Gotham Gazette - Measuring Up

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Citizens Union Foundation Gotham Gazette

Measuring Up

A new approach to government accountability -- officially called "performance assessment" but more colloquially, compstatmania -- compiles, analyzes and interprets statistics in order to spot trends, gaps and overlaps in city services. It's not magic -- it's hard work, and requires lots of attention to detail and follow-up. On this page, Gotham Gazette looks at this approach to improving city services.

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Who's Rating City Services

A guide to government agencies and private groups that measure New York's performance in heath, education, crime fighting and more.

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Links In The News:

10 NYC Hospitals Rank Among "Nation's Best" (U.S. News and World Report, 07/13/2007)

Advocates Criticize City Plan to Spend State Education Money (NY Sun, 07/11/2007)

Riders Get Chance to (NY Post, 07/11/2007)

Syphilis Infections Surge In City (NY Post, 07/10/2007)

Bloomberg Administration Completes 35 Percent of Affordable Housing Goal (NY Sun, 07/06/2007)

Small Schools Are Ahead in Graduation (NY Post, 07/02/2007)

Complaints Against Police Rise Sharply (NY Sun, 06/27/2007)

Some Subways Found Packed Past Capacity (NY Times, 06/26/2007)

Special Ed Students in City Lag in Entering Mainstream (NY Times, 06/26/2007)

New York Eighth Graders Show Gains in Reading (NY Times, 05/23/2007)

Reading Scores Mixed (NY Sun, 05/23/2007)

City Defends How It Measures High School Graduation Rates (NY Post, 05/22/2007)

Bill Would Set Up Database for Birth Statistics (NY Times, 05/10/2007)

Rating NYC (New York Magazine, 05/09/2007)

City Students Lag in Regents Diplomas (NY Sun, 05/04/2007)

Higher Graduation Rates in City, but (04/26/2007)

Surplus Is Larger Than City Expected (Daily News, 04/26/2007)

Black, Hispanic and Asian New Yorkers Face Higher Death Rates from Some Cancers (AM New York, 04/20/2007)

Pedestrian Deaths Down, But City Hall Takes Heat on Safety (AM New York, 04/12/2007)

City Releases Study of Greenhouse Gases (NY Times, 04/11/2007)

Teachers Union Plans to Grade Mayoral Control of Schools (04/11/2007)

Stop-and-Frisk Stats Suggest Flaws in NYPD Practices (Newsday, 04/10/2007)

Births Send NYC Metro Area (NY Post, 04/05/2007)

White Wealthy Families Lead Population Growth in Manhattan (NY Times, 03/23/2007)

A Population Boom in Staten Island (NY Post, 03/22/2007)

Police Department Struggles to Meet Recruitment Targets (NY Sun, 03/21/2007)

Demystifying Parking Rules (NY Post, 03/16/2007)

Eight More Middle Schools Listed as Failing (NY Times, 03/16/2007)

Four Revamped Schools on Failing List (Daily News, 03/16/2007)

City, State to Address Discrepancy in Graduation Rate (NY Sun, 03/09/2007)

Police Study Will Examine Stop and Frisks, Racial Profiling (Newsday, 03/01/2007)

Subway Ridership at Highest Level in 55 Years (AM New York, 02/23/2007)

Officials Are Underreporting School Safety Incidents, Says Public Advocate (NY Post, 02/22/2007)

Major Crime in Schools Rises 21 Percent (NY Post, 02/15/2007)

City Buses Run Late, Survey Finds (AM New York, 02/07/2007)

Number of People Stopped by Police Soars in New York (02/03/2007)

City Conducts Annual Count of Homeless (AM New York, 01/31/2007)

Diabetes Epidemic Growing in City, Health Department Survey Finds (Newsday, 01/31/2007)

Annual Count Conducted Of Homeless On The Streets (Associated Press, 01/30/2007)

Overhaul of Schools Would Let Teachers Rate Principals (NY Times, 01/19/2007)

Number of Failing Schools in City Rises (NY Sun, 01/11/2007)

Riverside Park Is City (NY Post, 01/10/2007)

Budget Surplus Predicted (Daily News, 01/10/2007)

Class Size As High As 46 Students (Legal Limit Is 34), New Data Reveals (Daily News, 01/09/2007)

More Public School Teachers Are Qualified, But Not Enough To Avoid Losing Federal Funds By July (NY Post, 01/09/2007)

Child Abuse Deaths Soar Despite Child-Welfare Angency Reform (NY Post, 01/08/2007)

Misconduct Complaints In The City Schools System Rise (NY Post, 01/05/2007)

Fewer New Yorkers Die Of Stroke But More Die Of Heart Disease Than National Average (Daily News, 01/02/2007)

Ronnie Lowenstein Reappointed To Head Independent Budget Office, Now Ten Years Old And Much Praised (NY Times, 01/02/2007)

Murder Rate Rises Almost Ten Percent (NY Sun, 12/28/2006)

Child-Abuse Cases Increase 35 Percent (NY Post, 12/11/2006)

Police Bullets Hit 31 New Yorkers And Killed 11 This Year, Including Sean Bell (AM New York, 12/08/2006)

As Crime Decreases, Police Gunfire Increases (Village Voice, 12/06/2006)

Crime Is Down -- But Still Peaks In One Precinct (AM New York, 11/27/2006)

More New Yorkers Relying on Food Assistance (Newsday, 11/22/2006)

New Data Details Problem of Overcrowding in City Schools (Daily News, 11/16/2006)

M1 Bus Rated City (Newsday, 10/25/2006)

As City Conducts Second Tree Census, Many Worry They Are Endangered By New Construction, Growing Population, Disease (Queens Tribune, 10/17/2006)

Thirty-Eight Percent Of All Mass-Transit Riders In The Nation Live In Metro NY (NY Post, 10/17/2006)

Health Study Of Bronx Hispanics Launched With $10 M Federal Grant (Daily News, 10/13/2006)

More Than 40 Percent Of The City's Public School Kids In Grades 3 to 8 Failed To Meet State Math Standards (Daily News, 10/12/2006)

City Chastised On Special Education (NY Post, 10/06/2006)

City (Newsday, 10/04/2006)

6 Subway Line is Best, N is Worst in Straphangers Survey (NY Post, 08/11/2005)