NYC public school students make gains in state reading, math tests
Coronavirus is back on the rise, but so are test scores in reading and math that show New York City public school students are making up for lost time caused by the pandemic.
After two solid years of academic setbacks, students in the five boroughs made impressive gains in reading and math last school year, according to state test scores released by the city Department of Education.
A realignment to new standards make the results difficult to compare between 2022 and 2023, but school officials said the English Language Arts scores displayed “an impressive upward trajectory” while math scores increased “substantially.”
The percentage of students achieving proficiency in ELA rose from 49% in 2022 to 51.7% in 2023, according to the new data.
The percentage of students achieving proficiency in math rose from 37.9% to 49.9%
“These results are extremely encouraging,” said Schools Chancellor David Banks. “Under the first year of this administration, we’re seeing more of our students on grade level and meeting the state’s learning standards, with significant gains in math and increases in ELA as well.”
Big Apple students are beginning to close the achievement gap, too, according to Banks.
He said the disparity between Black and white students has seen a decline, with Black students increasing proficiency by 13.8% in math and 4.5% in ELA.
“We also saw proficiency growth among the students we have historically let down: students of color, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities,” Banks said. “These results
tell us: we’re on the right track. We are making strides in our recovery from the pandemic, and we are going to build on this success this year and beyond.”
Still, the state Education Department has warned against comparing recent test scores to previous results.
The state did not administer the tests in 2020, and only about one in five students took them in 2021.
That year, math scores plummeted nearly 8 percentage points, data show. And while city school kids fared better in English Language Arts during that period, top-line data obscured a worrisome trend. Literacy significantly plunged among the youngest test-takers, who were just learning how to read when classes moved online.
Banks, a vocal critic of the city’s approach to reading in recent years, has repeatedly vowed to overhaul instruction. Last school year, the chancellor mandated school districts start implementing one of three reading curriculums.
“We are bringing the science of reading to all of our students as quickly as possible, but also strategically, because we have to get this right. And we will,” the chancellor previously said.
Families received their children’s individual test scores on Sept. 13.
