Long Island students far surpass state averages in math and English, while NYC kids struggle to keep up
Long Island students are outperforming NYC and the rest of NY state. lamaip – stock.adobe.com
Long Island students continue to outperform their peers statewide in math and English, while New York City public school students are falling behind, according to newly released data from the New York State Education Department.
More than 85% of the roughly 37,000 students in Nassau and Suffolk counties passed the English Regents exam last school year — about 10 percentage points above the state average. Nearly 70% passed the newly redesigned Algebra Regents, well above the statewide pass rate of 56%.
In contrast, New York City’s more than 121,000 public school test-takers struggled, with only 48% passing Algebra and 68% passing English. Most students who did pass earned Level 3 scores, the minimum proficiency level, and overall results declined by several percentage points compared with the previous year.
While Long Island’s overall pass rates remained largely steady year over year, the number of top-performing students declined. About 43% of Long Island students earned Level 5 scores — the highest distinction — on the English Regents in the 2024–25 school year, down from 53% the year before. New York City experienced a similar drop, falling from 30% to 22%.
“It definitely is a big drop from the highest level,” said Bob Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association.
The number of Long Island school districts where at least 90% of students tested proficient also declined, falling from 61 to 51 out of 99 reporting districts. High-need districts were disproportionately affected.
Disparities were evident across districts. Nearly 99% of students in Cold Spring Harbor passed the English Regents, compared with just under 60% in Wyandanch. New York City showed similar trends, with better-resourced schools producing stronger academic outcomes.
Vecchio said the decline in top-level performance mirrors national patterns and may be driven by several factors, including lingering academic and developmental effects from the COVID era, new state graduation and testing standards, and shifting student priorities.
With Regents exams set to become optional beginning in 2027, Vecchio said students and educators are placing less emphasis on test preparation and more focus on other aspects of education.
“Ninth graders today will be seniors when Regents exams are optional,” Vecchio said. “Many students no longer see these tests as critically important, unlike previous generations.”
He added that graduation rates remain a more meaningful measure of student success than test scores alone.
Looking beyond high achievers, Vecchio noted signs of broader improvement. Students in grades three through eight on Long Island posted a 7.5% increase in English proficiency compared with the previous year — nearly identical to gains seen in New York City — suggesting progress among younger students even as high school performance shifts.
Algebra I results were not compared year over year because the state introduced a new version of the exam in June 2024, making past comparisons unreliable.
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