A report he co-released today charges the Department of Education with inadequately communicating with parents about crucial school-closing and co-location decisions.
Service providers like that the city is moving away from group homes and institutional foster care. But they wonder if the money and policies are in place to make the changes work.
The Administration for Children’s Services is calling for a “do-over” of the process it undertook last year to implement a sea-change in child welfare policy.
Kindergarten teacher Alison Brackman of P.S. 230 in Kensington, Brooklyn, tells parents that there are two kinds of books: Meat-and-potatoes reads, which stay with you long after they’re finished, and potato-chip books – momentarily delicious, but utterly forgettable. Summer reading traditionally falls square into the potato-chip camp, but for readers still hungry for substance–especially with a focus on city schools–three recent books are worth a bite. Diane Ravitch’s The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education (Basic Books, 284 pp., $26.95) itemizes New York’s premier education historian’s evolution in school-reform thinking. Long before it was fashionable, Ravitch championed data-based accountability and national curriculum standards, as part of the (first) Bush and Clinton administrations. Yet now that the reform pendulum has swung hard to the accountability pole, Ravich’s book recants her earlier positions, with meticulous explanations of why her beliefs have shifted.
The state legislature’s eleventh-hour vote last month to expand New York’s charter schools will add 114 new charters to the 99 currently operating in New York City. But while the new law paves the way for new schools, and perhaps for millions in federal education funding, it doesn’t create new space for the new schools—or for the current charters, which are bursting at the seams as they add students, year by year.When a new school opens, it generally begins with one or two grades – typically, kindergarten and first – and “grows up the grades” over time, adding a new kindergarten cohort every year, as older children progress. This means that schools that aim to encompass K-8 begin small and eventually expand to a much greater size. City Department of Education (DOE) officials say that 62,500 students will attend charter schools this fall. But rough estimates by the New York City Charter School Center suggest that about 140,000 students may eventually attend charter schools in New York City, once all of the charters reach capacity.
The New York City Council passed a resolution this week unanimously endorsing the proposed School Turnaround Zone (STZ), a strategy designed to help struggling schools improve their performance and avoid closure. Developed by the parent-led Coalition for Educational Justice, the STZ would integrate school-improvement strategies with strong leadership, giving schools three years ‘in the zone’ to demonstrate progress.The STZ also has the support of Council speaker Christine Quinn and Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio. But the decision whether to adopt it ultimately rests with the Department of Education (DOE), which is independent of the City Council.If adopted, the STZ would represent a significant departure from the DOE’s current approach to struggling schools. To date, the DOE has closed 91 schools and is attempting to obtain court approval to shutter 19 more. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has met with education advocates to discuss the STZ proposal, and has referred the matter to Deputy Chancellor Marc Sternberg, says Megan Hester, spokesperson for the Council for Educational Justice.DOE spokesman Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld would not comment directly on the Council’s resolution.
In this op-ed, a writer calls for more disclosure on how New York State decides where to draw the line between “pass” and “fail” on the all-important standardized tests that students take.
Broccoli, cucumber, bell peppers, collard greens. Strawberries, blueberries, grapes and tomatoes; runner beans and basil, four big beds of jalapeno peppers. Worms and compost. Hip hop and capoiera. A cheeseburger cookout with all the trimmings: “We have enough food for everyone to eat here, and more,” says Nando Rodriguez as kids grab burgers, sliced pineapple and macaroni.
The reading abilities of New York City fourth graders are improving, according to the results of a national test released Thursday, but eighth graders’ scores remain virtually unchanged.Since 2002, the city’s fourth graders have posted steady, incremental gains on the test, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, with 12 percent more students now demonstrating at least a basic command of the skills tested. The biggest leaps occurred among New York’s neediest students, said New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein in a webcast earlier today, citing a 13-point gain in the mean test score for fourth-graders eligible for free lunch, most of whom are Black and Latino. Scores for white and Asian student remained relatively constant.Overall, the city’s mean scores still lag behind New York State’s mean scores, but the city performed better than many large urban school districts. Among the 11 large urban school districts that participated in the test in 2007 and 2009, New York City was one of four that showed fourth-grade gains. Additionally, New York City’s mean scores are catching up with the nation’s mean scores.During his webcast, Klein acknowledged that eighth grade achievement was “the largest challenge” and attributed the gains in fourth grade achievement to his reforms. The Department of Education has implemented changes that will allow each school to opt out of one-size-fits all citywide curricula.
The Harlem Children’s Zone wants to launch a school at a public housing development. But some tenants worry that their children’s needs won’t be met.
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