The case studies for New York City Public School Districts 11, 14, and 18 have been updated to include scores on the 2026 New York State ELA assessment, released on August 7, 2026. While these cases originally looked at change in reading proficiency from 2024 to 2025, they now examine change in proficiency from 2024 to 2026.

Why the update?

New York State ELA Exam scores fluctuated significantly between 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 in districts across the state. This sharp fluctuation is highly unusual and warrants careful investigation. New York City Public Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels said, “These fluctuations are considerable and unprecedented, and at odds with what teachers are seeing in their classrooms.” In light of the information, a number of experts are asking whether something went wrong with the 2025 ELA exam.

In light of these developments, we believe extending our time horizon to include 2026 offers a more comprehensive, and potentially more accurate, view of profiled districts’ proficiency gains over time. More data gives us greater confidence in assessing each district’s general trajectory.

That trajectory remains encouraging. Profiled New York City districts on the site demonstrated modest gains from 2024 to 2026. These data, combined with those from ELA screeners, suggest these districts are on an encouraging path, using curriculum as their launchpad and REACH as their guidepost. We are continuing to monitor the investigation into the 2026 scores and will make further updates if warranted.