested students who are economically disadvantaged. Vertical: average PSSA proficiency. Hover any dot.

The fairer question: how do similar students do?

PDE 2025 · economically disadvantaged students only

One way to strip out most of that demographic difference is to compare the same group of students across districts, using the Students switch on the first chart. The elementary and high school results behave differently when you do.

Does spending more buy better results?

PDE 2025 test results vs. 2024–25 AFR spending per student

Every PA district Compared districts Dallas SD

Horizontal: total spending per student, 2024–25 actuals. Vertical: average PSSA proficiency, 2025.

Limits of this data

Test scores are a narrow measure. They cover reading, math and science, and say nothing about arts, athletics, vocational programs, school climate, special education services, or what happens to graduates. They are the outcome data the state publishes for every district on a comparable basis.

Correlation is not causation, in either direction. A district that spends more and scores lower may be spending more because it serves higher-need students. Nothing on this page identifies which spending works.

Poverty is measured indirectly. "Economically disadvantaged" is a program eligibility flag rather than a household income figure, and districts vary in how completely families are identified.

One year is not a trend. These are 2025 results. In a district the size of Dallas, year-to-year movement of several points can come from cohort composition alone.