Report: The Big 5 NY Cities Opt In

2015***
HIGH ACHIEVEMENT NEW YORK

***EMBARGOED UNTIL MAY 11,

NOT- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

REPORT: The Big 5 New York Cities

Opt In to State Assessments
The vast majority of students in New Yorks five biggest cities; New York City,
Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers and Syracuse, opted in to this years math and
English Language Arts (ELA) state assessments, with over 98 percent of
students taking the tests.
In other words, student refusals were concentrated outside of New Yorks
largest hubs.
The major cities, which make up roughly 40 percent of New Yorks 1.2 million
students in grades 3-8, accounted for only 3.3 percent of the 220,500
statewide opt-outs and had an overall opt-out rate of 1.5 percent.
Table 1: Big 5 Opt outs
City
All (Top 5 Cities)
New York
Buffalo
Rochester
Yonkers
Syracuse

Opt-Outs
7,307
3,503
1,085
1,300
625
794

Student
Population
477,927
421,810
19,675
14,640
12,973
8,829

% Opting Out
1.53%
0.83%
5.51%
8.88%
4.82%
8.99%

Sources: United to Counter the Core; Proximity One; Syracuse; NYC DoE. 1

New Yorks five largest cities tend to lag behind the rest of the state in
graduation rates and college and career readiness. So their decision to opt
in to the state assessments signifies their recognition of the tests as a
necessary component of higher learning standards and an important step
toward ensuring their children are prepared for college and careers.
In 2014, the gap in college and career readiness between the states most
populated cities and the statewide average was 16.5 percentage points in
math and 19.18 points in ELA.

1 UCC:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/t2_8Bg3h8mqx6Ax8rwGG5Mw/htmlview?
pli=1#; Proximity One: http://proximityone.com/ny_sdc.htm; Syracuse:
http://www.syracuse.com/schools/index.ssf/2015/04/onondaga_county_school_district
s_report_9_to_67_percent_of_students_refused_math.html; NYC DoE:
http://schools.nyc.gov/Accountability/data/TestResults/ELAandMathTestResults.

Report: The Big 5 NY Cities Opt In

2015***
HIGH ACHIEVEMENT NEW YORK

***EMBARGOED UNTIL MAY 11,

NOT- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The New York City graduation rate trails that of the state by 12 percentage
points. Further, in the city, only 17.6 percent of 2014 high school graduates
left school prepared for college and careers, compared to the 31 percent
statewide average.
Rochester has the lowest proficiency scores of any of the cities, with just over
5 percent of students taking ELA on track for college and careers in 2014,
compared with the state average of 31.4 percent. Similarly, for math, only
6.8 percent of Rochester students were on track to achieve college and
career readiness, nearly 30 percentage points below the state average.
Table 2: Big 5 College and Career Readiness

City
State Avg*
Big 5
Average
NYC
Yonkers
Rochester
Syracuse
Buffalo

% of 3-8 Graders
on track for
College & Career
Readiness in ELA
35.8

% of 3-8 Graders
on track for
College & Career
Readiness in Math
31.4

16.62
34.5
21.1
6.8
7.6
13.1

14.9
29.4
18.7
5.7
8.5
12.2

% of High
School
Graduates
Ready for
College and
Careers
31
10.84
17.6
18.9
4.9
5.5
7.3

Source: NYSED.2

However, the standards and assessments are working.

The average New York public school saw a 4.7 percent increase in the number
of students on track to graduate prepared for college and careers between
2013 and 2014. Moreover, New York City and Yonkers both experienced larger
proficiency gains than the state, at 6.4 and 6.8 percent, respectively (see
table 4).
Table 3: Testing Improvements from 2013-2014 in the Big 5 Cities

City
State Avg*
New York

2013 ELA
Proficient
31.3
27.4

2014 ELA
Proficient
31.4
29.4

2013 Math
Proficient
31.2
30.1

2014 Math
Proficient
35.8
34.5

Combined
Net
Improvemen
t
4.7
6.4

2 NYSED: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/ela-math/2014/2014Grades3-8ELAMathfinal8-13-14.pdfhttp://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/pressRelease/20141218/2010CohortGradRate-12-17-14.pdf.

Report: The Big 5 NY Cities Opt In

2015***
HIGH ACHIEVEMENT NEW YORK
City
Yonkers
Buffalo
Rochester
Syracuse
Source: NYSED.3

16.9
12.1
5.6
8.5

18.7
12.2
5.7
8.5

***EMBARGOED UNTIL MAY 11,

NOT- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
16.1
11.4
4.8
7.2

21.1
13.1
6.8
7.6

6.8
1.8
2.1
0.4

The first high school class to graduate with four full years of Common Core
saw and increased graduation rate in each city. Specifically, the graduation
rate in New York City increased by 3.3 percentage points after the
introduction of Common Core in 2010.
Table 4: Graduation Rates
2010
Graduatio
n Rates
76.1

2011
Graduatio
n Rates
76.8

2012
Graduatio
n Rates
76.7

2013
Graduatio
n Rates
77.8

2014
Graduation
Rates
79.1

65.1
68.3
49.6
50.5
50.7

65.5
72.1
55.3
49
53

64.7
72.1
47.8
48.6
51.1

66
72.3
56
48.1
51.9

68.4
75.8
55.5
51
55.7

City
State Avg*
New York
City
Yonkers
Buffalo
Rochester
Syracuse
Source: NYSED.4

Table 5: Opt-Outs by District within the Big 5 Cities

County
Erie
Monroe
Onondaga
Westchest
er
New York
Bronx
Bronx
Bronx

District
Buffalo City SD
Rochester City SD
Syracuse City SD
Yonkers City SD
NYC District 1
NYC District 10
NYC District 11
NYC District 12

ELA
1,085
1,300
404

Math
92
794

OptOuts
1,085
1,300
794

625
319
95
13

319
95
22

625
319
95
0
22

Total
Student
s
19,675
14,640
8,829

%
Opting
Out
5.51%
8.88%
8.99%

12,973
5,077
24,031
18,992
10,877

4.82%
6.28%
0.40%
0.00%
0.20%

3 NYSED: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/ela-math/2014/2014Grades3-8ELAMathfinal8-13-14.pdf. *The State Avg refers to the state average for all public schools in
New York State.

4 NYSED: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/pressRelease/20141218/2010CohortGradRate-12-17-14.pdf. *The State Avg refers to the state average for all
public schools in New York State.

Report: The Big 5 NY Cities Opt In

2015***
HIGH ACHIEVEMENT NEW YORK
Kings
Kings
Kings
Kings
Kings
Kings
Kings
New York
Kings
Kings
Kings
Kings
Queens
Queens
Queens
Queens
Queens
Queens
New York
Queens
Richmond
Kings
New York
New York
New York
Bronx
Bronx
Bronx

NYC District 13
NYC District 14
NYC District 15
NYC District 16
NYC District 17
NYC District 18
NYC District 19
NYC District 2
NYC District 20
NYC District 21
NYC District 22
NYC District 23
NYC District 24
NYC District 25
NYC District 26
NYC District 27
NYC District 28
NYC District 29
NYC District 3
NYC District 30
NYC District 31
NYC Geographic
District 32
NYC District 4
NYC District 5
NYC District 6
NYC District 7
NYC District 8
NYC District 9

***EMBARGOED UNTIL MAY 11,

NOT- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

311
32
1,494
1
33
233
2
90
26
2
58
4
5
1
75
18
270

311
32
1,520
1
33
233
2
90
38
2
64
4
10
1
75
18
270

311
32
1,520
0
0
1
33
233
0
0
2
90
38
2
64
4
10
1
75
18
270

6,136
7,564
12,735
4,243
11,288
8,832
11,740
14,692
21,234
13,864
15,622
6,041
26,357
15,171
10,880
21,720
15,111
15,164
8,163
18,695
26,606

5.07%
0.42%
11.94%
0.00%
0.00%
0.01%
0.28%
1.59%
0.00%
0.00%
0.01%
1.49%
0.14%
0.01%
0.59%
0.02%
0.07%
0.01%
0.92%
0.10%
1.01%

129
32
201
1
-

129
32
201
1
ALL

0
129
32
201
1
0
0
7,307

7,612
6,396
5,708
11,932
8,213
13,553
17,561
477,927

0.00%
2.02%
0.56%
1.68%
0.01%
0.00%
0.00%
1.53%

Methodology
The estimated number of opt-outs is based on the data collected by United to
Counter the Core, using the max number from either ELA or Math to allow for
potential overlap in opt-outs between the two subjects. 5
The total number of students per NYC district is based on the number of
students who took the assessments in 2013.6 Syracuse student population

5 UCC: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1skCRo8KlZpeu8APQlTMU7L0lpwnKP6oOknDrR0BTO4/edit?pli=1#gid=0.
6 NYC DoE:
http://schools.nyc.gov/Accountability/data/TestResults/ELAandMathTestResults.

Report: The Big 5 NY Cities Opt In

2015***
HIGH ACHIEVEMENT NEW YORK

***EMBARGOED UNTIL MAY 11,

NOT- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

data was sourced from Syracuse.com.7 Other district level student data was
based on Census data from Proximity One.8
College and career readiness is calculated by the NYS Education, which
defines a score of 3 or 4 on the state assessments as on track for college and
careers. This is also referred to as proficiency. For students graduating
from high school, proficiency is defined by attainment of a regents diploma
with advanced designation.

7 Syracuse:
www.syracuse.com/schools/index.ssf/2015/04/onondaga_county_school_districts_repo
rt_9_to_67_percent_of_students_refused_math.html.
8 Proximity One: http://proximityone.com/ny_sdc.htm.