August 12, 2015 — For the seventh consecutive year, Success Academy Charter Schools – which serve primarily low-income children of color – have scored among the highest-performing schools in New York State. The results are strong: 93% of Success Academy students were proficient in math and 68% were proficient in English Language Arts, compared with New York City students overall, who scored 35% and 30%, respectively. About 3,000 Success Academy students in grades 3-8 took the test last spring — without a single student opting out.
Success Academy students outperformed New York City students overall by more than 60 percentage points in math and almost 40 percentage points in ELA.
Across all subgroups of students — various demographics, students with disabilities, English language learners — Success Academy students achieved higher proficiency rates than their peers across New York City and in affluent suburbs like Scarsdale and Bronxville.
“These results prove that the educational inequality that traps thousands of New York City’s children of color in poverty can be eliminated, if only our elected officials muster the political will,” said Eva Moskowitz, founder and CEO of Success Academy.
About half of New York City’s white students tested as proficient in ELA; at Success Academy, 65% of black students, 71% of Hispanic students, and 65% of economically disadvantaged students scored as proficient. About 77% of Success Academy students receive free or reduced-price school lunch, yet 92% are proficient in math and 65% are proficient in ELA.
About 14% of Success Academy students are special needs students, and 72% scored proficient in math — nearly twice the rate as NYC’s general education students — and 38% are proficient in ELA, compared to NYC’s 11%.
If Success Academy were a single school, it would rank 11th out of 3,539 schools statewide in math (top 1%) and 90th in ELA (top 3%) among all New York State schools.
Demographics for the 3,065 Success Academy test takers:
- 65% Black
- 27% Hispanic
- 4% White
- 77% Economically disadvantaged
- 14% Students with disabilities
- 2% Current English language learners (5% are former ELL students)
Other Highlights:
- In math, 5 of the top 10 schools in New York State are Success Academy schools:
o Success Academy Bed-Stuy 1 (#1 non-selective school in the state, and #2 overall)
o Success Academy Williamsburg (#2 non-selective school in the state)
o Success Academy Upper West
o Success Academy Harlem 4
o Success Academy Bronx 2
- In ELA, 3 of the top 20 schools in New York State are Success Academy schools:
o Success Academy Upper West (#15)
o Success Academy Cobble Hill (#16)
o Success Academy Bed-Stuy 1 (#18)
o At Success Academy Bed-Stuy 1, 100% of third graders passed math and 99% of all students (third and fourth graders) passed math
o 100% of seventh graders at SA Harlem Central passed math
o At Success Academy Williamsburg, 99% of scholars passed math
o SA Upper West, among the most diverse schools in NYC, ranked #5 statewide in math and #15 in ELA
About Success Academy Charter Schools
Founded in 2006, Success Academy Charter Schools are free public schools open to all children in the state through a random lottery. Success Academy currently has 32 schools spread across Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens, serving primarily low-income children in disadvantaged neighborhoods; 77% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, 95% are children of color, 12% are children with disabilities, and 8.5% are English language learners. With its child-centered approach to education and teaching, Success Academy has helped children from all backgrounds achieve academic success and build the skills they need for college and life. Ranked in the top 1% in math and the top 3% in English on 2015 state proficiency test scores, Success Academy schools received more than 22,000 applications for fewer than 2,300 open seats this year.
Success Academy provides public school children with an alternative to New York City’s failing schools. But our failing schools crisis extends far beyond the city and the state. America’s 15-year-olds rank only 27th in math, 20th in science, and 17th in reading among the world’s most developed economies; only 26% of our high school seniors are proficient or better in math, and 38% in reading; only 59% of those who enroll in four-year colleges graduate within six years; and only 32% of Americans over age 25 have a bachelor’s degree.
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