Ps/is 323, Brooklyn NY - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Ps/is 323

PS/IS 323 sits in Brooklyn as a neighborhood elementary and middle school serving preK through eighth grade. The school serves a concentrated, high-need population: nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is about seventy percent Black and about a quarter Hispanic, with very few white or Asian students. The enrollment is stable at around five hundred students across the grade bands.

The school's academic profile shows uneven performance across subjects and grades. In third and fourth grade, reading and math proficiency rates run strong, particularly in ELA where third graders reach above eighty percent. By fifth grade the picture narrows considerably. Math proficiency drops to around forty percent, and reading holds at roughly the same level. Science proficiency in fifth grade falls substantially, reaching just above twenty percent. These results suggest that while the school's early elementary instruction gains traction with younger students, proficiency erodes noticeably as students progress, and science appears to be an area of particular challenge.

The school participates in NYC Reads, the citywide literacy mandate that began in fall 2023. PS/IS 323's elementary classrooms now use the Into Reading curriculum, a phonics-based program that replaced the balanced-literacy approach previously in place. That change will be immediate and visible to parents. Middle school math instruction has begun aligning with the city's NYC Solves curriculum as well, standardizing math pedagogy across district schools.

District 23, which encompasses the school, has experienced sustained enrollment decline over recent years. The district is also unusual among New York's thirty-two community districts in that it maintains no zoned elementary or middle schools, meaning families throughout the district have equal access to all schools regardless of address. This open-enrollment model shapes the competitive dynamic of choice in the neighborhood.

The Chester Street location places the school in a dense, walkable Brooklyn neighborhood with extensive transit access. Housing in the zipcode runs above the state median for cost, with rental prices moderate for the borough. The area is experiencing development growth, particularly Downtown Brooklyn nearby, though the particular neighborhood concentration around the school tends toward established residential density rather than new construction.

A parent considering PS/IS 323 should understand that the school's teaching of early literacy and math is working for its youngest students, but proficiency gaps widen substantially by upper elementary grades. The ELA weakness in fifth grade, combined with the marked decline in math and the very low science results, suggests that a student entering upper elementary at this school would encounter significant academic transition. State testing data does not yet reflect long-term trend changes under the new literacy curriculum, so ongoing results would merit attention. The school's population is predominantly low-income and Black, characteristics that shape peer environment and the school's resource constraints. The lack of a neighborhood zone means enrollment remains competitively driven, though the district-wide choice system gives families flexibility across all District 23 schools.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 383%

School 83% · District 59% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 468%

School 68% · District 50% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 39% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 386%

School 86% · District 56% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 48% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 45% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Science

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 22% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 571%

School 71% · district not reported

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 818%

School 18% · district not reported

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

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #23, 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.