Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza Celebrate Gains for NYC Students on State Exams

Pre-K for All closing achievement gap and improving test scores

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza today announced New York City students’ gains on State English and math exams. In 2019, 47.4 percent of students met proficiency standards in English, a 0.7 point increase from 46.7 percent last year. City students outperformed their New York State peers on State English exams for the fourth year in a row. 45.6 percent of students met the standards in math, a 2.9 point increase from 42.7 percent last year. New York City students’ proficiency in both subjects improved across all ethnic groups. Additionally, the White-Black and White-Hispanic achievement gaps were narrower for students who attended Pre-K for All compared to those who did not, illustrating the long term benefit of the program.

Pre-K for All had its first major expansion in 2014-15, providing a free, full-day high-quality pre-K seat for approximately 53,000 children, and 2018-19 was first year that students benefiting from Pre-K for All were in 3rd grade. 3rd-grade students who attended Pre-K for All outperformed students who did not attend Pre-K for All. The White-Black and White-Hispanic gaps were narrower for students who attended Pre-K for All compared to the gaps among students who did not attend Pre-K for All. While 3rd-grade test scores are only one measure and research has found that greater impact of full-day, high-quality pre-K may be found in middle-school test scores and later in life, this year’s results represent an encouraging sign of the impact of Pre-K for All.

The White-Black Gap was 5.3 percentage points narrower in ELA and 6.8 percentage points narrower in math for Pre-K for All students compared to the gap among students who did not attend Pre-K for All. The White Hispanic Gap was 6.0 percentage points narrower in ELA and 6.5 percentage points narrower in math for Pre-K for All students compared to the gap among students who did not attend Pre-K for All.

Grade 3 test takers had the highest proficiency of any grade in ELA and Math in New York City and their gains outpaced their New York State peers. A large and growing body of research has demonstrated that children enrolled in full-day, high-quality pre-K are better prepared to learn and be successful in later grades, and New York City parents with children enrolled save an average of $10,000 in childcare costs.

For the first time under this administration, every community school district improved its math scores. New York City students outperformed New York State on English, with 47.4 percent of students meeting proficiency standards, compared to the State’s 45.4 percent. This is the fourth year in a row that New York City students have outperformed their State peers on English, with the difference increasing each time. This year, the difference increased from 1.5 percentage points to 2.0 percentage points. New York City students continued to close the gap with New York State on the State math exams, from 1.8 percentage points to 1.2 percentage points.

New York City schools are the strongest they’ve ever been across multiple measures, including:

• The highest-ever graduation rate – 75.9 percent of the Class of 2018.

• The lowest-ever dropout rate – 7.5 percent of the Class of 2018.

• The highest-ever postsecondary enrollment rate – 59 percent of the Class of 2017. 5,000 more students are attending college than at the beginning of this administration.

• The highest-ever number of New York City students taking and passing Advanced Placement exams and the SAT exam.

New York City students’ performance on State exams goes hand-in-hand with these gains, and reflects investments in the Mayor and Chancellor’s Equity and Excellence for All agenda.

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August 22, 2019