I give up. New York City School Chancellor Richard Carranza has decreed that the most important issue facing our public high schools isn’t that close to 80% of students aren’t graduating college-ready, SAT scores are well below the national average, or there’s a lack of access to Advanced Placement (AP) classes. No, according to the… Continue reading 3 Things NYC Can Do TODAY To Integrate Public High Schools!
When I give my Getting Into NYC Kindergarten workshops to community organizations, I explain the differences between New York City’s two types of Gifted & Talented programs. The five Citywide G&T’s are Accelerated. That means that, because there is no such thing as a G&T curriculum, these schools take the standard NYC school curriculum and… Continue reading What’s “Enrichment,” Anyway? Can It Really Replace Gifted & Talented Programs?
(This was first published at Education Post.) If we have really well-prepared young people who are going to the exact college they want to go to, who will graduate from college within six years with little to no debt and who are willing to take over the dining hall and stage a protest or to… Continue reading “I Want to Talk About Better Academic and Life Outcomes for Black and Brown Kids. Period.”
The New York Times reports that “[a] group of selective schools and programs geared to students labeled gifted and talented is filled mostly with white and Asian children,” even though the vast majority of the 1.1 million students in New York City are Black and Latinx. And so a “high-level panel appointed by Mayor Bill… Continue reading NYC’s Gifted and Talented Programs Need Accessibility, Not Elimination.
On Tuesday, August 27, 2019, New York City’s School Diversity Advisory Group released a proposal that formally called for the closing of all Gifted & Talented programs and Screened schools. Not included in the report was Hunter College Elementary and High School, the most coveted NYC gifted school of them all. Full disclosure: My husband… Continue reading Calls For Closing All NYC Gifted & Talented/Screened Schools – Where Does Hunter Fit In?
New York City released elementary school test scores for the 2018-19 school year on Thursday, August 22, 2019. In the past, I’ve listed the Top 10 Schools by Test Scores for 2017, and the Top 25 Schools by Test Scores for 2018. While there is some juggling for placement every year, the top-scoring schools tend… Continue reading 10 NYC Public Schools Which Went Up In Test Scores in 2019 — And 10 That Went Down.
New York City public schools suffer from a variety of ills: Over 50 percent of high school students graduate non-college ready and unable to pass CUNY’s placement test, requiring remediation before they can begin earning credit. Over 80% of African-American 7th graders cannot do math at grade level. Even at the “best” General Ed schools,… Continue reading Should the NYC Department of Education Be In Charge of Private Schools Too?
In Thursday’s post, I indicated that racism, bias, and discrimination are as much a part of our educational system in New York as they are in any other formal institution. Although some would like to quench the thirst of those — like me — who are eager to expose and eradicate the misery of this… Continue reading Lean In. The Disruption Has Begun.
When I speak to community organizations about Getting Into NYC High Schools, I stress that the summer between your child’s 7th and 8th grade year is the critical time to research all of your HS options, so that you can start the process of applying in September. The best tool to begin your research used… Continue reading Everything NYC Families Need To Know About Urban Assembly High Schools: Is One Right For Your Child?
This is a guest post by Alexander Russo, a longtime education writer, editor, and author. He is a recipient of the Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship at Columbia University, the author of Stray Dogs, Saints, and Saviors, a critically acclaimed book about the attempt to rescue a South Central Los Angeles high school, and the 2018… Continue reading Ben Chapman Reflects on Eight Years Covering NYC Schools
