SUCCESS ACADEMY MIDDLE SCHOOLERS ACE HIGH SCHOOL REGENTS EXAMS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Ann Powell, 646-894-6407
Ann.Powell@successacademies.
Maria Amante, 332-222-6642
maria.amante@successacademies.
SUCCESS ACADEMY MIDDLE SCHOOLERS ACE HIGH SCHOOL REGENTS EXAMS
99.8% of the Entire 8th Grade Class — 831 Mostly Low-Income Students of Color — Pass Algebra I Regents, with Almost Half Scoring at the Highest Level of 5
New York, NY, June 29, 2023 — As national math and reading test scores for 8th graders in the United States plummeted to the lowest level in decades, Success Academy middle schoolers achieved extraordinary results on the New York Regents Exams this year, tests typically taken by high schoolers. All 831 8th graders sat for the exams, with 99.8% passing the Algebra I Regents — and 47% scoring a level 5, the highest possible level. The mostly low-income, Black and Hispanic students achieved equally impressive results on the English Regents (94.6% pass rate) and Biology/Living Environment (96%) Regents. SA’s 7th graders — 1,220 of them! — took the Global History & Geography Regents this month as well, with 90% passing.
Success Academy middle schoolers outperformed the city and state high school students, many of whom take Regents exams in 10th or 11th grade.
Comparative scores for NYC and NYS are from 2022, the most recent publicly available data
NYC DOE source: https://infohub.nyced.org/
NYS source: https://data.nysed.gov/essa.
“Our scholars continue to prove what is possible for all students,” said Eva Moskowitz, founder and CEO of Success Academy. “Success Academy is raising the bar, while all around us standards are being lowered.”
Eliminating or altering Regents exams is currently under consideration by a 64-person state commission charged with reviewing high school graduation requirements.
Nationally, less than a quarter of 8th graders enroll in algebra, and in New York City, it’s equally rare for district middle schools to offer Regents courses. Success Academy is the exception. All 8th graders take Algebra I, Biology/Living Environment, and English Regents exams, and 7th graders take the Global History and Geography Regents. Taking the exams in middle school allows students to take more advanced college preparatory courses in high school.
These results follow the release of a study from Stanford University’s Center for Research on Educational Outcomes (CREDO), which showed Success Academy leading the nation in additional math learning at scale (206 extra days than district schools).
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About Success Academy
Since its founding in 2006, Success Academy has created the highest-performing public school district in New York state, and a national model of access to excellence for children across all demographics. We currently enroll over 20,000 children in our 49 elementary, middle, and high schools. The majority of Success Academy scholars are children of color from low-income households in disadvantaged neighborhoods, admitted through a random public lottery. Our distinctive K-12 approach, designed as a holistic thirteen-year educational trajectory, leads to student outcomes that outpace even those in affluent suburban schools. To date, 100% of SA’s graduates have been accepted to college, many to highly selective institutions. Most are the first in their families to have the opportunity for higher education. We regularly share our groundbreaking curriculum and methods with educators and school leaders across the country. By scaling excellence and reigniting the civic mission of education, Success Academy is leading a movement to reinvent public education. All children can thrive and achieve in school, in college, and in life — Success Academy students and teachers prove it every day.
For more information about Success Academy, go to successacademies.org.
ABOUT SUCCESS ACADEMY 8TH GRADERS:
Demographics:
- 54% are Black
- 35% are Hispanic
- 4% are white
- 4% are Asian
- 3% are multiracial
- 74% are economically disadvantaged
- 12% have IEPs
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