Stuyvesant received an A, for the second straight year, under the Department of Education (DOE) rating system for public schools. For the 2007-2008 school year, Stuyvesant has an overall grade of 68.9 out of 106.5 and is ranked in the 73 percentile among city schools. This was a decrease of 6.2 points from the previous year’s grade.

According to the DOE website, the New York City Progress Report “measures student year-to-year progress, compares each school to peer schools, and rewards success in moving all children forward, especially children with the greatest needs.”

Schools that receive high grades “are eligible for rewards,” according to the report, which include possible bonuses for principals and, if the school continues to progress, for teachers too. Schools that receive low and failing grades “face consequences.”

Stuyvesant received a 9.1 out of 15 in school environment, 21.8 out of 25 in student performance and 38 out of 60 in student progress. All of the numbers translated into A’s in their individual categories, creating an overall grade of an A.

Some students expressed surprise about Stuyvesant’s percentile rank. “I was happy that Stuy got an A, but I was surprised that most of these grades were in the 60 or 70 percentile,” sophomore Daniel Mendelsohn said. “I’m wondering what will be done to raise these scores.”

Principal Stanley Teitel will not make any major changes to Stuyvesant because of the Progress Report results. “We’re not going to change the focus of the school because of this report,” he said.

According to The New York Times article “Letter Grades Look Simple, But Are Really Complex” by Jennifer Medina, the 10 schools that received the highest Progress Report grades have poor average SAT scores.

The DOE ranked relatively low the 10 schools with the highest average SAT scores, of which Stuyvesant is number one.

“We are a good school and are deserving of an A. Yet, as with most one-size-fits-all evaluations, there is a lot the [progress report] doesn’t cover. The criteria they are using doesn’t really get at how well students are doing,” Assistant Principal English Eric Grossman said. “Student progress is a big part of this grade. Yet, our students are already statistically good in their Regents scores, their SAT scores and their attendance. There’s not a whole lot of room for progress.”

“The problem with the [grading] system is that it’s perfectly possible for a failing school to get an A because 60 percent of the grades for the schools are based on improvement,” Parents’ Association Co-President Paola de Kock said. “No reasonable student or parent would choose a school based on the score.”

“[The evaluation] is a very, very expensive process that is not designed to improve education. They just collect a bunch of data and crunch numbers and no one can tell you how they come up with the numbers,” de Kock said. “We don’t need this colossal waste of money to tell us the obvious—that Stuy is a good school.”

“I’m very satisfied with the grade that we received,” Teitel said.

“Stuy should be getting an A,” junior Jeffrey Wu said. “Although the school has its flaws, it’s still one of the best public schools in the city.”