State Education Department Releases Final School Accountability Determinations for the 2025-26 School Year

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) today released its final school accountability determinations, identifying the appropriate support model for every school serving grades K-12 across the state. The determinations ensure an equitable allocation of resources to schools and provide support to accelerate improvement and strengthen instructional systems. NYSED will collaborate with schools identified for support to assess needs and design targeted improvement plans, working toward the shared goal of educational excellence and successful outcomes for all students.

Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr. said, "The Board of Regents is driven by a commitment to excellence and equity in education for every single student in New York State. To that end, accountability determinations create a pathway for the state to partner more intentionally with schools and districts, ensuring they receive the support needed to accelerate student learning and drive meaningful, measurable gains. Through this collaboration, we will continue to deliver the targeted support and resources schools need to ensure every student has the opportunity to succeed."

Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said, "Accountability is a powerful catalyst for meaningful change and stronger outcomes for students. By aligning each school with a tailored support model, we can meet communities where they are and work in partnership to drive lasting improvement. Through shared responsibility and collective action among schools, districts, and NYSED, New York State will continue to foster learning environments in which every student can grow, succeed, and thrive."

New York State is federally required under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to identify schools for support annually using student assessment results and other indicators of student achievement. The New York State ESSA Plan is designed to ensure every student has access to a range of educational opportunities and services to help them reach their fullest potential. NYSED's ESSA accountability system uses five indicators at the elementary/middle level and six indicators at the high school level to make determinations.

Support models range from least to most intensive, starting with district-led support and gradually increasing in support provided directly by NYSED. Regardless of the support model, all schools and districts receive detailed, state-provided data to assist in their efforts to identify areas of strength and need, and to set goals for school improvement planning. Under the accountability support models, NYSED has developed tools and resources to build capacity for continuous improvement for all schools.

Based on needs and performance, the continuum of district, school, and subgroup level support model determinations for the 2025-26 school year are:

• Target District - Districts only
• Local Support and Improvement (LSI) - Districts, Schools, and Subgroups
  • Potential Targeted Support and Improvement (PTSI) - Subgroups only
• Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) - Schools and Subgroups
• Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) - Schools and Subgroups
• Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) - Schools and Subgroups

Target Districts are districts with at least one component school identified for CSI, ATSI, or TSI. Districts identified under this support model will become eligible for federal School Improvement Grants (SIG), ensuring they have the fiscal resources required to implement improvement strategies effectively and sustainably.

Schools identified for the LSI support model do not meet the criteria for required state or district-led support but are encouraged to examine year-to-year performance data to identify areas of concern, monitor progress, and implement strategies to improve achievement in identified areas.

Schools identified for PTSI are still under the LSI support model but have subgroup indicators trending toward the TSI support model. This informal identification provides schools with the opportunity to analyze subgroup data, develop targeted improvement plans, and implement meaningful interventions. This year, the timeframe for schools in PTSI was extended from one year to two years in order to provide adequate time for schools to fully implement new strategies, allow them to take hold, and generate positive change before formal identification. Due to this extension, no new schools were identified for the TSI support model this year.

Schools identified for CSI or ATSI have access to supplemental support from NYSED's Field Support and Innovation and School Reform teams, including:

• Coaching models to strengthen teacher learning and instructional practice;
• Principal and assistant principal coaching to build leadership capacity to drive data-driven continuous improvement; and
• District-level instructional training, aimed at aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessment systems to elevate student performance.

In addition, 17 schools have been newly identified for the Receivership support model. This year, schools were eligible to be placed under Receivership if they were initially identified for CSI based upon 2017-18 SY results and never exited up to and including the 2024-25 SY results. This more rigorous intervention provides schools with technical assistance and comprehensive support to achieve demonstrable improvement on performance indicators jointly selected by NYSED and their districts and makes them eligible for financial support to facilitate these efforts. Three schools will exit Receivership at the end of the 2025-26 school year.

Individual school designations will be available on NYSED's data site in late February. More information on the 2025-26 school year accountability support model determinations is available on NYSED's School and District Accountability Resources and Data webpage.