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New York City elementary schools have been ordered to step up preparation for next month’s state reading tests, a so-called “sprint” to boost scores that is raising eyebrows among educators and experts.
District officials have asked principals to focus extra test prep on students in grades 3-5 who are likely to score near the proficiency threshold on state reading tests. Those students should receive 30 to 50 minutes per week of additional practice, according to messages to some school leaders obtained by Chalkbeat. About 67,000 students were identified for the push based on mid-year assessments, officials said, roughly 38% of public school students in grades 3-5.
“With our collective focus and intentionality, we are poised to achieve up to a 5% increase in ELA proficiency this spring,” according to an email from a superintendent’s office to principals. “Let’s work together to make this Sprint a success and ensure that our students enter the ELA assessment period fully prepared and confident!”
Schools can make time for the extra preparation on Saturdays, before or after regular classes, during spring break, or throughout the regular school day, according to the message to principals. The extra test prep is supposed to run from March 10 until April 22, when state reading exams begin.
The effort is more sweeping than previous test preparation “sprints,” according to several principals who said they had not seen similar citywide directives in past years. And it comes as education officials are under pressure to show an aggressive literacy curriculum overhaul is making students better readers. Improving literacy rates is the top education initiative under Mayor Eric Adams, who is facing an uphill battle for re-election.
After the curriculum mandate rolled out to a chunk of campuses last school year, reading scores in grades 3-8 slipped 2.6 percentage points to 49.1%. The drops were slightly larger at schools that were using the new curriculums, though officials argued declines were expected because teachers were still adjusting to the new materials. But this school year, all elementary campuses were required to use one of the three city-approved reading curriculums.
“The DOE may be feeling a need to show that kids’ literacy instruction and curricula are doing better,” said Aaron Pallas, a Teachers College professor who has studied efforts to improve New York City schools.
But Pallas and other experts raised concerns with the city’s strategy, noting that it creates an incentive for schools to focus on students who are on the cusp of passing the state tests rather than those who are furthest behind. He also wondered why city officials weren’t more focused on improving literacy instruction throughout the year.
“It’s hard sometimes to distinguish test prep from genuine instruction, but this really looks a lot like test prep,” Pallas said. He added: “I just worry that focusing too narrowly on state assessments is potentially diverting attention away from underlying literacy acquisition.”
Principals take different approaches to test prep
On some campuses, the city’s directive closely mirrors what they already do to prepare students for the exams. Schools are expected to use one of two digital platforms — Amira or i-Ready — where students can take multiple choice tests that assess skills they’ll be expected to use on the state exams.
“I’m glad that my school is already doing it so it’s not shocking or anything different,” said Lorenzo Chambers, the principal of P.S. 279 in Brooklyn, who added that the program has felt flexible.
Students at his school who were identified for extra help will get individual support from teachers who are offering short mini-lessons on skills, such as drawing a conclusion from a text, followed by practicing on their own.
Chambers noted that his superintendent also encouraged principals to focus on math (not just reading) and in grades 3-8 (rather than only grades 3-5). An education department spokesperson did not respond to a question about how many of the city’s 32 local district superintendents have made similar requests to focus on a broader group of students.
Another principal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the kids identified for extra help through the sprint are not ones who need the most support.
“I’m not focusing on those kids [identified for the sprint] for my last ditch effort before the end of the school year because I’m focusing on my kids who are really, really, really struggling,” the school leader said.
Principals were given little time to plan for the additional test prep, as they were notified earlier this month, just a few days before they were expected to begin rolling it out last week. Chambers suggested the short runway could limit its impact.
“The pessimist in me would probably say, ‘too little too late,’” he said. “The optimist in me would say, ‘better late than never.’”
Other school leaders said complying with the directive is a heavier lift.
One Brooklyn elementary school principal, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid reprisal, said his school has not previously used i-Ready and is rolling it out now. The additional test prep will be offered before and after the regular school day during time that had previously been set aside for independent reading.
Given the city’s focus on pushing schools to implement new reading curriculums, the principal said the test prep directive feels “disconnected from what was supposed to fix the reading achievement issue in New York City, which is the implementation of these programs.”
The order also comes late in the school year, when school budgets are already closed. Although one principal said they were granted access to i-Ready at no cost for students who were identified for the city’s new test prep program, another was told they would have to pay for it out of their school’s budget, according to emails obtained by Chalkbeat.
“I was like ‘Are you kidding me?’ You’re asking me to purchase programs we don’t have money for? It kind of blew my mind,” said one principal who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
City officials indicated that they will monitor whether schools are complying with the directive, as the digital platforms will automatically generate biweekly reports, drawing groans about micromanagement from some school leaders.
At least one superintendent’s office has already sent principals an email ranking how much time students at their school are spending on the new test prep initiative compared with every other campus in the local district, according to an email viewed by Chalkbeat.
Education Department spokesperson Nicole Brownstein emphasized that district and school leaders have flexibility to pick strategies other than the two recommended digital platforms if they prefer. And she noted that schools should continue to support students at all levels.
“Literacy is at the heart of our society,” she wrote. “This Sprint, launched in mid-March, aims to boost proficiency outcomes using evidence-based intervention programs that have proven success in accelerating student learning.”
Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.
Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.
