“How’m I doin’?” Ed Koch used to ask, when taking the temperature of the Gotham electorate. How are you doing, Mayor de Blasio, specifically regarding New York City traditional public schools’ showing in the just-released “gold standard” assessment called NAEP, short for the “National Assessment of Education Progress”? Don’t ask. Or, more productively, let’s dig… Continue reading How Are De Blasio’s School Improvement Plans Doin’? Some Answers from NAEP
A colleague of mine and I were talking a few weeks ago and he mentioned something to me to which I’d previously not given much thought. He, a Black male educator, stated that Black children need more exposure to Black teachers as early in their academic careers as possible in order to give them a… Continue reading Having A Black Teacher Gives Black Students A Better Shot At Success
An under-utilized resource exists in schools and, shamefully, it’s not valued. That’s a mistake and detrimental to effective teaching and learning. Trendsetters are hailed with blazoned empowerment in our schools. I’m changing that narrative and shifting the perspective.The high level of competency required to organize information and give others a chance to have access to… Continue reading Cease the Chatter and Recognize that School Librarians Matter!
(This is a guest post by Megan Clark, a NYC resident who formerly served as the Director of Development at Pencils of Promise, an innovative “for purpose” nonprofit organization providing quality education in the developing world. She is currently CEO of Clark, a virtual assistant for tutors.) While there are many factors that can affect a… Continue reading Why We Need to Prioritize Tutoring for All Students
This is a guest post by Lisa Petgrave-Nelson, a graduate of Adelphi University’s School of Social Work. She is a licensed master social worker and a certified health coach. Lisa enjoys spending time with her family, cooking and nature photography. I grew up in St. Albans, Queens and attended Andrew Jackson High School in the early… Continue reading Am I Making The Right Choice to Raise My Children in a Segregated School District?
The New York State Department of Education is in the final throes of tweaking its plan for complying with America’s new school education law called the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). In this brave new world of bloated state control and anorexic federal oversight, parents are increasingly dependent on their state’s commitment to honest and… Continue reading How Honest Is New York State’s Public Education Plan?
Here I am again in the corner of a hallway at KIPP Infinity Charter School in Harlem, tip-tapping away. As I look into the eyes of the children passing by, throwing up the peace sign to me and each other, I get flushed because their innocence is being passed over by forces that threaten us.… Continue reading I Just Saw “Birth of a Nation” and Realized We Are Still Fighting to Be Free
Of the 329 schools designated by the United States Department of Education as 2016 “Blue Ribbon Schools” for superlative success in closing the achievement gap and maintaining high standards, ten are located in New York City. One is the K-8 Excellence Girls Charter School on the border of Bed-Stuy and Bushwick, one of only three… Continue reading Do Single-Sex Schools Hurt or Help Students?
