More than 150 low-performing schools where less than 10 percent of the students passed this year’s state math and English exams claimed sky-high pass rates for class work in the same subjects, according to a study released Monday.
Officials at StudentsFirstNY, which compiled the study of 167 schools, say the conflicting results show grade inflation is rampant in the school system.
“There are scandalous levels of grade inflation going on across the board at New York City public schools, and the de Blasio administration must address it,” said Jenny Sedlis, the group’s executive director.
Sedlis called for an independent audit of course work to ensure city schools “are not lowering the bar and giving parents a false picture.”
The review found that the same schools where 90 percent or more of students couldn’t make it through the state’s English and math tests produced average pass rates of 85 percent and 84 percent, respectively, for course work in English and math.
Some schools with zero pass rates showed kids excelling in the classroom.
Not one student passed either the state’s Common Core math or English exam at the Wadleigh Secondary School or the Choir Academy of Harlem middle school.
But 92 percent of Wadleigh students passed their course work in both subjects, as did 84 percent of Choir students, the analysis found.
Students’ average pass rates were 80 percent or above for math and English course work at schools citywide.
But the pass rates in grades 3 through 8 on the state English exam was 30.2 percent, and in math it was 35.2 percent.
The differences stunned worried city parents.
“I would rather know from the school now that there’s a problem, rather than waiting for state tests to tell me if there’s a problem,” said Nakdia Porter, whose son is a second-grader at PS 305 in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
The city Department of Education said it’s wrong to judge a school just by state exam results.
“State tests are one critical measure of student progress, and this use is misleading and overemphasizes performance on a single test while failing to recognize multiple measures to demonstrate mastery,” spokeswoman Devora Kaye said.