It will take more than new language or better lessons. Who’s teaching, who’s learning and the very nature of how social studies are taught and tested are also in play.
But with desegregation an increasingly urgent goal, how long will it last?
It is clear that most students get on – or off – the track to go to a specialized high school long before they sit down to take the SHSAT in September of 8th grade. See how the middle schools rank.
Many argue that policy choices helped segregate our schools, and new and different policy choices are needed to integrate them.
Critics target the city’s eight specialized schools for using a single test to determine who gets to enter. But other selective public high-schools use a confusing mix of admissions policies that raise their own questions about transparency and fairness.
It's well known that wealthy kids outperform poor kids in school, but now the rich are also pulling away from middle-class students. Why? And is class or race the key factor in how NYC school kids perform?
How did income inequality become a driving issue in the 2013 race? What do the candidates actually propose to do about it? Would any of their ideas really work?
The DOE is planting seeds for charters to expand in city schools even after Mayor Bloomberg leaves office. But some of the new resources will only be open to those who won charter lotteries in the early grades.
The lavish last hurrah featured an hour-long riff on the Tonight Show, news of a new Coney Island concert arena and a scatological shot at the press.
The borough president famously erected signs declaring “How Sweet It Is!” to be in Brooklyn. Was there substance—and success—behind the shtick?