Ten top 10s from New York City’s 2014 test scores

The city’s test scores in math and English inched up in 2014, but overall proficiency remained low after the second year of Common Core-aligned tests. But in a system with more than 1,200 elementary and middle schools, there are dozens of outliers on both sides of the performance spectrum.

Using the state’s “matched” student data, which excludes third grade and any other students who didn’t also take the exam in 2013,  we pulled out some of the highest and lowest scorers and what you need to know about why they’re there. (For unmatched city data, click here.)

Top city schools in reading proficiency:

1. Baccalaureate School for Global Education (95.77 percent)
2. The Anderson School (94.86)
3. Special Music School (94.44)
4. New Explorations into Science, Tech and Math High School (94.29)
5. I.S. 187 The Christa McAuliffe School (92.23)
6. P.S. 748 Brooklyn School for Global Scholars (92.16)
7. P.S. 77 Lower Lab School (88.89)
8. Scholars’ Academy (86.60)
9. M.S. 255 Salk School of Science (84.57)
10. NYC Lab MS For Collaborative Studies (82.16)

There are few surprises among the city’s very top performing schools. All have selective admissions and few serve English language learners, students with disabilities or poor students. Schools shuffled between top-ranked spots, but all 10 were featured on last year’s “top 22” list that the Bloomberg administration celebrated on a publicity tour.

Top high-poverty city schools in reading proficiency (80-100 percent poverty):

1. P.S. 172 Beacon School of Excellence (75.47 percent)
2. Bronx Success Academy Charter School 2 (73.75)
3. Harlem Success Academy Charter School 5 (72.60)
4. Bronx Success Academy Charter School 1 (70.13)
5. Harlem Success Academy Charter School (61.95)
6. Magnet School of Math, Science & Design Tech (61.34)
7. All City Leadership Secondary School (60.77)
8. P.S. 124 Yung Wing (60.07)
9. P.S. 247, Brooklyn (57.64)
10. South Bronx Classical Charter School (57.14)

The city’s top-ranked list changes when poverty is taken into account. Half of the top 10 are charter schools, which admit students through a lottery, including four from the Success Academy network, which boasted English proficiency rates 35 points higher than the city average.

Other schools have drawn praise for their academic achievements for years. Mayor Bloomberg and former Chancellor Joel Klein both visited Brooklyn’s P.S. 172 on the first day of school in 2010 to tout its high test scores even in the face of higher standards.

Bottom city schools in reading proficiency (not including District 75 schools):

1. P.S. 194 Countee Cullen (0.0 percent)
2. Urban Assembly School for the Environment (0.0)
3. M.S. 203, Bronx (0.68)
4. Brownsville Collaborative Middle School (0.98)
5. Middle School for the Arts (1.22)
6. Harbor Heights (1.28)
7. P.S. 133 Fred R Moore (1.33)
8.Choir Academy of Harlem (1.61)
9. M.S. 584, Brooklyn (1.92)
10. P.S. 149 Sojourner Truth (2.16)

The statistics are grim for the worst-performing schools in the city, many of which have struggled for years and were targeted for aggressive intervention. P.S. 194 has been in danger of being closed since at least 2009 and was a target of low-level intervention again last year, as P.S. 133 in Harlem was in 2012. Some schools, like Choir Academy of Harlem and M.S. 203, will soon be closed due to low performance and the number of students taking tests at the schools is down by an average of 30 percent. One outlier is Harbor Heights, which serves English language learners and recent immigrants, many with no prior schooling.

Biggest positive change in reading proficiency rate:

1. East Village Community School (+21.67 percentage points)
2. P.S. 191 Mayflower (+19.23)
3. Academic Leadership Charter School (+19.09)
4. P.S. 42 Benjamin Altman (+18.18)
5. P.S. 108 Sal Abbracciamento (+17.78)
6. P.S. 94 David D. Porter (+15.97)
7. P.S. 198, Brooklyn (+15.94)
8. P.S. 183 Robert L. Stevenson (+14.61)
9. P.S. 79 Francis Lewis (+14.18)
10. Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice (+14.12)

Biggest negative change in reading proficiency rate:

1. P.S. 8 Shirlee Solomon (-24.00 percentage points)
2. P.S. 106, Queens (-16.92)
3. Archer Elementary School (-15.38)
4. P.S. 110 Florence Nightingale (-13.40)
5. P.S. 56 Lewis Latimer (-13.16)
6. P.S. 33 Chelsea Prep (-11.94)
7. Bronx Success Academy Charter School 2 (-11.25)
8. P.S. 169 Bay Terrace (-10.58)
9. South Bronx Charter School for International Cultures and Arts (-10.39)
10. Luisa Pineiro Fuentes School of Science and Discovery (-10.19)

The biggest swings came in the early tested grades. Nineteen of the 20 schools with the biggest gains and losses were elementary schools. The lone middle school, Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice, stood out for another reason: Its 14-point reading gains made it the only school from the Bronx to show such dramatic improvement.

Top city schools in math proficiency:

1. P.S. 172 Beacon School of Excellence (98.75 percent)
2. Bronx Success Academy Charter School 2 (98.75)
3. I.S. 187 The Christa McAuliffe School (98.03)
4. Anderson School (97.62)
5. Baccalaureate School For Global Education (97.53)
6. Bronx Success Academy Charter School 1 (97.40)
7. Special Music School (96.43)
8. Harlem Success Academy Charter School 4 (95.56)
9. Harlem Success Academy Charter School 5 (94.52)
10. P.S. 748 Brooklyn School for Global Scholars (94.12)

Many of the city’s top performers in math are repeats from the list of top-performing reading schools.

Bottom city schools in math proficiency (not including District 75 schools):

1. J.H.S. 166 George Gershwin (0.00 percent)
2. M.S. 203, Bronx (0.00)
3. New Heights Middle School (0.98)
4. Middle School For The Arts (1.23)
5. Evergreen Middle School for Urban Exploration (1.36)
6. Middle School for Academic and Social Excellence (1.42)
7. J.H.S. 22 Jordan L. Mott (1.57)
8. J.H.S. 145 Arturo Toscanini (1.58)
9. Henry Street School for International Studies (1.75)
10. Knowledge and Power Prep Academy IV (1.83)

J.H.S. 166, M.S. 203, and Middle School for the Arts are being phased out for poor performance.

Top high-poverty city schools in math proficiency rate (80-100 percent poverty):

1. P.S. 172 Beacon School of Excellence (98.75 percent)
2. Bronx Success Academy Charter School 2 (98.75)
3. Bronx Success Academy Charter School 1 (97.40)
4. Harlem Success Academy Charter School 5 (94.52)
5. Harlem Success Academy Charter School (93.08)
6. South Bronx Classical Charter School (87.96)
7. P.S. 247, Brooklyn (84.39)
8. P.S. 42 Benjamin Altman (83.33)
9. P.S. 130 Hernando de Soto (82.03)
10. P.S. 124 Yung Wing (78.80)

The Success Academy schools, South Bronx Classical, P.S. 124 and P.S. 172 are repeats. P.S. 42, P.S. 130, and P.S. 124 are all in the Lower East Side/Chinatown neighborhoods and at least 87 percent of their students are Asian, the ethnic group posting the city’s highest average test scores.

Biggest positive change in math proficiency rate:

1. Manhattan Charter School (+31.94 percentage points)
2. Democracy Prep Charter School (+27.91)
3. East Village Community School (+27.59)
4. Achievement First Endeavor Charter School (+26.56)
5. Central Queens Academy Charter School (+26.19)
6. KIPP NYC Washington Heights Academy Charter School (+25.54)
7. Harlem Link Charter School (+25.26)
8. Achievement First Brownsville Charter School (+24.55)
9. P.S. 32 Samuels Mills Sprole (+24.36)
10. Leadership Preparatory Brownsville Charter School (+24.19)

Biggest negative change in math proficiency rate:

1. P.S. 8 Shirlee Solomon (-19.20 percentage points)
2. P.S. 56 Lewis H Latimer (-15.79)
3. P.S. 29 (Queens) (-14.83)
4. Academy for Young Writers (-14.49)
5. I.S. 340, Brooklyn (-14.44)
6. Hyde Leadership Charter School – Brooklyn (-12.90)
7. P.S. 106, Queens (-12.30)
8. River East Elementary (-11.39)
9. Metropolitan Lighthouse Charter School (-10.89)
10. P.S. 25 Eubie Blake School (-10.53)