State Cites Improved Marks At Hundreds Of City's Schools

State Cites Improved Marks At Hundreds Of City's Schools


New York City has 328 "High Performing/Gap Closing" schools and 161 "Rapidly Improving" schools - almost twice as many as last year - according to Regents Chancellor Robert M. Bennett and State Education Commissioner Richard Mills.

RANDI WEINGARTEN: Signs of 'academic progress.'

Statewide, the number of high-performing schools increased by more than 100, while the number of rapidly improving schools grew by more than 150.

Basis for Inclusion

Schools were named "High Performing/Gap Closing" for having met all relevant state standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and math during the 2006-2007 school year, and for sustaining sufficient progress in these areas for two consecutive years.

"Rapidly Improving" schools are those that were below state standards in one or more subjects, but demonstrated improvement and made Adequate Yearly Progress in the past three school years.

Across New York, 1,759 public schools, 19 charter schools, and 288 public school districts have been named "High Performing/Gap Closing" under the No Child Left Behind Act, while 373 schools, 10 charter schools and 62 districts have been named "Rapidly Improving."

"We must focus special attention on schools that need to improve the performance of children who are frequently underserved," Chancellor Bennett said. "Today, we are pleased to recognize so many schools and districts in New York that have shown real progress in meeting this challenge." "We're pleased that more New York City schools are on track to meet the state's standards and are sustaining their success over time," said Department of Education spokesman Andrew Jacob.

United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten called the results "encouraging," adding that "we still have to strive to ensure sustained academic improvement in more of our schools, but these results show that we are on the right path. We can only hope that this academic progress will not be endangered by the $450 million in education budget cuts that Mayor Bloomberg and the city Department of Education have proposed for our schools."

Ms. Weingarten also voiced her concern over "the city's failure to align its school rating system with the state's." She cited P.S. 33 in Manhattan and P.S. 182 in the Bronx as examples, both of which received an F when reviewed by the city, although they were deemed "Rapidly Improving" by the state.

"Parents and educators need clear, accurate and consistent measurements for judging their schools' progress, and the city needs to provide a yardstick that is more consistent with the state's," she said.