The poor performance of economically disadvantaged students, particularly those in schools with high percentages of needy students, has long been a concern. In my first post, I examined the performance of disadvantaged students on the state’s grades three through eight mathematics exam at district-operated and charter schools in large upstate New York cities. In these settings, they pass the state’s annual proficiency exams at only one-third the rate of those not disadvantaged at schools with few disadvantaged students.
This post examines disadvantaged students’ performance at district-operated and charter schools outside New York City on New York’s annual student assessment for grades three through eight in English language arts in 2022-2023.
Data from New York’s 2022-2023 English Language Arts exam shows a similar pattern. Twenty percent of less economically disadvantaged students in schools with high percentages of poor students pass, compared with more than 40% at schools with few. Students who were not disadvantaged did better, with more than 60% passing at schools with low percentages of needy students and 30% or more passing at schools with high percentages.
Charter Schools vs. District Operated Schools
On the state’s mathematics assessment, charter schools performed better than district-operated schools by 12%, controlling for the percentage of disadvantaged students. Charter school students averaged 16% better on the English Language Arts exam. Thirty percent exceeded the trend of average performance of district-operated schools by 20% or more. Disadvantaged student performance at about half of charter schools was within 10% of the average for district-operated schools, controlling for the percentage of needy students.
On the ELA exam, needy students at only eight of fifty charter schools performed below the average for district-operated schools, controlling for disadvantage. On the math exam, disadvantaged students at 19 of 49 charter schools performed below the district-operated average.
English Language Arts Performance in Large Upstate Cities – Albany
Overall, disadvantaged students at charter schools in Albany did 11% better than those at district schools. Controlling for the percentage of disadvantaged students at the schools, the difference was 14%. Disadvantaged students at two charter schools did significantly better—52% passed at Brighter. J Choice Starter School for Girls, while 43% passed at Henry Johnson School. At three charter schools, performance was similar to that at district-operated schools in Albany. At one district-operated school, Albany School of the Humanities, 41% passed. At Arbor Hill Elementary School and P. J. Schuyler Achievement Academy, more than 90% of disadvantaged students failed the test.
The performance of students who were not disadvantaged in Albany Schools was similar to that of those in Albany County outside the city, with more than 50% passing.
Buffalo
Disadvantaged students at Buffalo charter schools had a relatively small advantage over district-operated schools on the English Language Arts exam—29% passed, compared with 26% at district-operated schools. Unlike other upstate cities, disadvantaged students at several district schools did quite well. At Frederick Olmstead School #156, sixty percent passed; at Frederick Law Olmstead School PS 64, sixty-two percent passed; at PS 74, Hamlin Park School, 54% passed; at PS 82, fifty percent passed; and at City Honors School, 67% passed. Among charter schools, West Buffalo Charter School, with 58% of disadvantaged students passing, and Buffalo Academy of Science, with 50% passing, did well.
Conversely, over 90% of disadvantaged students failed the ELA exam at Martin Luther King School #48 and Build Community School. 88% failed at Enterprise Charter School.
Rochester
On average, disadvantaged students at charter schools in Rochester performed better on the ELA exam than those at district-operated schools – 28% passed, compared with 15% at district schools. Controlling for the percentage of disadvantaged students, disadvantaged students at charter schools did 12% better, on average.
Disadvantaged students at three charter schools did significantly better than average: Discovery Charter School, where 62% passed; True North Rochester Prep School, where 41% passed; and True North Rochester Prep-West School, where 44% passed.
Ten district-operated schools did particularly poorly, with more than 90% of disadvantaged students failing the exam. At School 39 – Andrew Townson School and School 8 – Roberto Clemente School, only 2 of every 100 disadvantaged students passed. At School 29 – Adlai E. Stevenson School, only 1 in 100 passed, while at Rise Community School, none passed.
Syracuse
Data was available for only two charter schools in Syracuse. Although disadvantaged student performance was better at them than at district-operated schools, results were poor in both cases, with 17% passing in district schools and 29% passing in charters. The only school—charter or district-operated—where disadvantaged students performed relatively well was the Syracuse Latin School, where 49% passed. At five district-operated schools, more than 90% of disadvantaged students failed. Only one percent passed at Seymour Dual Language Academy and Delaware Primary School.
Overall, the performance of economically disadvantaged students on the state’s English language Arts Assessment in 2022-2023 was dismal. In schools in the counties outside the four central cities studied, only about 30% passed, compared with more than half of students who were not disadvantaged. Their performance was even worse in Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse – particularly at district-operated schools. In Rochester, only 85% failed; in Syracuse, 83% failed; in Albany, 80% failed; and in Buffalo, 74% failed.
Disadvantaged students at charter schools performed somewhat better on average, but even so, most failed the exam. In Albany, 69% failed; In Buffalo, 71% failed; in Rochester, 72% failed; and at Syracuse charter schools, 71% failed. Disadvantaged student performance approached that of students who were not disadvantaged at only eight of fifty charter schools outside New York City: two charter schools in Albany, three in Buffalo and Rochester, and none in Syracuse.