The Light Bearer

How Black students are performing in New York schools

In New York, 44.8% of Black students are proficient in reading at the typical school — against 58.6% of White students, one of the narrowest gaps of any state here. Within one New York City district alone, the spread between schools is 89 points. This tool helps you find the right one.

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50.5%
All students
43.5%
Black
44.5%
Hispanic
59.7%
White
66.5%
Asian

Share of students meeting proficient at the typical New York school. Groups are shown wherever New York reports them; a group is omitted from a school when too few students were tested to report safely.

These figures come from NYS 3-8 Assessments 2025, measuring proficient in ELA & Math · Grades 3–8. Across 448 districts, 1,799 New York schools report enough results to be included.

At the typical New York school the picture is black students at 43.5%, hispanic students at 44.5%, white students at 59.7% and asian students at 66.5%. That is a 23-point spread between the highest and lowest group, inside the same schools, the same districts and the same state — which is what this tool exists to make visible.

What the New York data shows

Opportunity
90

New York schools earn an A for Black students

An A means 80% or more of Black students are proficient. Ninety schools clear it — more than any other state here. Success Academy CS-Bed Stuy 2 reaches 100% across 127 Black student results, and Icahn Charter School 1 reaches 99.6% across 224.

Disparity
89.1 pts

gap between the best and worst schools for Black students in one New York City district

Ps/Ms 4 Crotona Park West reaches 98.2%. IS 313 School of Leadership Dev, in the same district, sits at 9.1%. Across 29 schools in one district, a child's address decides which end they land on.

Statewide
11.6 pts

separates Black and White students in New York reading

The narrowest statewide gap on this site. Math is 18.3 points. New York shows both what is possible and how far apart schools remain within a single city.

Where Black students are doing best in New York

These are the schools where Black students most often meet proficient, among those with at least 25 Black student results reported. Every group's result is shown alongside, because a school that serves one group well and another poorly is telling you something too.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Bronx Charter Sch for Excellence 5Bronx Charter School for Excellence 5 Charter 92.7% 100% 91.4%
Success Academy Cs-Bed Stuy 2Success Academy Charter School-Bed Stuy 2 Charter 99.5% 100%
Success Academy Cs-BushwickSuccess Academy Charter School-Bushwick Charter 99.1% 100% 98.8% 100%
Success Acad Cs-Prospect HeightsSuccess Academy Charter School-Prospect Heights Charter 99.5% 100%
Icahn Charter School 1Icahn Charter School 1 Charter 99.5% 99.6% 100%
Success Academy CS - Bronx 4Success Academy Charter School - Bronx 4 Charter 99.5% 99.5% 99.4%
South Bronx Classical Charter SchoolSouth Bronx Classical Charter School Charter 96.9% 98.6% 96.8%
Ps/Ms 4 Crotona Park WestNew York City Geographic District # 9 97.1% 98.2% 95.7%
Success Academy Cs-Bronx 2Success Academy Charter School-Bronx 2 Charter 98.7% 98.1% 99.6%
South Bronx Classical Charter Sch IVSouth Bronx Classical Charter School IV Charter 97.2% 97.9% 95.3%

Flags show magnet, charter, alternative and virtual schools. Some campuses — early college and specialized academies among them — also admit by application, and this page cannot yet identify all of them. Check with the district before assuming a school is open to your address.

Where Black students are struggling most

The same measure at the other end of the range. In many of these schools every group is falling short, which points at the school rather than at the students in it.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Harry E Elden Elementary SchoolBaldwinsville Central School District 52.7% 2.9% 50% 58.2%
Western Ny Maritime Charter SchoolWestern New York Maritime Charter School Charter 7.7% 3.6% 6.9% 0%
Bellamy Elementary SchoolRome City School District 15.6% 4.3% 14.5% 18.4%
Syracuse STEM at BlodgettSyracuse City School District 5.3% 4.5% 5.7% 5.6%
School 8-Roberto ClementeRochester City School District 8.1% 5% 8.5% 20%
Northwest College Prep High SchoolRochester City School District 5.8% 5.1% 6.2% 11.4% 0%
George Washington Middle SchoolJamestown City School District 20.9% 5.2% 15.3% 28.4%
Lovejoy Discovery School #43Buffalo City School District 20.2% 5.3% 19.1% 26.1% 29.7%
Andrew a Langston Middle SchoolRochester City School District 8.7% 5.6% 10% 13.9% 26.7%
Seymour Dual Language AcademySyracuse City School District 7.9% 5.8% 8.8%

One district, two outcomes

In New York City Geographic District # 9, Ps/Ms 4 Crotona Park West reports 98.2% of Black students meeting the standard. IS 313 School of Leadership Dev, in the same district, reports 9.1%. That is a 89.1-point spread across 29 schools under one administration, serving one community, funded by one tax base — the clearest illustration of why address matters more than it should.

New York districts

Districts with at least ten schools reporting Black student results, by school count. The percentage shown is the average across that district's schools for Black students.

Buffalo City School District — 38 schools, 22.2% average
New York City Geographic District #11 — 38 schools, 48.5% average
New York City Geographic District #29 — 38 schools, 51.9% average
New York City Geographic District #19 — 33 schools, 46.4% average
Rochester City School District — 32 schools, 16% average
New York City Geographic District #17 — 31 schools, 55.1% average
New York City Geographic District # 9 — 29 schools, 42.1% average
New York City Geographic District #27 — 29 schools, 45.4% average
New York City Geographic District #10 — 26 schools, 42% average
New York City Geographic District # 8 — 25 schools, 40.3% average
New York City Geographic District #31 — 25 schools, 38.2% average
Syracuse City School District — 25 schools, 16.6% average
Yonkers City School District — 24 schools, 40.2% average
New York City Geographic District #22 — 23 schools, 53.2% average
New York City Geographic District #28 — 22 schools, 53.8% average
New York City Geographic District #18 — 21 schools, 60.1% average
New York City Geographic District #13 — 20 schools, 40.8% average
New York City Geographic District # 5 — 19 schools, 42% average
New York City Geographic District #12 — 18 schools, 42.4% average
New York City Geographic District #23 — 18 schools, 51.1% average
New York City Geographic District # 3 — 16 schools, 40.9% average
Albany City School District — 14 schools, 32.3% average
Schenectady City School District — 14 schools, 20.7% average
Mount Vernon School District — 13 schools, 39.8% average
New York City Geographic District #16 — 13 schools, 58.4% average
Utica City School District — 12 schools, 30% average
Brentwood Union Free School District — 11 schools, 37.2% average
New York City Geographic District #15 — 11 schools, 34.7% average
New York City Geographic District #21 — 11 schools, 45.9% average
New York City Geographic District #30 — 11 schools, 37.8% average
Newburgh City School District — 11 schools, 33.3% average
Greece Central School District — 10 schools, 26.6% average
New York City Geographic District # 7 — 10 schools, 38.7% average
Binghamton City School District — 9 schools, 28.1% average
East Ramapo Central School District (Spring Valley) — 8 schools, 32.6% average
Liverpool Central School District — 8 schools, 31.4% average
New Rochelle City School District — 8 schools, 47.7% average
Niagara Falls City School District — 8 schools, 18.5% average
Haverstraw-Stony Point CSD (North Rockland) — 7 schools, 43.1% average
New York City Geographic District # 2 — 7 schools, 36.1% average
How these averages are calculated. The figures above average across New York schools, giving each school equal weight. They describe the typical school, not the state's tested population, and will differ from the headline figure NYS 3-8 Assessments 2025 publishes — that one weights every student equally, so larger schools count for more. Use the state's own published figure when citing a statewide number.

How to read the school data. New York suppresses results for groups with too few students tested. Schools without a reportable Black student result are excluded rather than shown as zero — 1,799 of New York's schools have reportable data. Coverage is grades 3–8; high schools are not included. This ranking reflects the 2024–25 administration, grades 3–8. Results are refreshed annually as new data is published. Because every state sets its own proficiency standard, New York's figures should not be compared directly against another state's.

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