State Education Department Releases Preliminary Data on English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science State Exams

The State Education Department today announced that preliminary data on the Grades 3-8 English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics (Math) assessments, and the Grades 5 and 8 Science assessments, have been released to schools and school districts. The data released by the Department is intended to provide parents and families with their students’ assessment results and inform instructional decisions and individualized learning plans for students during the 2025-26 school year. The data are considered preliminary until they undergo the local district review and verification process, which will close on September 3, 2025. Data are subject to change after the local review and verification period has closed and statewide quality checks have been completed.

The percentage of students scoring proficient by grade in each subject is shown below. Overall, the 2024-25 state assessment data show that proficiency rates of students in Grades 3-8 on the ELA and Math assessments are 53% and 55%, respectively; the proficiency rate of students in both Grades 5 and 8 on the Science exam is 44%.

These annual assessments, required by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), are designed to measure how well students are mastering the New York State learning standards that guide classroom instruction and are a valuable tool to help ensure students have the supports needed to succeed. As detailed in NYSED’s Statewide Assessment Strategy, the annual grade-level tests are intended to be one measure used to assess student learning and one tool of many used by educators to ensure students are getting the services and supports they need to prepare for career, college, and civic readiness.

Following the verification period, NYSED will update assessment reports based on the data certified by schools and districts. Our goal is to provide teachers, administrators, and parents with as much information as possible about their students’ performance and make it available as quickly as possible to improve classroom instruction. The public release of all final state assessment data is anticipated for early November. 

Additional information about the tests is available on the Department’s State Assessment website.