NYS' standardized test scores rise for grades 3 through 8 in English, math

Students in grades 3-8 in New York performed markedly better in 2025 in English on state assessment tests than in the previous two years — with more than half being scored as proficient, according to a preliminary report the state Education Department released Monday.

Math proficiency rates for this group also went up, by 3 percentage points to 55%. But the increase was more significant in English where 53% of students who took the tests in April and May scored proficient, the latest state data showed. That was up from 46% in 2024, representing a 7 percentage point jump.

The improvement was the greatest in science taken by fifth and eighth graders. The latest state figures showed 44% of the test takers achieved proficiency. In 2024, only 35% did.

The state’s scoring system sets four levels of achievement with the top two indicating a student as proficient or above in a subject.

Bob Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, said the state results reflected the years of effort schools invested in additional programs in literacy and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields post-COVID.

“I think you're starting to see those years of intense focus on those areas to catch up are starting to pay off,” Vecchio said. “We are encouraged by the improvement, but obviously, still work to be done.”

Questions over student achievement

The state’s preliminary report did not include regional breakdowns nor the percentages of students who participated in the tests. The assessment numbers themselves are not yet final as school officials have until Sept. 3 to review and verify them.

The finalized data, along with breakdowns for each district and test participation rates, is expected to become available in the fall, the state Education Department said.

Typically, Long Island schools outperform state averages, Vecchio said.

While the test scores showed improvement, some education analysts said student achievement should have been higher given the amount of per-pupil spending New Yorkers invest in public schools.

A January report from Citizens Budget Commission, a research and advocacy group, found New York spent more than $36,000 per pupil, the highest in the country and nearly doubling the national average.

The commission also reported that student achievement in New York was only “middle of the pack” among states, as reflected in scores on tests sponsored by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a federal program that compares results of state-by-state sample testing in math and reading every two years.

“With the amount of resources we spend, … we should be aiming for excellence: the best education system in the world, if not in the country,” said Zilvinas Silenas, president of the Empire Center for Public Policy, an Albany-based think tank.

Danyela Souza Egorov, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said the latest state results showed the trend “going in the right direction” but “the New York public has the right to expect better than average results.”

Souza Egorov also noted that because the state switched to tests based on new academic guidelines known as Next Generation Learning Standards in 2023, the data does not reflect a long-term trend so it can be difficult to draw firm conclusions.

State education officials have said that NAEP tests are based on different academic standards than those used in New York, and that reporting based on different sets of standards was not reliable.

Rachel Connors, a department spokeswoman, said test scores are just one of the indicators used in the state’s accountability system to measure school performance. The others include the progress of English language learners, chronic absenteeism and high school graduation rates.

More questions raised

In 2025, students in every grade from 3 through 8 did better or stayed the same in English but the most improvements were made among lower grades, according to the preliminary data. In third grade, for example, the percentage points of students testing proficient jumped 11 percentage points from 43% to 54%.

For Arlen Benjamin-Gomez, executive director of EdTrust-New York, an advocacy group headquartered in Manhattan, those gains seemed unusual and raised questions on whether cutoff scores were lowered, which would have made it easier for students to test proficient.

“There’re some pretty dramatic gains, which you normally don't see year over year,” she said. “Is this a reflection that students know more and students are reading on grade level or doing math and science at grade level? Or is it the reflection of changes to the exam?”

The state has revised cutoff levels frequently in the past, and many outside experts have complained that it makes it nearly impossible to track students' progress from year to year or over the long term.

Connors did not directly address whether changes were made to cutoff scores but said in an email Monday that “this year’s results are directly comparable to last year’s.”

“The improvement in scores provides evidence of an increasing alignment of instruction to the learning standards, a credit to teachers, school leaders, and districts, as all curriculum decisions are made at the local level in New York State,” she wrote.

Under federal law, students must be tested periodically in English, math and science. New York tests students in grades 3-8 every year in English and math.

Newsday's John Hildebrand contributed to this report. 

By Dandan Zou

dandan.zou@newsday.com@DandanZou

Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.