August 23, 2019 (New York City) –

In response to the publication of the results of New York State’s standardized exams, Jennifer March, Executive Director of Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York (CCC), issued the following statement:

“The 2019 state exam results suggest that the city’s schools are moving in the right direction as demonstrated by gains in ELA and Math scores for students in grades 3 through 8 compared to last year’s results. Notably, the City also outperformed the rest of the state by a full 2 percentage points on the English exam.

While results show progress, they also highlight many areas in which achievement gaps sadly persist: Black and Latinx students performed far below their White and Asian peers in both Math and English. Only 16% of students with disabilities were proficient in reading, compared to 56% of students in general education. And the results showed a decline in English proficiency among the City’s English-language learners.

Also, for the first time, third graders who took the state test included students enrolled in the Mayor’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten initiative, and results demonstrate higher proficiency in both math and ELA compared to third graders who did not attend Pre-K. These results are just the beginning of the vast payoffs we expect to see from the City’s investment in early childhood education. We applaud the administration’s efforts thus far and underscore that there is still significant work ahead to close achievement gaps and ensure that every child is ready for and succeeding in the City’s school system.”

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