These 124 New York City schools are now considered struggling

State officials released a new list of struggling schools Thursday including 124 in New York City, the first round of designations under a new method of identifying low-performing schools.

Eighty-four of the city’s schools are on the lowest rung — known as “Comprehensive Support and Improvement Schools” — and will be required to craft improvement plans approved by the state. The remaining 40 schools are only in need of “targeted” support and will face less intense oversight.

The lowest-performing schools were identified partly because they were in the bottom 10 percent of schools across the state on a combined measure of growth and proficiency on state tests — the biggest factor that went into their rating. For the first time, state officials also took into account science exams, progress on a test taken by English learners, and rates of chronic absenteeism.

At the high school level, graduation played a big role, and any school that did not graduate 67 percent of its students within six years was automatically identified. New measures of college and career readiness were also factored in.

These designations are part of a new framework for identifying schools under the Every Student Succeeds Act, a federal law that gives states more leeway to figure out which schools are underperforming and how to intervene. While test scores and graduation rates continue to influence the ratings most, state officials said the new system offers a more nuanced look at school performance by emphasizing student growth over time and taking into account the new criteria.

“We have really tried to include factors that would give a better picture of the whole school,” state education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said. “Simple is not always better.”

Four of the five districts with the most schools needing some level of targeted support or intervention are in the Bronx. And about 20 percent of the city’s “transfer” high schools, which serve students who are overage and behind in credits, were identified as struggling, even after they were given the chance to appeal the decision, Elia said. Those schools had previously raised concerns that they could be targeted in the new system because they serve a needier population that is unlikely to graduate on time.

And some schools are new arrivals. Of the 124 schools on the state’s list, 40 were considered “in good standing” last year under the previous accountability system but are now among the lowest-performing according to the state.

The new system does not prescribe harsh consequences for struggling schools. They will not be required to remove school leaders, replace staff, or be converted into charters. Instead, the schools must come up themselves with self-assessments and improvement plans that incorporate “evidence-based” approaches. Bottom-performers will also be required to set aside at least $2,000 for a fund that students and families can vote on to decide how to disburse in a process know as “participatory budgeting.”

Asked how the city would contribute to improving these schools, officials said they would consider curriculum changes, boosting training for alternative discipline methods, and even paying teachers more to work in hard-to-staff schools through a new provision of the union contract.

Still, if schools do not improve after five years, they can ultimately be subject to closure or independent takeover, but the state education department has resisted using dramatic interventions.

After three years of insufficient progress, schools in the “comprehensive support” tier can end up in a separate, existing program known as Receivership. It gives districts more latitude to restructure schools by making staff changes that may involve sidestepping union rules, the only scenario under the state’s new framework that calls for potential personnel changes. And two years after that, schools that continue to miss their goals could face takeover or closure. On Thursday, state officials announced that 14 New York City schools that had been in Receivership were removed and 9 were added, leaving a total of 12 city schools in the program.

The state’s new rating system does not perfectly align with a slew of other ways schools are rated, including the city’s own school performance dashboard and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Renewal program for turning around low-performing schools. Nine of the schools on the state’s list, for example, are also in Renewal, which now includes 50 schools, but the rest are not.

If you want a small flavor of how confusing this is all going to get, take Central Park East I — a school that the state just said is in the *lowest tier* and needs "comprehensive" support. But the city's dashboard says it's high performing and high impact!
🙃 pic.twitter.com/7BaPO54zTV
— Alex Zimmerman (@AGZimmerman) January 17, 2019

At a press conference, de Blasio said the overlapping programs and ratings are not a cause for concern.

“I understand why, if people hear a bunch of different initiatives, they would be tempted to think they’re going off in different directions,” he said. “I actually think there’s a lot of good, complementary stuff happening.”

Here is the full list of schools identified by the state as struggling:

Comprehensive Support and Improvement Schools (lowest tier)

Manhattan

UNIVERSITY NEIGHBORHOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY

PS 76 A PHILLIP RANDOLPH

PS 155 WILLIAM PACA

CENTRAL PARK EAST I

PS 194 COUNTEE CULLEN

EAGLE ACADEMY FOR YOUNG MEN OF HARLEM

PS 133 FRED R MOORE

PS 197 JOHN B RUSSWURM

FREDERICK DOUGLASS ACADEMY

HAMILTON HEIGHTS SCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOL FOR MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS

OPPORTUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL

Bronx

PS 1 COURTLANDT SCHOOL

PS 30 WILTON

PS/IS 224

MOTT HAVEN VILLAGE PREP HIGH SCHOOL

PS 18 JOHN PETER ZENGER

JILL CHAIFETZ TRANSFER HIGH SCHOOL

HERBERT H LEHMAN HIGH SCHOOL

LONGWOOD PREP ACADEMY

BRONX ARENA HIGH SCHOOL

SCHOOL FOR TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY

GOTHAM COLLABORATIVE HIGH SCHOOL

PS 70 MAX SCHOENFELD

EAGLE ACADEMY FOR YOUNG MEN

VALIDUS PREPARATORY ACADEMY

SCHOOL FOR EXCELLENCE

FREDERICK DOUGLASS ACADEMY III SECONDARY SCHOOL

NEW DIRECTIONS SECONDARY SCHOOL

PS 85 GREAT EXPECTATIONS

PS 46 EDGAR ALLEN POE

PS 246 POE CENTER

PROVIDING URBAN LEARNERS SUCCESS IN EDUCATION HIGH SCHOOL

PS/IS 54

BRONX COLLABORATIVE HIGH SCHOOL

FORWARD SCHOOL (THE)

PS 6 WEST FARMS

PS 47 JOHN RANDOLPH

PS 195

SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND APPLIED LEARNING

FAIRMONT NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL

BRONX CAREER AND COLLEGE PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL

WINGS ACADEMY

PS 212

METROPOLITAN HIGH SCHOOL (THE)

BRONX REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOL OF WORLD CULTURES

NEW VISIONS AIM CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL II

NEW VISIONS CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL FOR HUMANITIES II

Brooklyn

PS 287 BAILEY K ASHFORD

BROOKLYN HIGH SCHOOL FOR LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNITY

LYONS COMMUNITY SCHOOL

PS 250 GEORGE H LINDSEY

PS 15 PATRICK F DALY

BROOKLYN SECONDARY SCHOOL FOR COLLABORATIVE STUDIES

RED HOOK NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL

WEST BROOKLYN COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL

SOUTH BROOKLYN COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL

PS 308 CLARA CARDWELL

MADIBA PREP MIDDLE SCHOOL

BROOKLYN ARTS AND SCIENCE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

ACAD FOR COLLEGE PREP & CAREER EXPLORATION: A COLLEGE BOARD SCH

OLYMPUS ACADEMY

HIGH SCHOOL FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

PS 213 NEW LOTS

PS 224 HALE A WOODRUFF

PS 273 WORTMAN

BROOKLYN GARDENS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE BROOKLYN

HIGHLAND PARK COMMUNITY SCHOOL

KNOWLEDGE AND POWER PREP ACADEMY V

TEACHERS PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL

PS 150 CHRISTOPHER

PS 327 DR ROSE B ENGLISH

BUSHWICK LEADERS HS FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

PS 377 ALEJANDINA B DE GAUTIER

NEW DAWN CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL

Queens

INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL FOR HEALTH SCIENCES

NORTH QUEENS COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL

FREDERICK DOUGLASS ACADEMY VI HIGH SCHOOL

QUEENS UNITED MIDDLE SCHOOL

EAGLE ACADEMY FOR YOUNG MEN III

Staten Island

PS 31 WILLIAM T DAVIS

Targeted Support and Improvement Schools (second-lowest tier)

Manhattan

LEADERSHIP & PUBLIC SERVICE HIGH SCHOOL

INDEPENDENCE HIGH SCHOOL

ESPERANZA PREPATORY ACADEMY

PS 46 ARTHUR TAPPAN

PS 154 HARRIET TUBMAN

MOTT HALL HIGH SCHOOL

RENAISSANCE CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL FOR INNOVATION

Bronx

YOUNG LEADERS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

BRONX DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION ACADEMY

HEALTH OPPORTUNITIES HIGH SCHOOL

HUNTS POINT SCHOOL (THE)

IS 313 SCHOOL OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

BRONX EARLY COLLEGE ACADEMY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

IS 229 ROLAND PATTERSON

BRONX LEADERSHIP ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOL FOR VIOLIN AND DANCE

DEWITT CLINTON HIGH SCHOOL

PS 94 KINGS COLLEGE SCHOOL

LUISA PINEIRO FUENTES SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND DISCOVERY

KINGSBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

FANNIE LOU HAMER MIDDLE SCHOOL

PS 61 FRANCISCO OLLER

IS 318 MATH, SCIENCE & TECH THROUGH ARTS SCHOOL

Brooklyn

SCHOOL FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

JHS 218 JAMES P SINNOTT

WORLD ACADEMY FOR TOTAL COMMUNITY HEALTH

VAN SICLEN COMMUNITY MIDDLE SCHOOL

EAST NEW YORK MIDDLE SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE

BROOKLYN LAB SCHOOL

JHS 78 ROY H MANN

FREDERICK DOUGLASS ACADEMY VII HIGH SCHOOL

Queens

FLUSHING HIGH SCHOOL

JHS 226 VIRGIL I GRISSON

ACADEY OF MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY – A COLLEGE BOARD SCHOOL

CATHERINE AND COUNT BASIE MIDDLE SCHOOL 72

IS 59 SPRINGFIELD GARDENS

IS 238 SUSAN B ANTHONY ACADEMY

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT HIGH SCHOOL

Staten Island

PS 44 THOMAS C BROWN

IS 49 BERTHA A DREYFUS

Schools that have been removed from the state’s Receivership program

MS 301 PAUL L DUNBAR

BRONX MATHEMATICS PREPARATORY SCHOOL (THE)

HUNTS POINT SCHOOL (THE)

IS 219 NEW VENTURE SCHOOL

IS 339

BRONX HIGH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

FORDHAM LEADERSHIP ACADEMY FOR BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

DEWITT CLINTON HIGH SCHOOL

JUAN MOREL CAMPOS SECONDARY SCHOOL

BOYS AND GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL

PS 165 IDA POSNER

FLUSHING HIGH SCHOOL

AUGUST MARTIN HIGH SCHOOL

PS 111 JACOB BLACKWELL

Schools that have been added to the state’s Receivership program