What s Wrong with Math and Science in NYC High Schools

Transcription

1 JULY 2015 What s Wrong with Math and Science in NYC High Schools (And What to Do About It) by Clara Hemphill, Nicole Mader and Bruce Cory

2 Founded in 2004, the Marie Curie School for Medicine, Nursing and Health Professions is a small Bronx high school that attracts students eager to become registered nurses. The atmosphere of the school encourages those dreams; students wear scrubs to class and teachers wear lab coats. And at one level, the school is a success; more than two-thirds of its students graduate within four years, making Marie Curie a sturdy exemplar of the small school movement that has fueled a sharp increase in New York City s high school graduation rate since But here s the rub: Only a small proportion of Marie Curie graduates go on to four-year college programs in nursing. Marie Curie s graduates are more likely to become certified nursing assistants a job which doesn t require a college education than registered nurses, according to teachers at the school. The median pay for certified nurse assistants is about $24,000 a year. For registered nurses, Percent of students 100% 75% 50% 25% type: Dropped Out Still Enrolled the median pay is about $65,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The sad irony is that at a school named for the only person ever to receive Nobel Prizes in both physics and chemistry, few students pass Regents exams in either of those subjects, and as a result, few are prepared for careers in science. Just 4 percent of Marie Curie students graduated in 2014 with an Advanced Regents diploma awarded to students who pass three college-prep math exams and two college-prep science exams (along with two history exams and one English exam). And just 20 percent of the school s 2014 graduates had test scores on basic algebra and English exams that were high enough to avoid remediation at CUNY. That means most Marie Curie graduates must pay to take remedial classes if they go to college classes they should have received for free in high school. The Common Core State Standards are supposed to ensure that every student graduates from high school prepared for college or a career. But an analysis of high school math and science performance by the Center for New York City Affairs shows just how far the city is Graduation Trends Over Time, Local Expected Graduation Year Regents Advanced Regents 2

3 from reaching that goal. While the graduation rate has steadily increased over the past decade, the proportion of students receiving an Advanced Regents diploma one commonly used measure of college readiness has stagnated. In 2014, just 18 percent of students starting New York City high schools four years earlier earned Advanced Regents diplomas. As new, more difficult exams aligned to the Common Core are phased in, Advanced Regents diplomas may be even further out of reach. 1 Another finding of the Center s analysis shows just how daunting that challenge could be. Today, 39 percent of the city s high schools do not offer a standard college-prep curriculum in math and science, that is, algebra 2, physics and chemistry. More than half the schools do not offer a single Advanced Placement course in math and about half do not offer a single Advanced Placement course in science. 2 For a complete list of schools click here. Roughly 21 percent of New York City high school students attend schools that don t offer courses in both chemistry and physics. Many of these are the new small high schools that proliferated during the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. And even at Marie Curie and other small schools where both chemistry and physics are taught, too many students lack the grounding in math needed to take or pass them. Number of High Schools Offering a College Prep Curriculum (Algebra 2, Chemistry and Physics) in the School Year Number of High Schools Offering an AP Math Curriculum (Calculus AB or BC, Statistics and Computer Science) in the School Year Number of High Schools Offering an AP Science Curriculum (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science and Psychology) in the School Year Number of collegeprep courses offered None One Two All three Number of AP Math courses offered None One Two All three Number of AP Science courses offered None One Two Three Four Five 1. The Advanced Regents diploma is only one measure of college readiness. Notably, the NYC public high schools in the New York Performance Standards Consortium, which are exempt from Regents exams, use portfolios and performance-based assessments to measure student achievement and some boast high graduation rates as well as college readiness, attendance and retention. 2. Advanced Placement classes are only one indicator of academic rigor. Schools that follow an early college model such as Bard High School Early College and Queens School of Inquiry, as well as schools that have robust College Now programs may not offer official AP courses but do provide high-level courses for college credit. 3

4 (Three years of science is a graduation requirement in all city high schools. Students at schools that don t offer the full complement of college-prep sciences meet that requirement by taking one of these sciences, usually biology or as it s known in New York schools, living environment and supplementing that with courses such as forensics or general science.) The result is an intense bifurcation of the city s public high school system one that parents frantic to get their children into top high schools are acutely attuned to. Looking at statistics from August 2014, the Center for New York City Affairs found that 48 percent of the New York City public high school students receiving Advanced Regents diplomas are clustered in just 25 schools. At 100 other schools, on the other hand, not a single student received an Advanced Regents diploma. Like so much else in the city s public schools, this dramatic split reflects an equally sharp racial divide. While white and Asian students make up less than one-quarter of citywide public high school enrollment, they constitute roughly 70 percent of the students at the top Percent of students 100% 75% 50% 25% 0% Bronx High School of Science Townsend Harris High School Scholars' Academy Staten Island Technical High School Stuyvesant High School Queens High School for the Sciences at York College High School of American Studies at Lehman College Brooklyn Technical High School High School for Dual Language and Asian Studies Manhattan Village Academy Eleanor Roosevelt High School 25 schools Francis Lewis High School Columbia Secondary School Brooklyn College Academy Benjamin N. Cardozo High School York Early College Academy Academy of Finance and Enterprise N.Y.C. Museum School The Queens School of Inquiry Forest Hills High School N.Y.C. Lab School for Collaborative Studies Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics Bayside High School High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology Baruch College Campus High School Talent Unlimited High School Discovery High School Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High School Academy of American Studies High School for Health Professions and Human Services Young Women's Leadership School, Queens Manhattan Bridges High School Tottenville High School Bronx Latin Young Women's Leadership School City College Academy of the Arts Collegiate Institute for Math and Science James Madison High School Preparatory Academy for Writers: A College Board School Frank Sinatra School of the Arts Aviation Career & Technical Education High School High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College Baccalaureate School for Global Education Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music, Art and Performing Arts Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math Midwood High School Bedford Academy High School Queens Gateway to Health Sciences Secondary School Millennium High School Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics Benjamin Banneker Academy Susan E. Wagner High School East West School of International Studies Kingsbridge International High School The Michael J. Petrides School Science Skills Center High School for Science, Technology and the Creative Arts Edward R. Murrow High School Fort Hamilton High School High School for Construction Trades, Engineering and Architecture High School for Environmental Studies Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design Queens Metropolitan High School Frederick Douglass Academy Robert H. Goddard High School of Communication Arts and Technology New Utrecht High School John Dewey High School High School for Community Leadership New World High School The High School of Fashion Industries Kingsborough Early College School Newcomers High School Civic Leadership Academy Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School Academy for Careers in Television and Film CSI High School for International Studies Fordham High School for the Arts High School of Economics and Finance Excelsior Preparatory High School Teachers Preparatory High School Hillcrest High School John Bowne High School New Dorp High School Bronx High School for Medical Science Gregorio Luperon High School for Science and Mathematics Manhattan Hunter Science High School Professional Performing Arts High School Pace High School Central Park East High School Hostos Lincoln Academy of Science High School of Applied Communication High School for Arts and Business Flushing High School Abraham Lincoln High School William Cullen Bryant High School The Cinema School A. Philip Randolph Campus High School Channel View School for Research New York Harbor School Queens Vocational and Technical High School Park East High School Mathematics, Science Research and Technology Magnet High School Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School Curtis High School Queens High School of Teaching, Liberal Arts and the Sciences Knowledge and Power Preparatory Academy International It Takes a Village Academy Renaissance High School for Musical Theater & Technology Marble Hill High School for International Studies Art and Design High School Cypress Hills Collegiate Preparatory School Life Sciences Secondary School Rachel Carson High School for Coastal Studies Williamsburg Preparatory School Bronx School of Law and Finance Frank McCourt High School Women's Academy of Excellence Queens Collegiate: A College Board School The Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science Ralph R. McKee Career and Technical Education High School Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy Medgar Evers College Preparatory School George Washington Carver High School for the Sciences Brooklyn Studio Secondary School Robert F. Kennedy Community High School Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School The Brooklyn Latin School All City Leadership Secondary School Urban Assembly School of Business for Young Women type: Manhattan Business Academy Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women Academy for College Preparation and Career Exploration The Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music Eagle Academy for Young Men High School for Service & Learning at Erasmus South Bronx Preparatory: A College Board School Pathways College Preparatory School: A College Board School Belmont Preparatory High School Long Island City High School Herbert H. Lehman High School Port Richmond High School Bronx Leadership Academy II High School Newtown High School DeWitt Clinton High School Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School Academy for Environmental Leadership School for Democracy and Leadership Science, Technology and Research Early College High School at Erasmus Bronx Collegiate Academy High School of Computers and Technology In Tech Academy (MS/HS 368) Academy of Innovative Technology Dropped Out Bronx Early College Academy for Teaching & Learning EBC High School for Public Service Bushwick Brooklyn High School of the Arts Information Technology High School Park Slope Collegiate Bronx Academy of Health Careers George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School The High School for Enterprise, Business and Technology Bronx Engineering and Technology Academy Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment High School for Public Service: Heroes of Tomorrow International School for Liberal Arts Brooklyn Lab School Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning School 8,691 students, 71% white or Asian 6,384 Advanced Regents diplomas (48% of city total) The Global Learning Collaborative Richard R. Green High School of Teaching Eximius College Preparatory Academy: A College Board School The High School for Language and cy High School of Sports Management Grover Cleveland High School Astor Collegiate Academy World Journalism Preparatory: A College Board School Bronx High School for Law and Community Service Performing Arts and Technology High School Morris Academy for Collaborative Studies Christopher Columbus High School Frederick Douglass Academy VII High School Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences High School for Medical Professions University Neighborhood High School Cobble Hill School of American Studies Pelham Preparatory Academy John Adams High School Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts Business, Computer Applications & Entrepreneurship High School High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media High School for Law Enforcement and Public Safety Harry S. Truman High School The Heritage School Humanities & Arts Magnet High School Academy of Medical Technology: A College Board School Pan American International High School at Monroe Queens Preparatory Academy Academy of Urban Planning city high schools awarding Advanced Regents degrees. At the 100 schools where no Advanced Regents diplomas were awarded, the student body was 92 percent black and Hispanic. Many of these schools are among the hundreds of small secondary schools the city has opened in recent years. How have the city s public high schools painted themselves into such an unenviable corner? Part of the explanation is the inadequate foundation laid in elementary and middle school for taking college-prep science and math courses in high school a shortfall that the Common Core curriculum is specifically designed to overcome. And grappling with that shortfall has been a key factor in both the undeniable successes and the unintended shortcomings of the Bloomberg administration s school reform program. Ending dysfunction, entrenching division: What high school reform hath wrought That Bloomberg and his first schools chancellor Joel Klein inherited a deeply dysfunctional system of public high schools is beyond de- Graduation Attainment at Each High School, August 2014 Still Enrolled High School of Arts and Technology Unity Center for Urban Technologies The Metropolitan High School High School for Law, Advocacy and Community Justice Marta Valle High School Clara Barton High School Urban Assembly School for Careers in Sports Hillside Arts & Letters Academy Bronx High School for the Visual Arts Academy for Health Careers Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing & Visual Arts Local Leadership and Public Service High School Queens High School for Information, Research, and Technology City Polytechnic High School of Engineering, Architecture and Technology Brooklyn High School for Law and Technology Law, Government and Community Service High School High School of World Cultures The Marie Curie School for Medicine, Nursing, and Health Professions Sheepshead Bay High School High School for Law and Public Service Richmond Hill High School Health Opportunities High School Frederick Douglass Academy III Secondary School Brooklyn Collegiate: A College Board School East Bronx Academy for the Future School for Legal Studies Bronx Theatre High School High School for Youth and Community Development at Erasmus Gramercy Arts High School The Bronxwood Preparatory Academy Bronx Health Sciences High School The School for Human Rights Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice Frederick Douglass Academy IV Secondary School Cambria Heights Academy ACORN Community High School Rockaway Park High School for Environmental Sustainability Bushwick Leaders High School for Academic Excellence Regents East New York Family Academy Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning School Manhattan Theatre Lab High School High School for Teaching and the Professions Henry Street School for International Studies Norman Thomas High School Urban Assembly School for Criminal Justice W. H. Maxwell Career and Technical Education High School West Bronx Academy for the Future Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers Jane Addams High School for Academic Careers Cultural Academy for the Arts and Sciences Martin Van Buren High School The Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction William E. Grady Career and Technical Education High School Gateway School for Environmental Research and Technology Jamaica High School The College Academy Secondary School for Law Millennium Art Academy Advanced Regents PROGRESS High School for Professional Careers High School of Graphic Communication Arts Sunset Park High School Washington Irving High School Bronx Leadership Academy High School Boys and Girls High School 47 The American Sign Language and English Secondary School Academy for Conservation and the Environment Academy for Language and Technology Academy for Scholarship and Entrepreneurship Academy for Social Action: A College Board School Academy for Young Writers Academy of Hospitality and Tourism Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School Antonia Pantoja Preparatory Academy: A College Board School Arts & Media Preparatory Academy August Martin High School Automotive High School Beach Channel High School Bread & Roses Integrated Arts High School Bronx Aerospace High School Bronx Bridges High School Bronx Career and College Preparatory High School Bronx Guild Bronx High School for Writing and Communication Arts Bronx International High School Bronx Lab School Bronx Studio School for Writers and Artists Brooklyn Generation School Brooklyn School for Global Studies Brooklyn Theatre Arts High School Bushwick School for Social Justice Business of Sports School Coalition School for Social Change Community Health Academy of the Heights Dr. Susan S. McKinney Secondary School of the Arts Young Women's Leadership School, Astoria Archimedes Academy for Math, Science and Technology Applications Brooklyn School for Music & Theatre Felisa Rincon de Gautier Institute for Law and Public Policy High School for Health Careers and Sciences The School for Classics: An Academy of Thinkers, Writers and Performers FDNY High School for Fire and Life Safety Brooklyn Community High School of Communication, Arts and Media Banana Kelly High School Bronx High School of Business Wings Academy Brooklyn Preparatory High School Food and Finance High School Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology Foreign Language Academy of Global Studies Foundations Academy Frances Perkins Academy Frederick Douglass Academy II Secondary School Frederick Douglass Academy VI High School Global Enterprise High School Grace Dodge Career and Technical Education High School Green School: An Academy for Environmental Careers High School for Arts, Imagination and Inquiry High School for Civil Rights High School for Contemporary Arts High School for Media and Communications High School for Violin and Dance High School of Hospitality Management Holcombe L. Rucker School of Community Research Hudson High School of Learning Technologies International Arts Business School International Community High School International High School at Lafayette International High School at Prospect Heights International High School at Union Square John F. Kennedy High School DreamYard Preparatory School English Language Learners and International Support Preparatory Academy (ELLIS) Expeditionary Learning School for Community Leaders Explorations Academy Flushing International High School 100 schools Click to enlarge Manhattan Academy for Arts and Language Monroe Academy for Business and Law Monroe Academy for Visual Arts & Design Mott Hall Bronx High School Mott Hall High School Mott Haven Village Preparatory High School Multicultural High School New Design High School New Explorers High School NYC ischool Jonathan Levin High School for Media and Communication Juan Morel Campos Secondary School Leadership Institute Legacy School for Integrated Studies Life Academy High School for Film and Music Lower Manhattan Arts Academy Lyons Community School Secondary School for Journalism The Brooklyn Academy of Global Finance The High School for Global Citizenship The Urban Assembly Bronx Academy of Letters The Urban Assembly School for Green Careers The Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice Theatre Arts Production Company School Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change Transit Tech Career and Technical Education High Schoo Urban Action Academy The Urban Assembly Academy of Government and Law Pablo Neruda Academy Pan American International High School Paul Robeson High School Peace and Diversity Academy Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology Samuel Gompers Career and Technical Education High School School for Excellence School for International Studies Urban Assembly High School of Music and Art The Urban Assembly School for Media Studies Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation Validus Preparatory Academy Victory Collegiate High School World Academy for Total Community Health High School 8,571 students, 92% black or Hispanic 0 Advanced Regents diplomas 4

5 bate. When they assumed office in 2002, by the city s calculations only about 51 percent of high school students graduated within four years a graduation rate that had remained more or less constant for at least a decade. 3 There were, to be sure, shining exceptions of excellent city high schools, and there was also a nascent under-the-radar movement of small progressive schools designed to help students at risk of failure. But many other high schools were mired in cultures of long-term mediocrity. In response, Bloomberg and Klein undertook a wholesale overhaul of the city s high schools. It was a reform effort built on the assumption that broader student choice and healthy competition among schools would weed out floundering schools, reward successful ones and improve the system overall. During the Bloomberg years, large traditional neighborhood schools, which in some cases had enrollments of more than 3,000 students and which were widely seen as poster children of failure, were closed. Many were replaced with six to eight smaller schools of roughly 400 students occupying the old school campuses, often one to each floor. By the end of the Bloomberg years, the city, with support from the Carnegie Corporation, Open Society Institute, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other philanthropies, had opened more than 650 new small schools, most of them high schools. At the same time, school choice, once an option for New York City students entering high school, became mandatory; all 8th-graders were required to fill out applications listing their preferences for high school. The positive results were impressive. In December 2013, during his final weeks at City Hall, Bloomberg released numbers showing that since 2005 the four-year graduation rate had climbed to 66 percent an all-time high. (The base year used for comparison was 2005, not 2002, because in 2005 the State Department of Education changed the way that on-time graduation rates are calculated. City officials also used August rather than June graduation numbers to define on-time graduation.) The graduation rate of the city s black public high school students had jumped 52 percent during those years; Hispanic students posted a 58 percent gain. 4 Bloomberg and then-chancellor Dennis Walcott presented evidence that the city s new small high schools were a key factor in this impressive progress and most outside experts agreed that the new schools had significantly outperformed the neighborhood schools they had replaced. Reporting by MDRC, the respected education and social policy research organization, began in 2010 and found in August 2013, for example, that new small schools continued to significantly raise graduation rates in New York City, demonstrating that large-scale transformation is possible in an urban public school system. 5 And the city s on-time high school graduation rate continued to inch up in 2014, to 3. New York City Graduation Rates 2011 (2007 Cohort), New York City Department of Education presentation, Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Walcott Announce New York City Students Achieved All-Time Record High School Graduation Rates in School Year, City of New York press release, December 4, 2013, office-of-the-mayor/news/387-13/mayor-bloomberg-chancellor-walcott-new-york-city-students-achieved-all-time-record#/0. 5. Howard S. Bloom, Saskia Levy Thompson and Rebecca Unterman, Transforming the High School Experience: How New York City s New Small Schools Are Boosting Student Achievement and Graduation Rates, MRDC, June

6 68.4 percent (using the city s methodology) or 4.2 percent (using the state s). For many black and Hispanic students, smaller high schools have indeed been lifeboats rescuing them from the sinking Titanics of neighborhood high schools. With their smaller student bodies and 28-student class size limits (down from 34-student classes in their predecessor neighborhood schools), greater individual attention was virtually guaranteed for struggling students who might otherwise have become lost in larger schools. The small schools also tended to be safer and more student-friendly than the behemoths they replaced. The result: Literally tens of thousands of young people who attended these schools and who otherwise might well have dropped out now have high school diplomas. Nevertheless, their lagging record in granting Advanced Regents diplomas shows that the new small schools also operate under severe constraints. Many of their students, for example, arrive in 9th grade two, three or even four years behind grade level. In these schools, remediation is the order of the day. In the arena of science and math, the schools response has been to focus resources on helping kids meet the minimum required for earning a Regents diploma: passing one Regents exam for math (usually algebra), one for science (usually living environment), as well as Regents tests in English language arts, U.S. history and world history. Some struggling high school students, of course, are late-bloomers. They hit their stride as freshmen, bring themselves up to grade level and then are ready for more advanced coursework in their upper-class years. But while small schools may help such students catch up, with notable exceptions they re also generally not helping them advance to higher-level coursework or even offering such classes. The irony of unintended consequences So while the city s effort to replace large neighborhood schools with small high schools has had many benefits, it has also had at least two unforeseen downsides that deepen the divide between schools that make students college ready and those that don t. Today, 39 percent of the city s high schools do not offer a standard college-prep curriculum in math and science, that is, algebra 2, chemistry and physics. First, school choice, while designed to be liberating, has perversely instead tended to replace one trap with another. In the bad old days when neighborhood high schools were the norm, where students lived largely determined the quality of their education. Students were, as Chancellor Klein and others pointed out, unfairly imprisoned by their zip codes. Now, however, the city s new high school system instead makes most students captives of their 7th-grade transcripts and test scores, the measures used to admit them to high school. There are exceptions the schools that require students to take an exam or audition for admission. But it s far more common for schools to use 7th-grade transcripts. Some require students to have a 90 average in 7th grade some 85, some 80, some 75 and some are open to all regardless of their test scores. This creates a stratification of schools based on student performance in middle school. The result is that lagging students 6

7 are tracked into schools where even spectacular academic improvement in the 9th or 10th grades is nevertheless unlikely to lead to their earning Advanced Regents diplomas. The second irony of this new stratification is that it is, in one respect, even more rigid than the status quo ante that it replaced. Consider the now virtually extinct large neighborhood high schools of New York City. Perhaps only 1 percent of the 3,000-plus students at one of them might have been prepared for advanced math, chemistry or physics. Those 30 or so students, however, represented a critical mass large enough to warrant offering such courses. So a late-blooming learner might well have been able to land a seat in such a classroom. In a high school of 400 kids, however, the comparable critical mass for creating advanced classes has to be much larger than just 1 percent of the students before it makes sense to commit the necessary time and effort. Sometimes, that critical mass simply doesn t exist. The Department of Education policy limiting transfers exacerbates the problem. Students Percent of students college-ready in math 100% 75% 50% 25% 0% Townsend Harris High School Stuyvesant High School Bard High School Early College Brooklyn Technical High School Scholars' Academy The Brooklyn Latin School High School for Dual Language and Asian Studies Baruch College Campus High School Bard High School Early College Queens Millennium High School New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math High School Queens High School for the Sciences at York College Staten Island Technical High School Baccalaureate School for Global Education Bronx High School of Science Eleanor Roosevelt High School High School for Mathematics, Science and Engineering at City College High School of American Studies at Lehman College Manhattan/Hunter Science High School Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts N.Y.C. Lab School for Collaborative Studies Institute for Collaborative Education Columbia Secondary School Brooklyn International High School Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics School of the Future High School Bedford Academy High School Beacon High School East Side Community School Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics Manhattan Village Academy Midwood High School Francis Lewis High School Manhattan International High School Academy of Finance and Enterprise York Early College Academy Queens Gateway to Health Sciences Secondary School City College Academy of the Arts Academy of American Studies Community School for Social Justice High School for Construction Trades, Engineering and Architecture NYC ischool Brooklyn College Academy Benjamin N. Cardozo High School Young Women's Leadership School University Heights Secondary School Bayside High School Kingsborough Early College School Marble Hill High School for International Studies Forest Hills High School Professional Performing Arts High School East West School of International Studies Central Park East High School The Michael J. Petrides School Young Women's Leadership School, Astoria Vanguard High School High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology International High School LaGuardia Community College High School of Economics and Finance Talent Unlimited High School Essex Street Academy Collegiate Institute for Math and Science Science, Technology and Research Early College High School at Erasmus N.Y.C. Museum School The Queens School of Inquiry Aviation Career & Technical Education High School The Facing History School Bronx High School for Medical Science Medgar Evers College Preparatory School CSI High School for International Studies Tottenville High School Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High School Queens Metropolitan High School Brooklyn Secondary School for Collaborative Studies Urban Assembly New York Harbor School James Madison High School Frank McCourt High School Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology Fort Hamilton High School Academy for Careers in Television and Film New Utrecht High School Pace High School Urban Assembly School for Criminal Justice High School for Health Professions and Human Services Landmark High School Benjamin Banneker Academy Robert F. Kennedy Community High School Edward R. Murrow High School High School for Environmental Studies High School for Public Service: Heroes of Tomorrow World Journalism Preparatory: A College Board School The Cinema School Bronx Latin Susan E. Wagner High School Knowledge and Power Preparatory Academy International High School (KAPPA) Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School New World High School Queens High School of Teaching, Liberal Arts and the Sciences John Dewey High School Mott Hall V Hostos Lincoln Academy of Science Bronx Health Sciences High School Frederick Douglass Academy Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy (MS/HS 141) Young Women's Leadership School, Queens All City Leadership Secondary School Brooklyn Studio Secondary School John Bowne High School In Tech Academy (MS/HS 368) The High School of Fashion Industries Robert H. Goddard High School of Communication Arts and Technology Average 8th-grade math proficiency: A. Philip Randolph Campus High School Art and Design High School Channel View School for Research Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences William Cullen Bryant High School Civic Leadership Academy Williamsburg Preparatory School George Washington Carver High School for the Sciences High School of Sports Management Newcomers High School Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School Manhattan Bridges High School Flushing International High School Preparatory Academy for Writers: A College Board School Queens Collegiate: A College Board School Richard R. Green High School of Teaching Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women Pelham Preparatory Academy Life Sciences Secondary School The Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction Park East High School Queens Vocational and Technical High School Science Skills Center High School for Science, Technology and the Creative Arts Curtis High School New Dorp High School Long Island City High School Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts Information Technology High School Hillcrest High School Belmont Preparatory High School Brooklyn High School of the Arts The Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change East New York Family Academy Discovery High School High School for Community Leadership Academy for Language and Technology Abraham Lincoln High School South Bronx Preparatory: A College Board School Lower Manhattan Arts Academy Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School High School for Arts and Business High School for Medical Professions Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment The High School for Enterprise, Business and Technology The Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice Excelsior Preparatory High School Astor Collegiate Academy El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice Hudson High School of Learning Technologies Manhattan Business Academy Middle College High School at LaGuardia Community College Academy of Medical Technology: A College Board School Expeditionary Learning School for Community Leaders Teachers Preparatory High School East Bronx Academy for the Future The Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media Bronx Engineering and Technology Academy Flushing High School Ralph R. McKee Career and Technical Education High School Brooklyn High School for Law and Technology The High School for Language and cy Millennium Art Academy Port Richmond High School University Neighborhood High School Cobble Hill School of American Studies The Urban Assembly Bronx Academy of Letters Bronx Leadership Academy II High School Bronx Early College Academy for Teaching & Learning High School of Applied Communication Eximius College Preparatory Academy: A College Board School High School of Hospitality Management Clara Barton High School West Bronx Academy for the Future Fordham High School for the Arts International High School at Union Square Mathematics, Science Research and Technology Magnet High School Gregorio Luperon High School for Science and Mathematics Queens Preparatory Academy Renaissance High School for Musical Theater & Technology may not transfer from one school to another unless they can prove their health and safety is in danger usually with a police report documenting an assault. This means a late bloomer may not, for example, transfer from a small school with a limited curriculum to a larger school with a broad curriculum except in extraordinary circumstances. The achievements of the small high schools created in the city over the past 10 years are incontestable. They have, as New York University researcher Leslie Siskin has written, done an enormously useful job of bringing the bottom up. 6 But now the limitations and contradictions of this reform effort have become increasingly evident too. As the new Common Core Standards require ever-higher levels of achievement, high schools cannot bear the burden alone of preparing students for college. Indeed, an analysis by the Center for New York City Affairs shows that for many students, the die is cast before they arrive in 9th grade. At high schools in which most students arrive well-prepared, most graduate with skills that Math College Readiness at Each High School, August (well above state standards) 3.5 (above state standards) 6. Leslie Santee Siskin, Changing Contexts and the Challenge of High School Reform in New York City, in Education Reform in New York City, ed. Jennifer A. O Day, Catherine S. Bitter and Louis M. Gomez (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011), 193. Hillside Arts & Letters Academy School for International Studies The College Academy Secondary School for Journalism Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice The Urban Assembly School for Media Studies Eagle Academy for Young Men The Urban Assembly School of Business for Young Women Bronx Theatre High School Brooklyn Theatre Arts High School Bronx High School for Law and Community Service Brooklyn Preparatory High School Gramercy Arts High School International High School at Lafayette Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School Bronx Academy of Health Careers Herbert H. Lehman High School. Frederick Douglass Academy VII High School It Takes a Village Academy Grover Cleveland High School Rachel Carson High School for Coastal Studies Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning School Morris Academy for Collaborative Studies Leadership and Public Service High School Bronx School of Law and Finance School for Democracy and Leadership Women's Academy of Excellence Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School Theatre Arts Production Company School Secondary School for Law Newtown High School International High School at Prospect Heights Pan American International High School at Monroe The Urban Assembly Academy of Government and Law Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers ACORN Community High School 3.0 (meets state standards) Brooklyn Collegiate: A College Board School Academy of Urban Planning World Academy for Total Community Health High School DeWitt Clinton High School Juan Morel Campos Secondary School Pathways College Preparatory School: A College Board School Bronx Leadership Academy High School The High School for Global Citizenship Urban Assembly School for Careers in Sports Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts Park Slope Collegiate The Bronxwood Preparatory Academy Wings Academy City Polytechnic High School of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology Harry S. Truman High School High School for Service & Learning at Erasmus The Marie Curie School for Medicine, Nursing, and Health Professions Cambria Heights Academy PROGRESS High School for Professional Careers Transit Tech Career and Technical Education High School The Global Learning Collaborative Academy for Scholarship and Entrepreneurship: A College Board School Bronx Collegiate Academy Brooklyn Lab School Bronx High School for the Visual Arts Business of Sports School Victory Collegiate High School Academy for Health Careers High School of Arts and Technology Sunset Park High School Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing & Visual Arts Sheepshead Bay High School Beach Channel High School High School of Computers and Technology Richmond Hill High School Academy for Environmental Leadership The Heritage School High School for Law Enforcement and Public Safety Washington Irving High School Bronx Studio School for Writers and Artists Cypress Hills Collegiate Preparatory School Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning School Martin Van Buren High School John Adams High School Antonia Pantoja Preparatory Academy: A College Board School 2.5 (below state standards) High School for Law, Advocacy and Community Justice Kingsbridge International High School Academy for College Preparation and Career Exploration: A College Board School Academy for Young Writers High School for Youth and Community Development at Erasmus 47 The American Sign Language and English Secondary School High School for Contemporary Arts The Metropolitan High School Frederick Douglass Academy IV Secondary School George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School Bronx Lab School Health Opportunities High School Marta Valle High School Mott Hall High School Bushwick School for Social Justice Frederick Douglass Academy III Secondary School Bronx Aerospace High School Academy of Innovative Technology Christopher Columbus High School Bronx International High School High School of Graphic Communication Arts Queens High School for Information, Research, and Technology EBC High School for Public Service Bushwick Samuel Gompers Career and Technical Education High School Explorations Academy Community Health Academy of the Heights Jane Addams High School for Academic Careers Brooklyn School for Global Studies The School for Classics: An Academy of Thinkers, Writers and Peformers Henry Street School for International Studies Law, Government and Community Service High School School for Legal Studies Academy for Conservation and the Environment Life Academy High School for Film and Music Lyons Community School Brooklyn School for Music & Theatre Foreign Language Academy of Global Studies High School for Law and Public Service Archimedes Academy for Math, Science and Technology Applications Brooklyn Generation School Bronx Career and College Preparatory High School Cultural Academy for the Arts and Sciences Pablo Neruda Academy Bushwick Leaders High School for Academic Excellence Bronx Bridges High School Frances Perkins Academy International Arts Business School Urban Assembly High School of Music and Art Humanities & Arts Magnet High School William E. Grady Career and Technical Education High School Performing Arts and Technology High School Validus Preparatory Academy: An Expeditionary Learning School Brooklyn Community High School of Communication, Arts and Media Food and Finance High School August Martin High School Bronx High School of Business High School for Health Careers and Sciences High School of World Cultures The Urban Assembly Academy for History and Citizenship for Young Men Frederick Douglass Academy II Secondary School High School for Teaching and the Professions New Design High School Frederick Douglass Academy VI High School Mott Haven Village Preparatory High School Rockaway Park High School for Environmental Sustainability Boys and Girls High School Manhattan Academy for Arts and Language Mott Hall Bronx High School W. H. Maxwell Career and Technical Education High School Academy of Hospitality and Tourism High School for Arts, Imagination and Inquiry Global Enterprise High School The Urban Assembly School for Green Careers Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation Gateway School for Environmental Research and Technology School for Excellence The Felisa Rincon de Gautier Institute for Law and Public Policy High School for Violin and Dance Choir Academy of Harlem Click to enlarge International School for Liberal Arts Jamaica High School Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology Bronx High School for Writing and Communication Arts Academy of Environmental Science Secondary High School Multicultural High School Banana Kelly High School The School for Human Rights Coalition School for Social Change Peace and Diversity Academy DreamYard Preparatory School International Community High School Academy for Social Action: A College Board School FDNY High School for Fire and Life Safety Manhattan Theatre Lab High School New Explorers High School Unity Center for Urban Technologies Jonathan Levin High School for Media and Communications Norman Thomas High School Dr. Susan S. McKinney Secondary School of the Arts Urban Action Academy Green School: An Academy for Environmental Careers Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School Automotive High School Grace Dodge Career and Technical Education High School Pan American International High School Performance Conservatory High School Holcombe L. Rucker School of Community Research Leadership Institute Bronx Guild Legacy School for Integrated Studies Bread & Roses Integrated Arts High School School for Community Research and Learning Arts & Media Preparatory Academy High School for Media and Communications High School for Civil Rights The Brooklyn Academy of Global Finance Business, Computer Applications & Entrepreneurship High School Monroe Academy for Visual Arts & Design John F. Kennedy High School Foundations Academy Gotham Professional Arts Academy Monroe Academy for Business/Law Paul Robeson High School 7

8 CUNY considers college ready that is, scoring at least 480 on math SATs or at least 80 on the Algebra 1 Regents. But the reverse is also true: It s very difficult for students to overcome poor preparation in elementary and middle schools. Most students who enter 9th grade with weak math skills don t catch up: If they go to college, they must take remedial classes. earlier than in most middle schools that begin in 6th grade. Fifth-graders get two hours of math instruction from a certified math teacher every day; by the end of 8th grade, nearly all are well-prepared for high school and many take the algebra Regents exam that year. WHAT S WRONG WITH MATH AND SCIENCE IN NYC HIGH SCHOOLS (AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT) Recommendations: Building on what already works On the positive side, some schools have developed strategies to beat the odds. The staff of Insideschools, a project of the Center for New York City Affairs, visited 180 elementary, middle and high schools from 2013 to 2015 and discovered many that were successful in meeting the Common Core State Standards for math while offering challenging courses for science. (New York State has not yet adopted the Common Core for science). The Department of Education should use these schools as models and encourage others to emulate their success. Help teachers overcome their own math phobia. Many elementary school teachers are anxious about their own ability in math and pass on their anxiety to their pupils, particularly to girls. A number of elementary schools, including PS 63-STAR Academy on the Lower East Side, have helped teachers conquer their fears by giving them time to re-learn math, framed in a different way so they understand the underlying concepts (See: Overcoming Teachers Math Anxiety). Hire math specialists in 5th grade. The original KIPP Academy Charter School in the Bronx serves children in grades 5 8. Because this middle school begins in 5th grade, children get the benefit of having specialized teachers Fewer than half of the city s high schools offer Advanced Placement science classes. Invest in schools that serve grades The continuity of instruction at the Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science in the Bronx helps students succeed through seven years of middle school and high school. Though many students start off with weak skills in 6th grade, by the end of 8th grade roughly half pass the Algebra Regents exam, setting them up to take calculus before they graduate from high school. The school sends some graduates to highly selective colleges like Cornell and Brown a particularly impressive accomplishment given that the school doesn t screen students for ability and most come from one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country. 8

9 Offer conceptual chemistry and physics for high school students with weaker math skills. Many students miss out on chemistry and physics in high school because they don t have the math skills necessary to be successful in courses that lead to Regents exams. Some schools have developed courses, stripped of higher-level math, that at least give students an introduction to these subjects. At Quest to Learn in Manhattan, for example, 10th-graders may take a conceptual chemistry class. If they are successful and their math skills develop over the year, they may take Regents-level chemistry the following year. If not, at least they have had some exposure to chemistry. A conceptual chemistry class offers students with weak math skills an introduction to the subject. Devote more time to math in middle and high school. One big problem the Insideschools staff discovered is that the traditional structure of the school day allows for just 42 minutes a day of math instruction less time than most elementary schools offer. Many of the successful schools allowed significantly more time for teaching math. For example, at Park East High School in East Harlem, 9th-graders take two math classes, one in algebra and one called math applications. Encourage small schools to share teachers and resources. Small schools have many benefits, but they often don t have the resources to offer higher-level math and science classes because just a few students would take them. The Tortora-Sillcox Family Foundation is working with NMSI (National Math and Science Institute) on a program to create a number of high-level STEM courses on the Erasmus Hall Educational Campus in Brooklyn. All of the building s five schools will participate when the program is launched in fall 2015, with teachers from the various schools teaching courses open to all. Putting Common Core to the test The ultimate goal of the Common Core Standards is to ensure that all students are ready for success after high school. 7 Today, judging by the number of Advanced Regents diplomas awarded in New York City public high schools, about 80 percent of students fail to clear that bar, as measured by their preparation for college or for well-paying careers. Many occupations are closed to students who don t take physics, chemistry and advanced mathematics in high school. Dental hygienists need chemistry and people who install air conditioning systems need physics, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The woeful lack of advanced math and science instruction 7. What Parents Should Know, Common Core State Standards Initiative, 9

10 in our city s high schools is a loud and clear warning that if the high expectations embodied in the Common Core are going to be met in New York City, the limitations as well as the strengths of the city s current array of high schools have to be acknowledged. The good news is that research by the Center for New York City Affairs has identified hopeful existing models for ameliorating those shortcomings. Such efforts must now be encouraged and, where possible, replicated. Otherwise, students with high hopes enrolling in Marie Curie and similar schools will only continue to be disappointed and the disturbing racial divide in high school instruction and outcomes in our city will only deepen. This report is published jointly by the Center for New York City Affairs and Insideschools. The Center for New York City Affairs at The New School is an applied policy research institute that drives innovation in social policy. Insideschools, a project of the Center, helps parents find good public schools in New York City. This report was made possible with a grant from the Donors Education Collaborative and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. What Courses Do Students Need? Many occupations are closed to students who don t take physics, chemistry and advanced math in high school. Listed here are required courses for various occupations. Accountant: pre-calculus Architect: pre-calculus, physics Dental hygienist: biology and chemistry Electrician: algebra 1 Emergency medical technician: biology, chemistry HVAC mechanic: physics Lab technician: chemistry and biology MRI technician: biology, chemistry, physics Registered nurse: biology, chemistry Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics CNYCA Executive Director: Kristin Morse CNYCA Education Project Director: Kim Nauer Editor, Insideschools: Clara Hemphill Reporter: Laura Zingmond Data Analyst: Nicole Mader Editorial Consultant: Bruce Cory Reporter and Copy Editor: Aimee Sabo Layout and Design: Mick Wieland 10