In the effort to improve transparency and accountability of New York’s education system, the Empire Center has systematized and published grade 3-8 English Language Arts (ELA) and Maths test scores. The easy to use database shows school and school district data in 2025, with historic dataset going all the way back to 2014. 

Based on preliminary analysis, 57 percent of New York students were proficient in Math and 53 percent in English Language Arts (ELA). The proficiency rates increased from the previous school year (2023-24) – 54 percent in Math and 46% in ELA.   

 Unfortunately, it is unclear whether the 2024-2025 data can be directly compared to that of previous years.   

“We would love to celebrate this increase in scores, however New York State Department of Education needs to dispel doubts on whether we are observing a genuine and long-overdue improvement or merely changes to the definition of what constitutes “proficiency””,  commented Zilvinas Silenas, President of the Empire Center for Public Policy.  

Empire Center previously observed that compared to other states, New York’s students have been only scoring around the US average in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading and Math tests, despite spending $35,000 per student, more than any other state or country. 

Improvement Across The Board But Differences Remain

Out of the nearly 712 school districts reported, 471 (66 percent) saw an increase in proficiency rates in Math and 634 (89 percent) in ELA, compared to the previous school year. This was a significant shift since the previous year’s (2023-24) results, when only 413 (58 percent) school districts increased proficiency rates in Math and 296 (42 percent) in ELA.  

Among the 3,712 schools in the entire state, 89 (2.4 percent) reported proficiency rates in the 90th percentile in ELA, and 150 (4 percent) in Math. Among them, ten schools had 100 percent proficiency rates in Math and four schools in ELA. Only Icahn Charter School 1 and Special Music School had 100 percent proficiency rate in both ELA and Math. 

Within New York City, District #2 covering lower Manhattan, scored the highest proficiency rates in ELA (78 percent), while 65 percent were proficient in Math. District #20 in Brooklyn had the highest proficiency in Math (73 percent), while 67 percent were proficient in ELA. District 12 (Bronx) had the lowest proficiency rate in ELA (37 percent) while District 24 (Queens) had the lowest proficiency in Math (35 percent).

Overall, Quogue Union Free School District in Long Island had the highest proficiency with 94 percent in both ELA and Math. Fire Island UFSD, the state’s most expensive school district with a per pupil expenditure close to $150,000, had a proficiency rate of 48 percent in ELA and 57  percent in Math, for its 21 students who were tested.

Outside NYC, in Buffalo City School District, 28 percent students were proficient in ELA and 22 percent in Math. In Yonkers City, proficiency rates were 47 percent and 46 percent respectively for ELA and Math; in Rochester, 19 percent and 15 percent; in Syracuse, 24 percent and 17 percent; in Albany, 38 percent and 35 percent in ELA and Math respectively.   

In the Capital Region, Shenendehowa school district topped the list in both ELA (74 percent) and Math (82 percent). Putnam school district was at the bottom in ELA (13 percent) while Green Island in Math (22 percent).

The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank dedicated to promoting policies to make New York a better place to live, work and raise a family.