Chancellor Walcott Releases 2011 High School Progress Reports

Schools Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott on Monday released the annual progress reports for 495 New York City high schools around the city.

The reports award letter grades to schools based on student progress toward graduation, performance on standardized tests and coursework, and student attendance, as well as surveys of parents, students, and teachers about their schools.

For the first time, the reports measure how many students in each high school take and perform well in advanced courses, graduate ready for college, and enroll in a college after graduation.

“Our message to schools is clear: students need to be meeting a higher bar and doing more rigorous work if they are going to be ready for life after high school,” said Chancellor Walcott. “It’s important that our principals, teachers, students and families are on the same page in this effort and understand the goal is not just graduating, but graduating college and career-ready.”

Although individual schools’ grades were generally stable, with increases in graduation requirements and tighter standards for measuring credit accumulation and scoring Regents exams, fewer schools received an A this year than last year.

This year, 32.7 percent of high schools, transfer high schools, and young adult borough centers received an A, 31.6 percent received a B, 24.0 percent received a C, 8.2 percent received a D, and 3.6 percent received an F.

In 2010, 38.3 percent received an A, 29.7 percent received a B, 21.6 percent received a C, 6.9 percent received a D, and 3.6 percent received an F.

So how did the public high schools in Bed-Stuy fare? To follow is each school's average grade, peer index and percentile ranking citywide:

• , 1396 Broadway, Principal Michael Prayor: B, 1.73, 68

• , 1700 Fulton Street, Principal Bernard Gassaway: F, 1.58, 2

• , 1119 Bedford Avenue, Principal Adofo Muhammad: A, 3.0, 96

• , 300 Willoughby Avenue, Principal Georgia Kouriampalis: B, 2.05, 16

• , 125 Stuyvesant Avenue, Principal Kavita Gupta: Not yet ranked*

• Bedford Stuyvesant Preparatory High School, 832 Marcy Avenue, Principal Darryl Rascoe: C, 2.34, 29

• Brooklyn High School of Communication Arts and Media, 300 Willoughby Avenue, Principal James O'Brien: C, 2.11, 36

Keep in mind, each school's "peer group" index also should be taken into consideration when looking at a school's grade. A peer group is a group of schools with similar student populations; they are determined based on a comparison of student performance on ELA and Math test scores, as well as special education status and age upon entry in high school that serve approximately the same grade levels

In Bed-Stuy the historic Boys and Girls High School continues to struggle, making the challenge to keep the school's doors open even greater. Bedford Academy, as in years past, is showing stellar performance.

But most impressive is Brooklyn High School for Law and Technology. Only three years ago, when it was under the auspices of ACORN High School, the school was struggling with high gang violence and poor graduation rates. Since its re-sturcturing, under the leadership of former principal Karen Watts, and then its current principal Michael Prayor, the school has completely turned around and continues to show great promise.

Based on its peer group index, Brooklyn High School for Law and Technology has an incoming student body with a lot of challenges, academically and environmentally, yet the school is showing exemplary progress in moving the students forward by graduation, achieving an overall B rating and placing in the 68th percentile.

To see each school's full report card, visit the DOE's website here.

*Schools not yet ranked are categorized as such for a variety of reasons, i.e., a discrepancy in scoring or the school that has not yet graduated a senior class, etc.