Doe Response To Brennan

Test Scores The report looks at year-to-year gains on the state's reading and math tests. A more meaningful indicator is how the city's gains compare to those of the rest of the state. Since all students in the state take the same tests, this controls for any changes in the test from year to year. The gap between New York City and the rest of the state on these tests has closed more under mayoral control than it did before mayoral control, by a substantial margin. This is true in both 4th and 8th grade - the only two grades where we can make long-term comparisons - in both reading and math. Data on this is below. We believe 2002 is the correct baseline, because the mayor and the chancellor ran the school system for the entire 2002-03 school year and made some important changes that year. That said, the results are impressive even if you use 2003 as the baseline (again, see the data below). And don't forget about the graduation rate. It's risen 11 points since 2002. In the entire decade before 2002, it rose a tenth of a point. Causes We agree with Assemblyman Brennan about the importance of early-childhood education, which is why we're continuing to expand access to pre-kindergarten. We also agree about the importance of intervention services, which is why we've created more rigorous summer school programs and extended the school day to provide extra help to struggling students. But this report ignores many of the most important causes of the gains we've made under mayoral control. We've opened hundreds of new schools to give parents more choices. We've cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the bureaucracy and empowered our principals to spend them in the ways that will best help their students. Most importantly, we're holding every school accountable for helping all their students make academic progress. Data Gap Between NYC and Rest of State on Reading and Math Tests, 2002-2008 4th grade math 2002-2008: The gap closed 18 points. 1999-2002: The gap closed 2.8 points. 8th grade math 2002-2008: The gap closed 11.7 points. 1999-2002: The gap increased 4.4 points. 4th grade reading 2002-2008: The gap closed 8.4 points. 1999-2002: The gap closed 2.1 points. 8th grade reading

2002-2008: The gap closed 2.7 points 1999-2002: The gap increased 3 points. *** 2003-2008 4th grade math 2003-2008: The gap closed 11.8 points. 1999-2003: The gap closed 9 points. 8th grade math 2003-2008: The gap closed 10.7 points. 1999-2003: The gap increased 3.4 points. 4th grade reading 2003-2008: The gap closed 3.5 points. 1999-2003: The gap closed 7 points. The largest one-year increase in 4th grade reading scores came under mayoral control, when scores rose 9.9 points between 2003-04 and 2004-05. 8th grade reading 2003-2008: The gap increased 0.3 points. 1999-2003: The gap remained constant. The two largest one-year increases in 8th grade reading scores came under mayoral control. Scores rose 3.9 points between 2004-05 and 2005-06 and 7.6 points between 2005-06 and 2006-07. Andrew Jacob Office of Communications and Media Relations NYC Department of Education 52 Chambers St. | New York, NY 10007 212-374-7840 | [email protected]