{"id":991082,"date":"2026-08-09T13:25:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T13:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/991082\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T13:25:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T13:25:53","slug":"nyc-student-scores-plunge-with-only-half-reading-at-grade-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/991082\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC student scores plunge with only half reading at grade level"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading scores of New York City public school students plummeted this past school year, erasing improvements in the subject recorded a year before, sparking calls from the teachers\u2019 union for a change in approach.<\/p>\n

Data released Friday<\/a> showed that just half, 50.3 percent, of all students in grades 3 through 8 scored as proficient in English Language Arts \u2014 a drop from about 56% the year before. Alarmingly, scores for the youngest students, third graders, in particular, dropped 14 points, with just 44% scoring proficient in the subject.<\/p>\n

About 57% of the students scored proficient in math, only a 0.1% increase from the year before.<\/p>\n

The dramatic downswing comes as the city\u2019s public schools are still in the process of overhauling how they teach reading. In 2023, NYCPS launched NYC Reads, which it called a \u201cresearch-centered, phonics-based approach to literacy instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal remains universal literacy, and we are staying the course with NYC Reads and the science of reading,\u201d Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels<\/a> said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur educators also rely on nationally normed screeners to understand students\u2019 progress, tailor instruction and provide additional support where it\u2019s needed. These results raise important questions and deserve careful, rigorous analysis so we can ensure we\u2019re measuring what students are learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officials said they have begun a \u201cdeeper analysis\u201d of the fluctuations.<\/p>\n

\"(Shutterstock)\"Only about half of all students in grades 3 through 8 scored as proficient in English Language Arts\u2014 a drop from about 56% scoring proficient the year before. (Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

But Mary Vaccaro, United Federation of Teachers<\/a> vice president for education, said the city should not continue with the curriculum changes that have been implemented.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to refocus on what we know works in literacy \u2014 a clear plan, a tailored science of reading curriculum, and meaningful professional development for educators. That recipe yields results,\u201d Vaccaro said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis past school year, the system abandoned that approach,\u201d she continued, \u201cand, with no real plan in place, simply piled on additional programs, assessments, consultants\u2019 recommendations and curriculum in the hopes that \u2018more\u2019 would equal better, and we lost ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Mamdani defended the school system\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cNYC Reads marked a turning point in our commitment to ensuring every child gets the evidence-based instruction they deserve,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cAcross the nation, we\u2019ve seen transformative literacy rates using the pedagogy we know works, and we will continue to pursue that same approach. As we review these initial statewide results, and what they mean for our students, we will focus on better understanding the scoring process to use this data with confidence and make the best decisions for our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maria Odom, executive director of Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), said the new data raises \u201cmore questions than answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is clear is that the work is far from done \u2014 with only around half of students reading proficiently and glaring disparities between student subgroups,\u201d Odom said. \u201cThere are no silver bullets in education and true change does not happen overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reading scores of New York City public school students plummeted this past school year, erasing improvements in the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":991083,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,397386,59248,35965,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,49215,358666,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-991082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-declining-reading-scores","tag-grade-level","tag-literacy","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-public-schools","tag-reading-scores","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117065784312679741","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=991082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/991083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=991082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=991082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=991082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}