Subgroup gapsFull briefing
NYC's English Language Learners are 32 points behind on math — within the same schools
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
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.
Supporting findings
- Average within-school gap (NEVER_ELL minus ELL) on grade-5 math: 31.7 points, across 310 schools that have both subgroups with measurable cohorts (2024-25).
- NEVER_ELL average: 60.7%. ELL average: 29.0%.
- Largest within-school gaps: P.S. 95 Gravesend (84.6 pts), P.S. 166 Henry Gradstein (75.8 pts), P.S. 748 Brooklyn Global Scholars (75.4 pts) — all Queens or Brooklyn schools serving high-income immigrant families.
- The gap isn't about school quality — these are 'good' schools with strong overall results. The within-school gap reveals that ELL kids in good schools may be getting worse math instruction than their peers.
- ELL gap is largest at COMPOSITE / Ed.Opt. selective schools (51 points avg, but small n).
- ELL gap at ZONED neighborhood schools: 32 points avg, n=280.
- ELL gap at SCREENED schools: 20 points avg — selective screening may filter for English fluency.
- Compare with ELA gap (where the deficit is mechanical / language) vs math gap (where it shouldn't be).
- Look at ELL math gap by district: is there a district where the gap is small? That's the playbook.
- Five-year trend: is the ELL gap widening, stable, or narrowing? (We have 2018-19 through 2024-25.)
Reporting directions
- Pull NYS ELL-specific assessment guidance — are ELLs taking the same math test? Translation accommodations?
- Interview ENL/bilingual specialists at PS 95 Gravesend (the biggest gap) and at a school with the smallest gap.
- Cross-tab gap by years-of-ELL-status (current ELL vs former ELL vs never ELL — we have all three).
- Districts 7 and 24 historically serve most ELLs; do they have smaller gaps because of expertise, or larger because of overload?