Success Academy, the largest charter school network in New York City, filed a lawsuit Thursday against state Education Department (NYSED) Commissioner Betty Rosa over the agency’s decision not to authorize the College Board to release certain Advanced Placement (AP) data to the popular U.S. News and World Report for its annual high school rankings.
The school alleged in its complaint that withholding this information, which had been used in previous years, resulted in a significant drop in its place on the influential “Best High Schools in America” list and violated the institution’s First Amendment right to communicate “truthful, independently verified information about its students’ academic performance.”
Eva Moskowitz, founder and CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools, said that Success Academy demands excellence of its students and they deserve public recognition.
“Our scholars — most of whom are low-income, first generation — took demanding college-level courses, sat for nationally administered examinations, and produced extraordinary results,” Moskowitz said in a statement. “NYSED should not be allowed to prevent the public from seeing what they accomplished.”
Success Academy students ahead of a new school opening.
The NYSED said, in a statement shared with amNewYork about the decision, that it did not withhold publicly available AP data from U.S. News and that the media company requested private information, which raised legal concerns under student privacy laws.
The statement added that NYSED did not consider the rankings a reflection of an individual school’s value: “A change in a school’s ranking should therefore not be interpreted as a change in the quality of its students, educators, academic programs, or outcomes. At the same time, we understand that these rankings receive considerable public attention and that districts are understandably concerned about their impact.”
It also said that state officials would try to find a way to share data that would allow U.S. News to properly evaluate schools while protecting student data.
But for this year, Success Academy said the impacts of not having its AP data included in U.S. News’ analysis have been significant.
Last year, Success Academy’s High School for the Liberal Arts in Harlem ranked 11th in New York State, but this year, it dropped to 196th.
U.S. News and World Report reports its methodology on its website, showing that “college readiness” and “college curriculum breadth” together make up about 40% of a school’s score. These two scores are based on AP exams and International Baccalaureate exams, but as Success Academy does not take IB exams, its scoring for around 40% of U.S. News’ assessment was weighted at zero. U.S. News and World Report published this disclaimer with its methodology page.
“Adjustments were made so that schools without APs and IBs would not score significantly worse than schools with very few APs and IBs even after the scores were standardized. In summary, not having any AP or IB exams was not enough alone for a school to be at the bottom of the rankings because of the adjustments and the significant number of high schools that did not administer these exams.”
NYSED spokesperson JP O’Hare told amNewYork that the state agency was committed to transparency and open data, including AP participation data, available publicly online. He said the agency had not yet reviewed the complaint.
“The New York State Education Department (NYSED) does not comment on potential litigation, even when it is shared with the press before we have been served or otherwise notified,” O’Hare said. “However, what we will say is that the Department takes its responsibility to protect student data seriously. Compliance with New York’s student privacy laws is not optional, and it does not take a back seat to U.S. News & World Report’s commercial ranking methodology, or any other desire to turn information about New York’s children into a for-profit product.”
O’Hare also noted that the state’s AP participation data “is collected to reflect student achievement in rigorous coursework, not to rank schools.”
“If Success Academy believes that the commercial value of student information outweighs the State’s responsibility to protect it, it is free to explain as much in a lawsuit. But NYSED does not share that perspective,” O’Hare added.