By Anna Gustafson
A total of 11 Queens institutions were removed from the list of schools that are in need of improvement under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the best showing in three years, according to information released by the state Department of Education last week.
Queens schools kept pace with a statewide decline in the number of schools removed from the federal list, and the borough had just one school newly labeled in need of improvement: Maspeth Elementary School.
The other four boroughs had more schools added to the list than Queens, with 15 in the Bronx, eight in Manhattan, six in Staten Island and four in Brooklyn.
Queens schools performed better under the law than last year, when 13 borough schools were said to be in need of improvement and four schools were removed from the list.
Schools are listed in need of improvement when they do not meet state testing standards for two consecutive years in the same subject and grade level.
“This was the largest single−year decline in the number of New York City schools needing improvement since 2005,” city Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said in a statement. “… It’s a testament to what can happen when we hold all our schools accountable for helping every student make academic progress.”
Schools removed from the list, which occurs when the facility shows improvement two years in a row in student performance, include the International High School at LaGuardia in Long Island City, PS 143 in Corona, PS 229 in Woodside, PS 7 in Elmhurst, Bayside High School in Bayside, Francis Lewis High School in Fresh Meadows, JHS 216 in Flushing, JHS 190 in Forest Hills, JHS 8 in Jamaica, PS 86 in Jamaica, IS 59 in Jamaica, and the Academy of New Americans in Astoria.
School officials from these schools, as well as Maspeth Elementary, were unavailable for comment.
There are 62 Queens schools that remain on the in−need−of−improvement list. Newtown High School and William Cullen Bryant High School — Klein’s alma mater — in Long Island City have been on the list for seven years, longer than any other borough schools. Richmond, Jamaica and Grover Cleveland high schools in Ridgewood have remained on the list for six years.
A school that receives federal funding and is named in need of improvement are required to offer public school choice. If a school remains on the list for two years, it must continue to provide public school choice and also offer students supplemental educational services, such as tutoring.
A total of 32 new city schools were added to the list and 44 were removed.
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e−mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 174.
