Ps 308 Clara Cardwell, Brooklyn NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ps 308 Clara Cardwell

PS 308 Clara Cardwell is a small public elementary and middle school in Brooklyn that serves pre-K through eighth grade. It sits in Williamsburg or a nearby neighborhood in Kings County, embedded in the dense residential landscape of North Brooklyn. The school enrolls a modest-sized cohort, distributed across eleven grades from pre-K through eighth, with the enrollment skewed toward the early grades. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly Black, with a meaningful Hispanic population and small numbers of students from other backgrounds.

The school's state test results from the most recent testing year show serious academic challenges that a parent would need to weigh carefully. Across math and English language arts, proficiency rates are low. In math, performance ranges from around thirty percent proficient in third grade and seventh grade down to near zero in eighth grade. English shows somewhat more variation. Third and fourth graders post results in the low-to-mid twenties; fifth graders around ten percent; sixth graders at twenty-five percent; but seventh graders reach seventy percent proficient, and eighth graders land at forty percent. Science testing data is sparse. Fifth grade shows ten percent proficiency; eighth grade data was not reported, with no students appearing in the testing numbers. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the bottom quartile when compared to other schools in Kings County, the county where it operates.

These are persistent and low attainment patterns. Because school-year-to-year trends and historical data were not available, it is unclear whether performance is improving, stable, or declining, so a parent may want to look into that further with the school directly. The grade-eight math results are especially thin and concerning—no students reached proficiency, and the participation rate was low, which could reflect a small cohort or other attendance issues.

The school sits within New York City Geographic District 16, which covers much of Bed-Stuy. The district is implementing the city's mandated Into Reading curriculum in elementary grades, a science-of-reading approach that has been in effect for about two years in this district. For middle school math, the city's NYC Solves initiative is rolling out standardized curricula over the next few years, which will eventually affect how math is taught here. A new state class-size law caps elementary grades at twenty students per class and middle grades at twenty-three, phasing in over time with priority for high-poverty schools. District 16 serves high concentrations of low-income students, so families can expect smaller class sizes as the law takes effect.

Brooklyn itself is a dense, walkable urban borough with strong transit access and active street life across most neighborhoods. Major employers are concentrated in healthcare, higher education, and a growing tech sector. Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Public Library's branch network anchor civic life. The borough is experiencing significant growth, with substantial new residential construction reshaping both Downtown Brooklyn and neighborhoods like Williamsburg.

The housing market around this school's zip code reflects that growth pressure. Home values are rising year-over-year, and rental costs are climbing. The broader New York State housing market is appreciating above the national benchmark, with mortgage rates in the mid-sixes.

For a family choosing this school, the draw would primarily be neighborhood convenience and the possibility of smaller classes as the state reduction mandate rolls out. The academic profile, however, is well below district and county averages. A parent should expect to understand what instructional supports, intervention services, and staffing strategies the school is deploying to address these results, and should seek clarity on whether recent curriculum changes have begun to move performance. Without evidence of upward trend or robust intervention, the school presents real academic risk for students needing grade-level or accelerated learning pathways.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

New York Regents Exams

2 courses reported · 2024-25

End-of-course exams required for a New York Regents diploma. Each row shows the cohort size and the share of students scoring at the proficient level or higher.

Course	Students tested	% proficient
Math	5	60.0%
Science	5	60.0%

Math

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 68% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

Grade 420%

School 20% · District 60% · ▼ 40 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median · ▼ 47 pts below county median

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 44% · ▼ 35 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 48 pts below county median

Grade 611%

School 11% · District 42% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 57% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 43% · ▼ 43 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 324%

School 24% · District 67% · ▼ 43 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 63% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 54% · ▼ 44 pts below district

▼ 44 pts below state median · ▼ 52 pts below county median

Grade 625%

School 25% · District 47% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 777%

School 77% · District 53% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 52% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Science

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 34% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 43% · ▼ 43 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 567%

School 67% · district not reported

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 840%

School 40% · district not reported

▼ 39 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #16, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.