A month into the school year, the DREAM family has so much to celebrate. At the top of that list: news of DREAM’s 2022-23 New York State Test results, which have just been released.

DREAM Charter Schools students—96% of whom are Black and/or Hispanic and 89% of whom qualify for free or reduced lunch—achieved the network’s highest-ever ELA and Math proficiency rates on the 2022-23 New York State Test, effectively closing the Covid learning gap for students in grades 3-8 and substantially outpacing peer schools. DREAM’s commitment to serving all kids means that the network accomplished these outcomes with a population composed of 29% of students with identified special needs (compared to NYC’s average of 21%), and equitable, inclusive practices that include backfilling every vacant seat in its schools.

These results also saw DREAM:

• Outperform community district schools in Mott Haven and East Harlem by double-digit percentage points in both ELA and Math
• Increase subject proficiency in Math across all of DREAM’s middle schools, with staggering YoY growth ranging from 31 to 48 percentage points
• Ensure access for all learners with proficiency rates for students with special needs that were 11 percentage points higher in ELA and 18 percentage points higher in Math than NYC students with special needs

DREAM’s NYST results are a testament to our “All Kids Can. This Kid Can.” maxim—the belief that every student belongs and every student can achieve. With a rate of students with IEPs that is above the New York City average and well above DREAM’s charter school peers, we know that transformative outcomes for youth are possible not in spite of our student population’s incredibly diverse learning needs—but in many ways, because of them. The same strategies that we’ve honed for our students with IEPs—small group and one-on-one instruction, two teachers per classroom, deep family partnerships—work to support the success of all our students. It’s proof that when students learn in diverse classrooms, they all benefit.

You can learn more specifics about DREAM’s results in the 2022-23 Student Achievement Data Report.