New York City

You Get a Grant and You Get a Grant and You Get a Grant! NYC Mandates All Districts Must Have a Diversity Plan
Blog · New York City

You Get a Grant and You Get a Grant and You Get a Grant! NYC Mandates All Districts Must Have a Diversity Plan

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

Last week, I reported on one national and one statewide proposal to improve America’s educational outcomes post the depressing results from the National Assessment of Education Progress (NEAP) report card. This week, we look at what’s being considered on the local level. In New York City, improving outcomes for over one million schoolchildren does not… Continue reading You Get a Grant and You Get a Grant and You Get a Grant! NYC Mandates All Districts Must Have a Diversity Plan

The Apollo Video Oral History Project
Blog · New York City

The Apollo Video Oral History Project

Glenn MasonLeave a comment

I’ve taken great pride in creating an African American Studies course for my school that explored not simply African American History, but African Americans through the lens of history, the arts, and culture. Gearing up for my third year of teaching this class, I was notified that I was going to teach Latin American Studies… Continue reading The Apollo Video Oral History Project

Don’t stop them now! Students can learn more than you think
New York City

Don’t stop them now! Students can learn more than you think

Gregory WickhamLeave a comment

Computers are fast and stupid, people are slow and clever. This is an axiom that anybody who works with computers must accept in order that computers and people may cooperate effectively. Yet, schools seem to ask students to do tasks to which computers are much better suited, and then let them graduate without ever having… Continue reading Don’t stop them now! Students can learn more than you think

It’s About Time: Education’s Latest Magic Bullets
New York City

It’s About Time: Education’s Latest Magic Bullets

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

A pair of structural changes, one statewide, one nationwide, have been introduced as part of the ongoing hunt for that magic bullet to cure America’s learning woes. And not a moment too soon. The 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reports came out last month. Nationwide, on average, math scores went up for 4th… Continue reading It’s About Time: Education’s Latest Magic Bullets

School Choice Goes to the Movies: The Sequel!
Blog · Finding the Right School · New York City · School Choice

School Choice Goes to the Movies: The Sequel!

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

Just in time for Democratic Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren to unveil her education plan severely limiting school options for low-income families, and the release of 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress test scores in math and English (spoiler: New York City stayed flat overall and went down in math), comes Miss Virginia, a movie about… Continue reading School Choice Goes to the Movies: The Sequel!

The Spooky Case Of the Mysterious, Missing SHSAT Tickets: Parents Sound Off On Department Of Education Incompetence (Part #3)
Accountability · Blog · Finding the Right School · New York City · School Choice

The Spooky Case Of the Mysterious, Missing SHSAT Tickets: Parents Sound Off On Department Of Education Incompetence (Part #3)

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

In late 2018, the New York City Department Of Education (DOE) unveiled their brand new, online Parent Portal, MySchools, which was supposed to make applying to all levels of the school system — Universal Pre-K, Kindergarten, Gifted & Talented, Middle and High School — more streamlined, efficient, and convenient. In 2019, some parents couldn’t register.… Continue reading The Spooky Case Of the Mysterious, Missing SHSAT Tickets: Parents Sound Off On Department Of Education Incompetence (Part #3)

Ditch “Gifted” Testing & Accelerate Any Child Who Wants It? NYC Parents Weigh In!
Finding the Right School · New York City · School Choice

Ditch “Gifted” Testing & Accelerate Any Child Who Wants It? NYC Parents Weigh In!

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

Earlier this month, I offered A Modest Proposal for Turning NYC School Admissions Upside Down – & Letting Parents Decide the Education They Want For Their Kids. The gist of it boiled down to: What if … A computer algorithm more sophisticated than the one in use now aggregated students by interest and location to… Continue reading Ditch “Gifted” Testing & Accelerate Any Child Who Wants It? NYC Parents Weigh In!

Don’t Just Complain: Say Something!
New York City

Don’t Just Complain: Say Something!

Laura WatersLeave a comment

Do you have something to say — complain, praise, probe — about New York City public schools? Now’s your chance!  Each year, all parents, teachers, and students in grades 6-12 have the opportunity to take the NYC School Survey. The survey is aligned to the DOE’s Framework for Great Schools and designed to collect important information about… Continue reading Don’t Just Complain: Say Something!

A Different Kind of Integration: Bringing Students With Mental Health Challenges Into Our School and Watching Them Thrive
New York City

A Different Kind of Integration: Bringing Students With Mental Health Challenges Into Our School and Watching Them Thrive

Dirk TillotsonLeave a comment

I have written about John W. Lavelle Prep Charter in Staten Island before. I helped start it as a middle school, built on the crazy idea that you must integrate students with mental health challenges with the general population for them to be successful. Mind you, these students tend to have the highest dropout rate of… Continue reading A Different Kind of Integration: Bringing Students With Mental Health Challenges Into Our School and Watching Them Thrive

In Speech, Mayor de Blasio Gives Short Shrift to School Improvement; Curtains for Chancellor Fariña?
New York City · State Legislature

In Speech, Mayor de Blasio Gives Short Shrift to School Improvement; Curtains for Chancellor Fariña?

Laura WatersLeave a comment

In today’s New York Times, Kate Taylor reports on NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s State of the City speech and his curiously scant discussion of his  Renewal Schools Program. As I’ve reported before (see here,  here, and here),  the program’s outcomes are lackluster at best, yet the Mayor has trumpeted his plan as a panacea… Continue reading In Speech, Mayor de Blasio Gives Short Shrift to School Improvement; Curtains for Chancellor Fariña?