Borough & districtFull briefing
Districts 2 and 26 tie at NYC's top — but one is screened-rich and one is zoned
The longer form of the briefing for this story: the original thesis, the supporting findings the data team flagged, and the reporting directions a journalist could follow. For the short version and the data analysis, see the main story page.
Thesis
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.
Supporting findings
- Top ES composite (2024-25) by district:
- D26 (Queens): 78.2%, avg proclivity 0.32
- D2 (Manhattan): 78.2%, avg proclivity 0.30
- D28 (Queens): 71.9%, avg proclivity 0.45
- D25 (Queens): 71.4%, avg proclivity 0.45
- D20 (Brooklyn): 70.9%, avg proclivity 0.56
- D2 has 36 schools in the cut; D26 has 22 — D2 is bigger.
- D2 has many screened middle schools (NEST+m, Salk, Quest) — selective sorting happens early.
- D26 has very few screened seats — kids mostly attend their neighborhood school.
- Both districts serve relatively-advantaged populations (proclivity ~0.3 — top 30% of NYC).
- But D26 demonstrates: outcomes follow demographics, no screening required. So the D2 model isn't strictly necessary.
- What can D2-like dense urban districts learn from D26's neighborhood-school model?
Reporting directions
- Plot proficiency vs proclivity by district — is there a 'D26 effect' beyond demographics?
- Interview Queens D26 superintendent on neighborhood-school philosophy.
- Profile a D2 G&T school vs D26 zoned school serving demographically-similar populations.
- What does D26 do about screening? Are MS still tracked even without official screen?