(This is a guest post by Violet Stevens, a 44-year-old mom of four living in the Bronx, New York City. Her youngest child, Niko, is on the spectrum. She has two passions, autism awareness and God. It was originally published at Education Post.) At 5, my son, Niko, was still in diapers. He didn’t know… Continue reading My Son Has Autism and This School Taught Him to Say ‘Mom’
Hundreds of public school parents joined education reform organization StudentsFirstNY and other advocates on the steps of City Hall today to urge new Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza to hit the reset button on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s failing education agenda. The parents want Carranza to deviate from the path laid out by former Chancellor Fariña and… Continue reading Parents to Chancellor Carranza: “It’s Time to Hit the Reset Button on Mayor de Blasio’s Failing Education Agenda”
(This post is by Sam Radford, president of the Buffalo Schools District Parent Coordinating Council and a member of the High Achievement New York coalition. It was originally published in the Buffalo News.) Most people are familiar with the “opt-out” effort, a group that encourages parents to withdraw their children from annual state assessments in Math… Continue reading Low-Income Communities Say Yes to the Test Because Knowledge is Power!
(Glenn Mason is a former CPA who spent over 25 years in a variety of roles in corporate America. He is presently a New York City public high school teacher. This is in his twelfth academic year in his newfound career and his second guest post with New York School Talk. Glenn’s first post is… Continue reading When My Kids Cry out, “Yo, Mister! Connect the dots!” I Know I’m Doing My Job
(Glenn Mason is a former CPA who spent over 25 years in a variety of roles in corporate America. He is presently a New York City public high school teacher. This is in his twelfth academic year in his newfound career.) “Sorry, come on up to the board and solve the next equation,” Mr. Edwards… Continue reading “Ms. Thang, Will You Read the Next Section?”: A Teacher Learns How to Motivate Students
(Alexandra Cohl is an academic and creative writer who is currently an MA English Literature candidate at The City College of New York. She is also a writing instructor to writers ages 6-18 and professional development program leader for in-school teachers at Writopia Lab, a national literacy nonprofit. Her fiction can be read in Luna… Continue reading Encouraging the Absurd or Uncomfortable: The Power of Validating Student Ideas
(This is a guest post by NYC resident Megan O’Connor, the CEO of Clark, a mobile tool for tutors and administrative software solution for tutoring centers.) With testing standards constantly changing, traditional grading systems being called into question, and policy changes affecting the way that classrooms are being run, it’s an increasingly difficult time for parents,… Continue reading The Importance of Transparency in Education
High school juniors are now in full swing of their college search. Yet even in earlier grades college is on the radar for parents and students. With ever increasing competition, as evidenced by the continually decreasing acceptance rates at colleges, more and more families are beginning the college journey in sophomore year. The extra time… Continue reading Is Your Child a High School Freshman or Sophomore? It’s Not Too Early To Think About College!
(This is a guest post by Pete Cook which originally appeared on his blog, “Retort: Correcting the Record on Education Reform.” Pete became involved in education reform in New Orleans Public Schools as a 2002 Teach For America corps member and has worked in various capacities at Teach For America, KIPP, TNTP and the Recovery School District.)… Continue reading A “Polite Cousin” of Hypocrisy
Mayor tacitly acknowledges failure of his Renewal Schools program with the announcement of 14 new school closures. (This is a guest post by Pete Cook which originally appeared in his new blog, “Retort: Correcting the Record on Education Reform.” Pete became involved in education reform in New Orleans Public Schools as a 2002 Teach For America… Continue reading Bill de Blasio Goes Full Bloomberg
