Analysis: SUNY Authorized Charter Schools’ Performance on
2015-16 English Language Arts and Mathematics Assessments
Demographics of Tested Students
SUNY charter schools administered the grades 3-8 state assessments in English Language Arts (“ELA”)
and mathematics to roughly 30,000 students statewide. Those students had the following
characteristics:
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14% were students with disabilities (in comparison to 17% statewide);
2.7% were English language learners (in comparison to 7.6% statewide); and,
75% were economically disadvantaged (in comparison to 58.6% statewide).
SUNY charter school students during 2015-16 have the following ethnicities:
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65% were Black or African American;
26% were Hispanic or Latino;
4% were Caucasian; and,
the remaining 5% were American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, or
Multiracial.
Performance of SUNY Authorized Charter Schools
As a group, SUNY authorized charters continue to outperform charters of other authorizers.
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SUNY Authorized charter schools demonstrated significant performance increases in both ELA
and mathematics:
o In ELA, SUNY authorized charters increased from 33% during 2014-15 to 46% of
students scoring at or above proficiency during 2015-16. This rate of growth is on par
with New York City charters as a whole (also 13% growth) and outpaces the NYC
district (8% growth) and the state (6% growth).
o In mathematics, SUNY authorized charters increased from 49% during 2014-15 to 54%
of students scoring at or above proficiency during 2015-16. As in ELA, this rate of
growth is on par with New York City charters as a whole (posting about 4% growth) and
out paces the NYC district (1% growth) and the state (1% growth).
Although SUNY charter General Education students progressed at a rate greater than students with
disabilities, the percentage of SUNY charter students with disabilities scoring at or above proficiency far
outweighs that of the state: the statewide rate of proficiency for students with disabilities in ELA was
7.9%, and 10.9% of students with disabilities across the state scored at or above proficiency in
mathematics. The rate of SUNY charter students scoring at or above proficiency in ELA doubled that of
the state and the rate in mathematics tripled that of the state.
SUNY authorized charter schools are closing the achievement gap.
Overall, Caucasian students continue to outscore Black or African American students in ELA and
mathematics. However, during 2015-16 Black or African American students scored at or above
proficiency in mathematics at a rate that nearly equaled Caucasian students.
If we look at grade level achievement, we find a few instances where Black or African American students
outscored Caucasian students during 2015-16. In ELA, Black or African American 6th grade students
outscored Caucasian 6th grade students.
In mathematics, Black or African American students in 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grade outscored their
Caucasian counterparts.
English language learners enrolled at SUNY charter schools perform higher than other authorizers and
higher than schools throughout the state.
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The percentage of students scoring at or above proficiency in ELA increased by 2.5 percentage
points at SUNY charters during 2015-16 – a rate greater than other authorizers and the state.
In mathematics, notwithstanding a decrease in proficiency rates for English language learners
statewide, SUNY charter schools continue to outperform the field.