Mastery of communication skills, including reading, writing, speaking and listening, is critical for success at college and in the workplace. The Pennsylvania Keystone Exam is one path for high school students to demonstrate readiness for postsecondary success. Proficiency among historically underperforming students can show whether districts and education policymakers have made progress in closing the achievement gap between traditionally underserved groups and other students.

In 2019, 76% of students in Lancaster County and 50% of students in the Lancaster City School District passed the Pennsylvania Keystone Grade 11 English Language Arts exam, down slightly from 75% in the County and up from 45% in the District in 2018. In contrast, 56% of historically underperforming students in Lancaster County and 46% of historically underperforming students in the Lancaster City School District passed the exam in 2019, up from 55% in the County and 42% in the District in 2018. Lancaster County's 2019 proficiency rates were slightly higher than statewide rates of 73% for all students and 54% for historically underperforming students.

Lancaster County has the fourth highest proficiency rate among all students following Chester (80%), Cumberland and York (both 79%) and the fourth highest performance rate among historically underperforming students following York (60%), Cumberland and Chester (both 57%). Lancaster County's share of historically underperforming students in eleventh grade (42%) is similar to Lebanon (41%), lower than Berks and Dauphin (both 48%), and higher than York (40%), Chester (33%) and Cumberland (31%).

As assessments vary among states, it is not possible to include comparable data for the nation or other areas in this indicator. Data are from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.