Every public school student in the state takes the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) exams. Now you can see how Philly schools performed in 2012 and compare those scores with schools around the state.
Built by Andrew McGill for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where he works, the tool uses data from the Department of Education. McGill, a Cheltenham native, is the hobbyist hacker behind crime data scraper (and Best of Philly winner) Philly Rap Sheet.
Use the web app here.
Don’t forget about GreatPhillySchools, the recently-launched web app to search for and compare Philly schools.
As for McGill, he’s still maintaining Philly Rap Sheet. Check out this interview with him on Nieman Lab, in which he mentions that he’s run into some trouble with the site:
There’s one interesting issue that I’m wrestling with, and that’s keeping names associated with crimes when there’s the real fact that people get their crimes expunged. So I’ve gotten calls and I’ve gotten one cease-and-desist letter saying, “Listen, my records have been expunged. Take down my name.”
h/t Daniel Victor
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