Fewer than half of New York City public school students showed proficiency on reading exams this year, a decline from the previous year that may reflect how hard it is to change teaching approaches as the district embarks on a major reading overhaul.
The drop in reading scores was relatively small, however, about two and a half points, and came as math scores ticked up by more than three points, according to data released by the city on Wednesday. Roughly 53 percent of children in grades three through eight were proficient in math, and about 49 percent showed proficiency in reading.
The exam results cast a harsh spotlight on inequality in city schools: About two-thirds of white test takers were proficient in reading, for example, compared with roughly 36 percent of Hispanic students, who now make up the district’s biggest racial or ethnic group.
The scores did not reveal how children in the nation’s largest public school system are faring after losing ground during the disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic. The exams were changed in 2023 to meet new state standards, and results are not comparable to prepandemic scores.
(The results of a gold-standard federal exam will be released in the winter, and could provide a picture of how New York schools are recovering from learning loss.)
Education officials in New York sought to frame the reading drop as part of the natural pains that come with reform. Other states that have overhauled reading, like Mississippi, reported reading declines in the early days, but ultimately saw significant improvement after years of sustained efforts that included sending literacy coaches into struggling schools.
“Significant change does not happen overnight,” the New York City schools chancellor, David C. Banks, said in a statement. He called the “slight decline” in reading scores reflective of “a transitional period as our school system adjusts to a new method of instruction.”
Across the nation, elementary and middle school students have made up significant ground since many schools shut down and classes went virtual in 2020. But children are still far from being entirely caught up, and a windfall of federal funding to help them bounce back is drying out.
More than 300,000 third-through-eighth-grade city students typically sit for the exams each spring. Some children perennially struggle more. Roughly 21 percent of students with disabilities were proficient in reading this year, for example, and 27 percent were proficient in math.
The test trends for disadvantaged students will be closely watched as the district enters its second year of the reading overhaul.
The city rolled out new reading curriculums last fall in about half of its elementary schools. The rest are joining them next month. The chancellor said some popular strategies to teach reading were “fundamentally flawed,” and that approaches needed to be better aligned with the brain science of how children learn to read.
The city has also begun a quieter effort to change math instruction in middle and high schools, with a new curriculum set to spread to more classrooms this year.
But as New York and dozens of other cities push teachers to change their methods, some experts fear that schools and families might expect immediate results, become impatient and ultimately revert to old approaches.
On Wednesday, several advocacy groups and early literacy experts called for the city to stay the course. “We need to take the long view and work for lasting change,” Kim Sweet, the executive director of Advocates for Children of New York, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The city’s Education Department said on Wednesday that more than three in four principals reported having “adequate support” in reading instruction. Roughly 81 percent of school leaders in the first phase of the city’s rollout said they were satisfied with the curriculum. About 70 percent of principals who are starting new programs this fall said the same.
Even so, New York may face difficult questions about the new approach in the coming year.
Among the most pressing: Which schools are allowed to say “no thanks?” In the spring, one high-performing school in Brooklyn received an exemption from adopting the new curriculums. Officials have not said whether other schools with strong test scores will be allowed to choose different reading programs.
“They really haven’t come to grips with what constitutes a waiver, and why some schools should get one,” Susan Neuman, an early literacy expert at New York University, said before the test data was released. “That’s going to be increasingly problematic.”
Kate Gutwillig, an elementary teacher in Manhattan’s District 1, where schools are preparing to adopt a new reading program this fall, said she would have liked to talk with other educators who already use the curriculum before her students return on Sept. 5.
“There’s no feedback loop I’m aware of,” she said. “We would love to know what their experience was. What were the pros? What were the cons?”
Still, Ms. Gutwillig said that for now, she would try to remain optimistic. “I really hope that it’ll work,” she said.
The post As N.Y.C. Reading Scores Slip Under New Program, Officials Urge Patience appeared first on New York Times.