NEW YORK, NY – New York City high schools have faced accusations of inflating graduation rates as students are promoted without meeting grade-level expectations, according to a report by Chalkbeat and the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism.
The report highlights a practice within the New York City Department of Education (DOE) public school system where students who are at risk of failing a class receive an “NX” grade, meaning “course in progress,” instead of an “F.” These students are allowed to advance to the next grade while they complete outstanding work. Teachers have revealed that the makeup coursework for students with an “NX” grade is often less challenging than the regular curriculum.
Once students complete their outstanding work, the “NX” grade is completely removed from their transcript. During the 2020-2021 school year, at least 95,000 high school students, or 33% of the NYC DOE public school system, received at least one “NX” grade instead of an “F.”
The report raises concerns that this policy may have misleadingly inflated graduation rates and left some students academically unprepared. Many teachers feel that their hands were tied and that the system failed to adequately support vulnerable students.
According to the report, more than 20% of students who received an “NX” grade in June 2021 did not complete their outstanding work, potentially resulting in an “F” grade for those courses. However, not all courses are required for graduation, according to an NYC DOE spokesperson.
The NYC DOE spokesperson clarified that students who received “NX” grades still need to meet state graduation requirements. The spokesperson emphasized that the “NX” grades were not directly related to graduation rates.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to remote learning have contributed to significant learning loss among students. Reading levels in K-12 schools dropped to levels last seen in the 1990s in 2022, as reported by the Nation’s Report Card. Despite efforts to address learning loss, students’ academic recovery has stagnated. A separate report suggests that students need at least an additional four months of instruction to catch up to grade-level expectations.