What Information Is Included in a New York School Report Card?

The New York State Report Card is an annual public report that describes how a school, district, or the state as a whole is performing. It is published by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) on the NYSED Data Site and is required under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The 2024–25 report card covers the 2024–25 school year and includes information on students, staff, and key performance metrics, along with accountability data used to determine statuses for 2025–26. [1]

What the Report Card Is and Who Produces It

The report card is not a local marketing brochure or a single school score. It is a state-produced public information tool. NYSED describes the report card as part of New York’s ESSA plan, which is designed to create interconnected strategies that support districts and schools and to ensure every student has the opportunity to succeed. The report card provides essential public information on staff, students, and key performance metrics. [1]

New York publishes report cards for the state, for districts, and for schools. That means a parent can usually look up a specific school, but the same indicators may also be shown at the district and state levels. The statewide report card is the common frame of reference; local districts and New York City may also publish their own data dashboards, which can use different definitions or time periods. When comparing, always check whether the number comes from the state report card or a local source.

The Main Categories at a Glance

The 2024–25 Report Card Glossary & Guide lists the main reporting areas. The table below summarizes the categories and gives examples of the indicators included. [2]

Accountability Data: Statuses, Goals, and Improvement Funds

Accountability data is one of the most important parts of the report card, but it is also easy to confuse with performance results. The glossary lists the 2025–26 accountability statuses and support models using 2024–25 data. It also lists district statuses, school statuses, elementary/middle-level school identification methods, secondary-level school identification methods, Measures of Interim Progress (MIPs), Long-Term Goals (LTGs), and Section 1003 School Improvement Funds. [2]

In plain terms, this section answers questions such as: Is the school or district meeting the expectations in New York’s ESSA plan? If not, what kind of support or improvement model applies? The accountability status is a determination based on a set of indicators, not a raw test score. A school can have strong results in one subject and still be identified for support because of another indicator, such as attendance, graduation rate, or performance among a particular student group. Parents who want to understand a status should read the identification method and the specific indicators that led to it.

Elementary and Middle-Level Indicators

For elementary and middle grades, the report card includes several indicators that describe student performance and school conditions. The glossary lists core subject performance, weighted average performance, growth, English Language Proficiency (ELP), attendance, and participation rates. It also lists NYSESLAT used for participation. [2]

These indicators are related but not interchangeable. Core subject performance usually reflects how students performed in English language arts, mathematics, and science. Growth looks at how much students progressed over time, which can differ from how many students reached a particular proficiency level. English Language Proficiency tracks the progress of English learners. Attendance and participation rates describe whether students are present and whether they took the required assessments. A school may perform well on one indicator and less well on another, so the report card is meant to be read as a set of signals, not a single verdict.

Secondary-Level Indicators

At the secondary level, the report card adds graduation and readiness information. The glossary lists secondary core subject performance, secondary weighted average performance, secondary graduation rate, secondary English Language Proficiency, secondary attendance, secondary College, Career, and Civic Readiness, and secondary participation rates. [2]

Graduation rate is one of the most familiar secondary indicators. The glossary also lists the total cohort graduation rate under school and graduation rate data. College, Career, and Civic Readiness is a newer type of indicator that looks beyond test scores to whether students are prepared for what comes after high school. As with the elementary/middle indicators, the definitions matter. A graduation rate for one cohort may not be directly comparable to a different cohort or a different student group without checking the year and the denominator.

Assessment Results Included

The report card includes assessment data from several New York State tests and from one national assessment. The glossary lists elementary- and intermediate-level English Language Arts, mathematics, and science; grades 3–8 ELA; grades 3–8 mathematics; grades 5 and 8 science; Annual Regents Examinations; Total Cohort Regents Examinations; the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT); the New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA); the National Assessment of Academic Progress (NAEP); and chronic absenteeism. [2]

These assessments serve different purposes. Grades 3–8 ELA and mathematics are annual tests for most students in those grades. Grades 5 and 8 science are given at specific grade levels. Regents Examinations are high school assessments tied to New York State learning standards. NYSESLAT measures English language development for English learners, and NYSAA is an alternate assessment for eligible students with significant cognitive disabilities. NAEP is a national assessment that appears in the report card’s assessment data; it is not a school-by-school test that every student takes. Chronic absenteeism is included with assessment data in the glossary, but it is an attendance measure rather than a test score.

Staff, Spending, and Graduation Rate Data

The report card also includes context about the adults and resources in a school or district. The glossary lists expenditures per pupil, staff qualifications, inexperienced teachers and principals, teachers teaching out of their subject or field of certification, and the total cohort graduation rate. [2]

Expenditures per pupil is a spending measure. It is often reported as a dollar amount per student, but the denominator and what is included can affect comparisons. Staff qualifications and the percentage of inexperienced teachers or principals describe the teaching and leadership workforce. The percentage of teachers teaching out of their subject or field of certification describes assignment patterns. These data points are useful for understanding school conditions, but they should not be treated as direct measures of student learning or as proof that one factor causes another.

What the Report Card Does Not Do

The report card is not a ranking system, and it does not produce a single overall score for a school. It reports multiple indicators and accountability determinations. NYSED describes the report card as a tool to guide instructional improvements and enhance services for students, not as a consumer rating. [1]

It also does not answer every question a family might have. Some values may be missing, unavailable, or suppressed to protect student privacy when a student group is very small. Different indicators may cover different years or grade spans. A school’s report card may not include a separate number for every subgroup. When a data point is blank, it is better to check the glossary and the data notes than to assume the value is zero. And because the report card is a public data document, it shows patterns and associations; it does not by itself prove that a particular program, teacher, or policy caused a particular result.

How to Read a Report Card: A Short Checklist

1. Identify the data year. The 2024–25 report card covers the 2024–25 school year, while accountability statuses for 2025–26 are based on 2024–25 results. [2]
2. Check the entity. Are you looking at the state, a district, or a specific school? A district number can hide differences among schools.
3. Read the definition. Use the glossary to confirm what an indicator measures and how it is calculated. [2]
4. Look at the denominator. A percentage based on 20 students is not as stable as one based on 200 students.
5. Compare like with like. Use the same indicator, year, grade span, and student group before drawing a conclusion.
6. Use more than one year. A single year can reflect unusual circumstances. Trends over several years are usually more informative.
7. Separate performance from accountability. A status is a policy determination based on multiple indicators, not the same thing as a test score.

Questions Parents Can Ask

• What school year does this report card cover, and when was it released?
• Is this number for the school, the district, or the state?
• Which students are included in this indicator, and how many students are in the group?
• What does the glossary say about how this indicator is defined?
• How has this indicator changed over the past three years?
• If the school has an accountability status, which indicators contributed to that status?
• What support or improvement plan is in place, and how can families learn more?
• Are there local data sources that provide more recent or more detailed information?

Where to Find the Official Report Card

The official New York State Report Card is available on the NYSED Data Site. The 2024–25 Report Card Glossary & Guide, which explains the terms and indicators, is available as a PDF from NYSED. The glossary was last updated August 3, 2026 for Group Release 4. [2]

Sources and Methodology

This article describes the categories and indicators listed in the New York State 2024–25 Report Card Glossary & Guide and the NYSED Data Site. It does not reproduce school-level values or rank schools. Source-check date: October 12, 2026. Data period: 2024–25 school year report card, with 2025–26 accountability statuses based on 2024–25 results. The glossary was last updated August 3, 2026 for Group Release 4. [1] [2]