Find What Works: Schools

NYCRatings Story ideas Methodology

Story ideas

54 fleshed-out story ideas plus 215 shorter prompts, surfaced from exploratory queries against the live database. Every fleshed-out idea has a question, a short summary of what the data shows, and a full data-analysis section with tables and charts. The first five also include long-form briefings: extended context, supporting findings, and concrete reporting directions for a journalist who'd pick the story up.

Style target: 538 / The Economist / SF Education Substack. Bias is toward falsifiable claims and against rhetorical takes; see methodology for how the data is sourced.

All 54 ideas have a data-analysis section — click any card to read it.

54 story ideas with data analysis, by topic

Punching above expectation (4)

The 50 NYC schools punching highest above demographic expectation

Three schools in NYC's most-challenged proclivity decile post top-decile elementary academic scores citywide — and dozens more across the bottom half of the proclivity distribution outperform peers serving the same student populations. Profile the 50 biggest expectation-beaters and look for shared practices.

Data analysis ↓

Which Title I dollars actually moved the needle?

NYC distributes federal Title I funding to high-poverty schools. By cross-referencing per-pupil spending with proclivity-adjusted outcomes, we can identify which schools get Title I money AND outperform expectations — and which don't. Not a 'gotcha' on spending, but a how-effective-is-the-money piece.

Data analysis ↓

Top-decile elementary scores from non-elite schools: 5 case studies

Most schools posting 90%+ elementary academic composite serve proclivity-decile-1 populations (G&T schools, wealthy zoned). But a handful hit the top decile from proclivity 5-7 (mid-pack student bodies). Profile 5 of these schools — what are they doing that the 'expected high performers' do?

Data analysis ↓

The 10 schools doing the best for the most-challenged kids

Among schools in proclivity decile 10 (most-challenged student bodies), 10 schools score above the city's grade-5 math median. They're the floor of the floor — and they're outperforming wealthy zoned schools that serve much-more-advantaged kids. What are they doing right?

Data analysis ↓

COVID recovery (6)

Chronic absenteeism is 7 points above pre-COVID and isn't recovering

Pre-pandemic chronic absenteeism averaged 29.8% citywide; it spiked to 44% in 2021-22 and has only slowly retreated to 36.6% in 2024-25 — still 7 points above the 2018-19 baseline. The gap is widening between the schools that recovered and the schools that didn't.

Data analysis ↓

District 18 leads NYC's pandemic math recovery — by a lot

Brooklyn's District 18 (East Flatbush, Canarsie) added 32 points of grade-5 math proficiency between 2018-19 and 2024-25 — far more than any other district. What changed? And does it hold up if we look at constant cohorts rather than aggregate scores?

Data analysis ↓

How much of the 2024-25 'recovery' is a test-recalibration artifact?

Citywide grade-3 math proficiency jumped from 49.6% (2022-23) to 61.8% (2024-25) — too fast for a real instructional turnaround. NYS revised the math standards and tests in 2023; quantify how much of the gain is the test getting easier vs. actual recovery.

Data analysis ↓

Why is elementary chronic absenteeism stuck above pre-COVID?

Elementary kids can't choose to skip school — their parents have to take them. So why is elementary chronic absenteeism still 7 points above 2019? Three hypotheses: (1) parent norms shifted during COVID, (2) economic precarity, (3) the kindergarten cohort. The data lets us test each.

Data analysis ↓

How D15 unscreening 5 years in: outcomes, equity, both?

In 2018, NYC's District 15 (Park Slope and surrounding) unscreened all its middle schools — replacing test-and-grade screens with weighted lottery. Five years in, has the policy met its goals (more diverse cohorts) without sacrificing outcomes? The data is finally long enough to tell.

Data analysis ↓

K-8 schools weathered COVID better than separate ES + MS — why?

K-8 schools (which keep kids from kindergarten through 8th grade) had smaller pandemic-era outcome dips than schools where kids switched buildings at 6th grade. The stable cohort + relationship continuity may be the secret to pandemic resilience.

Data analysis ↓

Subgroup gaps (4)

NYC's English Language Learners are 32 points behind on math — within the same schools

At schools where both groups have measurable cohorts, ELL students score 32 points lower than their never-ELL classmates on grade-5 math (29% proficient vs 61%). Some schools have 80+ point within-school gaps. ELL kids aren't failing because schools fail — they're failing inside good schools.

Data analysis ↓

Why is the Bronx better at including students with disabilities?

Across NYC, students with disabilities score ~30 points below non-SWD classmates on math. But the gap is 27 points in the Bronx — and 34 points in Staten Island. The Bronx serves more SWDs and gets better relative outcomes for them.

Data analysis ↓

Boys outperform girls in math, girls outperform boys in ELA — even by 5th grade

Across NYC, 5th-grade girls score 5 points higher than boys on ELA proficiency. Boys score ~3 points higher on math. The gaps are consistent across boroughs and show up in cohort after cohort — the gender gap isn't built later, it's already present by grade 5.

Data analysis ↓

Asian-American achievement in NYC schools is more variable than the stereotype suggests

The 'Asian model minority' frame obscures wide intra-group variation. In NYC, schools with majority-Asian populations span the achievement distribution from top-decile (Stuy / Bronx Science feeders) to bottom-quartile. Disaggregating Asian-American outcomes by sub-group (East Asian / Southeast Asian / South Asian) tells a different story.

Data analysis ↓

Demographic segregation (3)

PS 133 has a 77-point Black-white achievement gap inside one school

At PS 133 William A. Butler in Brooklyn, white students score 89% proficient on grade-5 math; Black students score 12%. Ten schools have within-school Black-white gaps of 60+ points — overwhelmingly in gentrifying Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods. This is segregation inside integration.

Data analysis ↓

Exactly one NYC public school is 90%+ Black — but 54 are 90%+ Hispanic

When educators talk about racial segregation in NYC public schools, the language often centers on Black students. The data shows a different pattern: only one school is 90%+ Black, but 54 schools are 90%+ Hispanic and 75 are majority-white. The geography of NYC segregation is structurally Latino-isolating, not Black-isolating.

Data analysis ↓

NYC's most demographically diverse schools serve mostly low-income kids

The schools with the most-balanced racial mix in NYC — the closest to a 25/25/25/25 split — tend to be in neighborhoods with mixed housing, often serving primarily low-income families across racial groups. They look more like 'genuine integration' than the wealthy-and-white schools that dominate top-outcome lists.

Data analysis ↓

School type effects (3)

NYC charter teachers don't recommend their own schools

Across the 2023-24 NYC School Survey, 82% of teachers at DOE schools recommend their school — vs 77% at charters. Trust scores show the same pattern. The charter sector advertises itself as a teacher's haven; teachers say otherwise.

Data analysis ↓

NYC's audition-only schools serve few low-income kids, but graduate everyone

The 16 NYC high schools that admit by audition (LaGuardia, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, etc.) are quietly some of the most demographically-exclusive public schools in the city — and they post near-100% graduation rates regardless. Who gets in, who doesn't, and why does no one talk about audition-as-screen?

Data analysis ↓

Eight schools, the SHSAT, and the test-prep economy

Only 8 NYC high schools admit via the specialized high-school admissions test. They serve a tiny slice of the city (~6% of HS seats) but consume an outsized share of public debate. Three angles: the test-prep market that has grown around them, the Asian-American student concentration, and the persistent under-representation of Black and Hispanic students.

Data analysis ↓

Survey vs. outcomes (1)

When teachers want to leave, students stop showing up

Schools in the bottom quintile of teacher trust/recommendation scores have 43% chronic absenteeism. Top-quintile schools: 33%. The 10-point gap holds after controlling for demographics, suggesting teacher culture is a leading indicator of student engagement.

Data analysis ↓

Perception gaps (7)

Parents say they love schools where kids can't read

Ten NYC schools have 99%+ parent-satisfaction scores AND elementary academic composites below 30%. This isn't malicious deception — it's parents prioritizing things outcomes don't measure (community, safety, teacher relationships) over things they don't see (test scores). The gap deserves journalism.

Data analysis ↓

At Bronx charters, teachers feel safe and students don't

At 8 NYC schools — most of them Bronx charters — teachers rate safety 25+ points higher than their students do. Bronx Charter School for Excellence 3: teachers 98%, students 58%. What are the students seeing that the teachers aren't?

Data analysis ↓

How much do peer-group rankings change when you change the peer-group definition?

School rankings are sensitive to peer-group choice. NYCENET, NYS, US News, GreatSchools, and our own derivation all produce different rankings for the same school. Quantify the volatility: pick 100 schools and show how their 'how good is this school' answer ranges across methodologies.

Data analysis ↓

How much data does NYC suppress, and what does it hide?

Subgroup data with small N is suppressed for student privacy. Across our metrics, ~7-10% of subgroup cells are suppressed. The suppression is non-random — it falls on the smallest, most-distinctive subgroups. What can we infer about the SCHOOLS where the most data is hidden?

Data analysis ↓

How much of school outcomes is just demographic composition?

Our proclivity decile (built from % econ-dis, % ELL, % SWD) explains a huge chunk of NYC schools' average academic outcomes — about 50% of the variance in grade-5 math proficiency. The other 50% is the school. Distinguish those two halves and you have a much fairer evaluation framework.

Data analysis ↓

School-bus satisfaction is a transit-equity story

The NYC School Survey asks students if they're satisfied with their bus transportation. Satisfaction is wildly uneven — and the unsatisfied are often the kids riding the longest. School-bus equity in NYC tracks the disability / English-learner / D75 placements that often require non-zone schooling.

Data analysis ↓

Wealthy-zoned schools where chronic absenteeism is rising — and what that says about the parents

Most chronic absenteeism analysis focuses on poverty-correlated schools. But a small set of high-income, high-performing NYC schools have seen chronic absenteeism creep up post-COVID. Why are well-resourced families keeping their kids home?

Data analysis ↓

Specific schools (13)

Six NYC schools where 100% of teachers say students bully each other

Six NYC schools had every responding teacher agree that students bully other students at this school (2023-24). The pattern crosses borough, admission type, and proclivity decile — but the schools' overall outcomes vary widely, complicating the bullying-causes-bad-outcomes narrative.

Data analysis ↓

The Brooklyn New School lost 52 points of math proficiency in six years

PS 146, The Brooklyn New School — a celebrated progressive ES — went from 70% grade-5 math proficient in 2018-19 to 18.2% in 2024-25. That's the biggest decline in the city. Did the test change, did the school change, or did the students change?

Data analysis ↓

Bronx Aerospace High School cut chronic absenteeism by 34 points. How?

From 67% to 32% chronic absenteeism in five years, despite serving a challenging-demographic population (proclivity decile 8). Bronx Aerospace HS is the single most-improved school on the most-stuck NYC metric. Story is: what did they actually do?

Data analysis ↓

The Anderson School scores at the ceiling — and proves nothing

PS 334 The Anderson School (Manhattan, gifted-and-talented) posts 98% on the elementary academic composite. But Anderson serves the most-advantaged kids in NYC (proclivity decile 1). Their outcome is impressive — and uninformative about the kind of teaching that works.

Data analysis ↓

Two MS within a half-mile: one screens, one zones. Same neighborhood, different futures.

Pick a half-mile radius in any NYC neighborhood and find a screened middle school next to an unzoned/zoned one. The screened school's outcomes look better — but that's selection, not value-add. The interesting question: which kids are missing from each school and why?

Data analysis ↓

When the principal leaves, scores fall — but not always

School outcomes typically dip in the year after a principal change. Some schools recover; some don't. With NYC's recent leadership shifts, can we identify which schools survived a principal change with momentum intact and which lost ground?

Data analysis ↓

The 4-year graduation rate is no longer a meaningful comparison

Citywide 4-year graduation rate is now ~84% in NYC — clustered between 70% and 95% for most schools. The metric has compressed: only ~10% of schools differentiate at the bottom (where it matters) and ceiling effects dominate the top. We need a better post-secondary outcome.

Data analysis ↓

The legacy of the small-schools movement: 20 years later, did it work?

From 2002-2008, NYC closed several large failing high schools and replaced them with clusters of small new schools (the 'small schools movement'). MDRC studies in the early 2010s showed positive grad-rate effects. With 15-20 years of data, do the small schools still outperform what the old big schools would have produced?

Data analysis ↓

Three schools where 100% of teachers responded to the survey — and what they said

NYC School Survey response rates average around 70-80% for teachers. Three NYC schools had 100% teacher response in 2023-24 — unusually high. What did they say? And do schools with engaged-teacher responses post better outcomes?

Data analysis ↓

Community schools were the de Blasio cure-all. Did they work?

NYC's Community Schools model adds wraparound services (health, mental health, after-school) to selected schools. Started in 2014, expanded to ~250 schools by 2019. With 11 years of data, can we identify a Community Schools effect — beyond what comparable non-Community Schools would have produced?

Data analysis ↓

Universal Pre-K kids are now in grade 5. Did the investment hold?

NYC's Universal Pre-K (UPK) launched in 2014. The first full UPK cohort (kids entering 3K/4K in 2014-15) is now in 5th grade. Did those kids outperform pre-UPK cohorts on grade-5 outcomes?

Data analysis ↓

Where 'I am satisfied with school meal options' goes lowest

Buried in the NYC School Survey is a question about student satisfaction with school meals. Schools where kids hate the food may correlate with attendance issues, behavior issues, or just signal building-level neglect. Map the worst-rated lunchrooms.

Data analysis ↓

Where principals have been there 10+ years — and the climate it builds

Long-tenured NYC principals (10+ years) are a small subset of the city's school leaders. Their schools post higher teacher trust scores, lower turnover, and often punch above demographic expectation. Profile the 50 longest-tenured principals and the schools they've built.

Data analysis ↓

Year-over-year movers (5)

Ten schools lost 25+ points of math proficiency since 2018

Most NYC schools held roughly steady on math through pandemic disruption — but ten schools lost 25+ points of grade-5 math proficiency from 2018-19 to 2024-25. Six are in Brooklyn. Why this cluster?

Data analysis ↓

Why does middle school cause the academic cliff?

Grade-3 math proficiency is 62% citywide; grade-7 math proficiency is 50%. The gap holds across school types and demographics — kids systematically lose ground entering middle school. The 'middle school cliff' is real and well-documented, but NYC's data lets us see where it's steepest.

Data analysis ↓

Five years later, where did the Renewal Schools land?

The de Blasio Renewal Schools program (2014-2019) targeted ~94 chronically-low-performing NYC schools with intensive funding and support. The program was officially declared a failure in 2019. Now in 2025 — with attendance, test scores, and graduation data through 2024-25 — what do the long-term trajectories actually show?

Data analysis ↓

The 25 schools improving fastest right now

Look just at 2023-24 → 2024-25 — the most recent year of change. Which schools jumped the most on grade-5 math or ELA, controlling for the citywide test-recalibration baseline? They're the freshest stories.

Data analysis ↓

When neighborhoods gentrify, what happens to the zoned school?

Bushwick. Crown Heights. Bed-Stuy. Astoria. Mott Haven. These gentrifying NYC neighborhoods have seen demographic shifts at their zoned schools. Track each school's % white over 5-10 years and you can map the gentrification frontier — and the kids displaced by it.

Data analysis ↓

Topic & focus effects (2)

Schools that brand themselves 'STEM' don't outperform other schools on math

16 NYC schools tag themselves as STEM-focused. Their grade-5 math proficiency averages 56.7% — versus 54.2% for the 765 schools without the STEM tag. The 2.5-point gap is within noise. Topic branding doesn't drive math outcomes.

Data analysis ↓

Dual-language elementaries score LOWER on ELA — but that's not the whole story

158 NYC schools tag dual-language programs. They average 51.1% grade-5 ELA proficiency vs 60.4% at other schools — a 9-point deficit. But these schools serve disproportionately more ELL students. Once you control for student population, dual-language may be neutral or positive.

Data analysis ↓

Borough & district (6)

Manhattan has the worst chronic absenteeism in NYC — wealth doesn't protect attendance

Manhattan schools average 41% chronic absenteeism — the worst of any borough. The Bronx is 40%. Brooklyn 39%. Queens 34%. Staten Island 33%. Manhattan's wealthier average doesn't translate to better attendance, because Manhattan's mix includes both elite-private-alternative families AND public-school populations facing housing instability.

Data analysis ↓

Districts 2 and 26 tie at NYC's top — but one is screened-rich and one is zoned

Manhattan District 2 (Upper East/West, Murray Hill, Greenwich Village) and Queens District 26 (eastern Queens) tie at 78.2% on the elementary academic composite. But they get there by very different routes: D2 is dense with screened MS feeders and G&T programs, D26 is dominated by zoned neighborhood schools serving relatively-advantaged residents.

Data analysis ↓

The chronic absenteeism map looks like the temporary-housing map

Schools with high concentrations of students in temporary housing (shelters, doubled-up families) have systematically worse attendance, year after year. The relationship is strong enough that you could draw the chronic absenteeism map from the temporary housing data alone — pointing at housing policy, not school policy, as the leverage point.

Data analysis ↓

Where you go to school in NYC matters less than you'd think — and more than you'd want

Borough is a coarse signal. The average outcomes across boroughs differ less than the within-borough variation. Two schools 5 miles apart in Queens have more in common with each other than two schools 5 miles apart in different boroughs sometimes. Borough is a useful proxy — but a school-by-school view is what parents actually need.

Data analysis ↓

Fair Student Funding still doesn't cover the schools that need it most

NYC's Fair Student Funding (FSF) policy weights per-pupil dollars by student need. After 17 years, FSF formula has been criticized as still under-resourcing the highest-need schools. Use proclivity decile as the need proxy and per-pupil spend as the resource — show the gap.

Data analysis ↓

Where NYC's enrollment decline is hitting hardest — and where it isn't

NYC public school enrollment has dropped ~10% since 2018. The decline isn't even: some districts have lost 20%, others gained. Map the decline and you map families' votes on the public-school system — and on neighborhoods.

Data analysis ↓

215 additional prompts

One-liners, grouped by category. These haven't been expanded into full data-analysis sections — the 54 above were the most promising starting points. These are the rest of the funnel, ready for someone to pick up.

Punching above expectation

Charter schools punching above expectation: who they are
DOE-zoned schools outperforming charters serving same demographics
Magnet schools' value-add vs zoned-school baseline
Schools with weak chronic absenteeism but strong academic — how?
G&T programs WITHIN zoned schools — do the G&T kids drag up the school's measured avg?
Selective HS that under-perform their selectivity
Open-enrollment ES outperforming zoned neighborhood schools next door
D75 inclusive schools that outperform expected SWD baselines
Transfer schools (D79) with notable grad-rate stories
10 schools serving 90%+ Hispanic populations beating expected outcomes
10 schools serving 90%+ Black populations beating expected outcomes
Wealthy-zoned schools underperforming their proclivity decile
Mid-poverty schools that have stayed in their peer-group top tier 5+ years running
The 'most surprising school' competition — biggest residual every year
Schools that improved attendance AND test scores 2018-2024
Schools that did both AND closed subgroup gaps
Schools that hit all four (attendance + scores + gaps + survey) — the unicorns
Are the unicorn schools concentrated in any network or borough?
What share of NYC public-school kids attend an 'expectation-beater'?
Annual ranking: top 50 NYC schools by proclivity-adjusted outcome

COVID recovery

Did NYC kindergarteners who started during remote learning lag in 5th grade?
MS-level COVID recovery vs ES-level — which grade band recovered faster?
Borough-by-borough COVID recovery rates
District 24's outcomes during the migrant-student surge
HS grad rates dropped during COVID — fully recovered or hidden via credit recovery?
Did COVID-era charter-school enrollment growth translate to better outcomes for those kids?
Schools that were Renewal pre-COVID — did they double-down or fall apart?
The 'COVID cohort effect' — testing the 3rd-graders who were in K during 2020-21
Are NYC private-school migrants returning to public — and where?
Bilingual education during COVID — did dual-language programs hold up?
Did remote-learning preferences (laptop access, broadband) predict COVID-era outcomes?
Schools with the steepest pandemic dip and the steepest recovery — same schools or different?
Charter vs DOE COVID recovery comparison
Did COVID-era principal changes lead to better or worse 2024 outcomes?
Mental-health metrics post-COVID (when DOE survey expanded)

Subgroup gaps

Where the Hispanic-white grade-3 math gap is smallest in NYC
Schools where ELL kids OUTPERFORM never-ELL kids — and why
Asian-Black achievement gap by district
Economic-need composite vs. raw economic-disadvantage — which predicts better?
Within-SWD subgroup variation — where students with disabilities are doing well
Multi-racial students' outcomes are systematically different from any single-race subgroup
ELL grad rate gap is closing at HS, widening at MS
Temporary-housing kids' attendance gap is biggest in K-2
Former-ELL kids outperform never-ELL kids on math — bilingualism bonus?
Boys outperform girls in math even in single-sex schools (TYWLS data check)
Gender gap by language — is it different in dual-language schools?
Native American student data: smallest subgroup, biggest data gap
Race × gender × ELL interaction — multi-way subgroup analysis
The 100 schools where the Black-white gap is smallest
What makes a school 'gap-closing' — common features of equity outliers
ELL exit rates — how fast do ELLs become former-ELL by school?
SWD subgroup attendance vs non-SWD — same trend?
Asian sub-group disaggregation — where it would change the story
Hispanic sub-group disaggregation by country of origin
First-generation immigrant student outcomes vs second-generation
Black male outcomes specifically — NYC's worst-served demographic?
White male grad rates declining faster than female peers
Foster-care youth (NYC reports it) and school outcomes
Children with incarcerated parents (NYC data limited)
School-level gender ratio — does it predict outcomes?
Where ELL gap is smallest vs. district average ELL %
Dual-language schools' Spanish-speakers vs. English-speakers in same building
The 'middle of distribution' kid — neither top nor bottom subgroup — what's their experience?
Subgroup gap pre-COVID vs post-COVID — who fell furthest, who recovered
Subgroup gap in chronic absenteeism by ELL status
Subgroup gap in survey-reported safety perception
Black students at 90%+ Hispanic schools — how do they fare?
Hispanic students at 90%+ white schools — same question, reverse
Asian students at high-poverty schools — the unsung NYC cohort
Cross-borough comparison: ELL gap in Queens (high ELL) vs. SI (low ELL)
SWD inclusion gap — % SWD in gen-ed classroom by school
Twice-exceptional students (gifted + SWD) — outcomes at G&T schools
504-plan kids (not in our DB) — what'd we learn if we had them?
Gender gap in screened MS admission
Race gap in screened MS admission

Demographic segregation

Schools that match their census tract demographic mix
Schools that are MORE diverse than their census tract
Schools that are LESS diverse than their census tract
Segregation index — Dissimilarity index for NYC vs other major cities
Schools where the racial mix changed most in 5 years
Charter schools — segregation impact (do they re-segregate?)
G&T programs — racial composition vs zoned school
Free-meal-eligible kids by school — economic segregation map
Schools serving recent immigrant cohorts only (ENL/Bilingual concentrations)
Resegregation vs integration — schools moving in each direction

School type effects

Brooklyn's 70 charter schools — outcomes vs district counterparts
Manhattan's 30 charter schools — same comparison
Charter expansion in Bronx — what's the outcome vs DOE baseline?
Audition schools — admissions diversity over 10 years
Specialized HS — Black/Hispanic admission rates by year
Specialized HS — Asian admission concentration by borough origin
Specialized HS — Brooklyn Tech vs Bronx Science vs Stuy outcomes (Regents, college)
Ed.Opt (Educational Option) schools — the 296-school category most parents don't know
What 'Composite Score' MS admission really weighs
Transfer schools (D79) — who succeeds and what enables it
Vocational/CTE schools — outcomes vs. selective HS
G&T elementary programs — who applies, who's accepted, who graduates
Magnet schools' market: schools attracting from outside their geographic catchment
Wave 1 charters (2000s) vs Wave 2 (2010s) vs Wave 3 (post-2018) outcomes
Co-located charters vs DOE in same building — interaction effects

Survey vs. outcomes

Does student-reported safety predict next-year academic gain?
Does teacher trust predict next-year teacher retention?
Schools where students report high engagement but low scores
Schools where students report low engagement but high scores
Parent satisfaction by parent racial composition (NYC reports separately)
Survey-response rate as a leading indicator of school climate
How NYC School Survey questions have changed since 2014 — and what we lost
Bullying surveys vs. actual NYSED SSEC incident reports — alignment check
Schools where teachers say one thing and students say opposite — perception gap
School-meal satisfaction by district (lowest-rated cafeterias)
Mental-health item — added 2022 — what schools are flagging worst
Survey domains correlation matrix — what items move together
Question text changes over 3 years — which moved school rankings?
Schools with consistently high survey scores AND consistent strong outcomes — 'great schools' list
Survey response rates by school size — small schools have higher response, but does that bias?

Perception gaps

Schools where teachers want to leave but parents won't (parent retention vs. teacher recommend rate)
Schools where students rate climate higher than teachers do
Schools where principal-trust scores diverge from teacher-trust scores
Schools where surveys are positive but turnover is high
Schools where surveys are negative but turnover is low
Parent satisfaction by parent demographics (NYC parses surveys this way)
What's missing from the survey: questions we'd add
What's biased in the survey: questions we'd remove
How NYC compares to other cities on principal-evaluation perception
Teacher response rates dropping — what we lose when participation falls
The survey 'social desirability' problem — schools that game responses
Anonymous parent reviews (GreatSchools, Niche) vs official NYC survey — divergence
Schools with great survey + great outcomes — are they 'all there is to want'?
Schools where survey scores DROPPED dramatically year-over-year
Schools where survey scores ROSE dramatically — a leading indicator?
Bullying surveys vs. NYSED incident reports — schools where they diverge
Cyberbullying reporting — surveys don't ask, but matter
Mental-health item responses by gender
Mental-health item responses by socioeconomic status
Mental-health item responses by borough

Specific schools

Stuyvesant HS over 50 years — what's changed and what hasn't
Brooklyn Tech — biggest of the SHSAT schools, least covered
Eagle Academy network — single-sex schools serving boys of color
Achievement First charter network — what their NYC schools deliver
Success Academy — outcomes vs marketing
Hunter College Elementary + High School — the 'private' public school
PS 8 in Brooklyn Heights — the gentrification poster school
PS 124 in Chinatown — Asian-immigrant elementary 25 years on
Brooklyn Tech's missing demographic groups
LaGuardia HS for the Performing Arts — admissions and outcomes
Frank Sinatra School of the Arts — Queens arts magnet
Townsend Harris HS — Queens screened school
Bard High School Early College — what 4 years of college credit does
Eagle Academy — single-gender Black male serving school outcomes
TYWLS (The Young Women's Leadership School) — single-gender effect
Boys Latin / Brooklyn Latin — classical curriculum effect
Khalil Gibran International Academy — Arabic-language program
Avenues The World School — wealth + private comparison?
Brooklyn New School progressive collapse (extended)
Beacon HS — selective screened HS pioneering portfolio assessment
Vanguard HS — small portfolio-assessment school in Manhattan
Hostos-Lincoln Academy — first NYC early-college school
Brooklyn Latin — modeled on Boston Latin classical model
iSchool — laptops-and-projects model
Quest to Learn — gaming-based curriculum
Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy — cradle-to-career model
Renaissance Charter HS — Queens charter, long-tenured leadership
Brooklyn Prospect Charter — diversifying-by-design charter
Dock Street School for STEAM Studies (the 100%-bullying school)
Mott Hall III (Bronx) — selective MS with 100% bullying reports

Year-over-year movers

The 25 schools that gained the most ELA points 2018-2024
The 25 schools that gained the most math points
Single-year improvers — 2023-24 → 2024-25 leaderboard
Single-year decliners — 2023-24 → 2024-25 leaderboard
Schools with longest improvement streak (5+ consecutive years of gain)
Schools with longest decline streak
Borough-by-borough movement maps
District-by-district movement leaderboards
Movers among charters specifically
Movers among selective schools specifically
What happens at a school the year after the principal changes
What happens at a school the year after enrollment shrinks
What happens at a school the year after a building rezoning
Long-arc movers — schools that improved 30+ points over a decade
Volatile schools — the highest year-over-year standard deviation in scores
Stable schools — schools where nothing moves, year after year
Movers in chronic absenteeism specifically
Movers in teacher trust (3-year survey window)
Movers in parent satisfaction (3-year survey window)
Schools moving in OPPOSITE directions on attendance vs. scores

Topic & focus effects

Career & Technical schools — college enrollment vs job placement
International Baccalaureate schools' outcomes vs. AP-heavy peers
Schools with explicit progressive/inquiry-based focus — outcomes pattern
Montessori-method NYC public schools (rare) — outcomes profile
Arts-focused schools' college matriculation rates
STEM-focused schools' college STEM major rates
Dual-language schools' student persistence into HS-level bilingual programs
Sports academies in NYC — academic outcomes for the student-athletes
Expeditionary-learning schools (Outward Bound model) — chronic absenteeism vs peers
International / IB schools — diversity profiles

Borough & district

School outcomes vs. distance from nearest subway stop
School outcomes vs. distance from nearest park
Schools within 0.5 mi of NYCHA housing — outcomes pattern
Districts overlapping council districts — political alignment effects
Outcomes by air-quality index of the school zip
Outcomes by walkability score
Bronx 'middle of the borough' schools vs the periphery
Staten Island's North Shore vs South Shore disparities
Queens 'eastern' districts (D26, D29) vs 'western' (D24, D30)
Manhattan above 110th vs below — outcome cliff
Brooklyn's tech-corridor schools vs the rest
Schools serving public-housing vs. private-housing populations
Migrant-school enrollment by district 2022-2024 — where they landed
Schools at zone boundaries — kids crossing zones to attend
Charter-school location vs DOE-school density
Outcome gradient along the J train (a Brooklyn artery)
Outcome gradient along the 2/5 train
School concentration: how many schools within 1 mile of an average kid
Neighborhoods with most-vs-least school choice
School option density vs. household commute time