社区黑料

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at

Reading scores sank in New York City last school year, with a nearly 14 percentage point decline among third graders, according to preliminary data released Friday.

Among students in grades 3-8, about half were proficient in reading, a decline of 6 percentage points. That nearly erases a the year before. Math scores were flat, with 57% of students considered proficient.

The declines in reading proficiency were most pronounced in grades 3-5. In addition to the dramatic decline in third grade, fourth grade scores fell nearly 6 percentage points, and fifth grade scores fell by 13 points. (You can find your school鈥檚 test results at the bottom of this story.)

The unusually steep drop in reading proficiency comes as the city is heading into its . All elementary schools are required to use approved curriculums that officials contend line up with the science of reading, a longstanding body of evidence about how children learn to read. A growing number of middle schools are in the process of adopting new reading curriculums, too.

City officials vowed to conduct an analysis of the sharp fluctuations in reading scores.

鈥淪chool leaders across New York City are seeing dramatic swings in literacy proficiency reflected in this year鈥檚 state assessment results,鈥� schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels said in a statement. 鈥淭hese results raise important questions and deserve careful, rigorous analysis so we can ensure we鈥檙e measuring what students are learning.鈥�

City officials noted that the state test scores diverged from the city鈥檚 own periodic assessments, which generally showed improvements in reading.

The city鈥檚 teachers union has supported the elementary reading curriculum changes, but criticized the Education Department鈥檚 approach in response to the latest scores.

鈥淲e have to refocus on what we know works in literacy 鈥� a clear plan, a tailored science of reading curriculum, and meaningful professional development for educators,鈥� Mary Vaccaro, the union鈥檚 vice president for education, said in a statement.

She said the Education Department 鈥渁bandoned that approach鈥� last year and 鈥減iled on additional programs, assessments, consultant鈥檚 recommendations and curriculum in the hopes that 鈥榤ore鈥� would equal better, and we lost ground.鈥�

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has vowed to double down on the literacy and math curriculum overhauls launched by his predecessor. In May, he announced plans to , a move the union also criticized.

Test scores alone can鈥檛 prove whether a policy is working because many factors influence them. But city officials pointed to the dramatic 7 percentage point spike last year as .

The reading proficiency declines mirror a similar . Some testing experts told Chalkbeat this week that whipsawing scores are unusual and raise questions about whether there are irregularities in the exams.

Andrew Ho, a Harvard professor who serves on a panel of experts who are paid to advise New York on its state assessment system, said the state exams are carefully constructed.

鈥淚t鈥檚 uncommon but not unprecedented鈥� to see test scores significantly shift up and down, Ho said.

Observers should consider them in the context of other data, including the city鈥檚 own assessments and the National Assessment of Educational Progress, widely considered the gold standard assessment. A new round of results on that federal exam, including for New York City, are expected next year.

Others worried that there was an unidentified problem with the tests. Emily Oster, a professor of economics at Brown University who has studied patterns in state assessment results, said the swings were reminiscent of COVID-era disruptions but without an obvious cause.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just so implausible that there would be these kind of swings, and that they would be concentrated in some grades and some subjects and not others,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t just feels like there鈥檚 a mistake.鈥�

EdTrust-New York, an advocacy group, called for an independent audit of the last three years of state testing data. 鈥淣YSED never adequately investigated or explained last year鈥檚 dramatic gains, making this year鈥檚 reversal difficult to interpret,鈥� the group said in a statement earlier this week.

A spokesperson for the state鈥檚 Education Department said that the state conducts two independent audits of its assessments each year and those reviews have not flagged any problems.

As in prior years, the test results show deep disparities between student groups.

Asian American students saw the largest declines in reading scores last year among racial groups, with proficiency rates dropping to about 67%, down nearly 8 percentage points. A similar share of white students were considered proficient in reading.

Meanwhile, nearly 42% of Black students were proficient, a decline of 5 percentage points. About 37% of Latino students were marked proficient, 6 percentage points lower than the prior year. Just under 22% of students with disabilities were proficient readers.

Students who are currently learning English, or were in the past, saw the largest reading dips. Their proficiency rates dipped nearly 10 percentage points to 62.1%.

Math scores were more stable. Almost 44% of Black and Latino students were proficient in the subject, up less than 1 percentage point respectively. White and Asian American students鈥� scores dipped by about a percentage point each, to 74% and nearly 80%, respectively.

Curious about school-level test results? Here is a searchable breakdown of math and English scores across all of the city鈥檚 public schools (charters are not included).

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

Sign up for to get essential news about NYC鈥檚 public schools delivered to your inbox.

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 社区黑料鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.