N.Y.C. District Issues ‘Value Added’ Grades for Schools

In an unusual step for a school district, New York City has assigned letter grades to its public schools, prompting a debate in the nation’s largest school system about whether the ratings represent a reliable gauge of school quality.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein released the grades this week in a high-profile announcement at a Manhattan elementary school. Of the 1,224 schools graded, 23 percent received A’s, 38 percent got B’s, and 25 percent got C’s. Eight percent received D’s, and 4 percent got F’s. More than 150 schools have not been graded yet because they haven’t been open long enough or their data were still under review. The city’s 60 charter schools did not administer the survey that forms part of the grade.

The grades are part of New York City’s effort to improve its schools by expanding the authority it gives school principals, and how it makes them answer for their students’ performance. The grades will be factored into such decisions as whether principals will keep their jobs, a signal Mayor Bloomberg said was a “wake-up call”...