Why Getting Rid Of the SAT Won’t Bring Equity To College Admissions: Here Is the Only Thing That Will
Accountability · achievement gap · admissions · student voices

Why Getting Rid Of the SAT Won’t Bring Equity To College Admissions: Here Is the Only Thing That Will

Gregory WickhamLeave a comment

Advocates for requiring SAT or ACT for college applications revere these tests as an admissions factor which only strongly favors wealthier students instead of overwhelmingly favoring wealthy students.  They don’t seem to realize that it’s college admissions officers who intentionally and systematically do the favoring. These admissions officers are the people who decide what characteristics… Continue reading Why Getting Rid Of the SAT Won’t Bring Equity To College Admissions: Here Is the Only Thing That Will

Recycled State Tests & Lies About In Person Learning: NYC Schools Plot Or Incompetence?
Accountability · achievement gap · coronavirus · DOE Fails · DOE incompetence · educational equity · NYC Parent Voices · NYC Schools Reopening

Recycled State Tests & Lies About In Person Learning: NYC Schools Plot Or Incompetence?

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

In July of 2020, I wrote a post called, It’s Not a Plot, It’s Incompetence: Is the NYC Department of Ed Deliberately Undermining Some Schools? After reviewing the conspiracy theories behind the disaster that was remote learning, the debacle that was Gifted & Talented, and the exit of several principles from top schools, I concluded:… Continue reading Recycled State Tests & Lies About In Person Learning: NYC Schools Plot Or Incompetence?

One Size CAN Fit All! A Student’s Take On School Choice
admissions · educational equity · School Choice · student voices · transferring schools

One Size CAN Fit All! A Student’s Take On School Choice

Gregory WickhamLeave a comment

School choice advocates see that a student may be faced with a situation where if a school is a bad fit, they’re stuck there anyway. They want to help students by making it so that if they don’t like it where they are, they can leave and take their government funding with them to any… Continue reading One Size CAN Fit All! A Student’s Take On School Choice

Should You Opt Your Child Into NYC State Tests? The Pros and Cons!
Accountability · achievement gap · admissions · remote learning

Should You Opt Your Child Into NYC State Tests? The Pros and Cons!

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

In a change from previous years, in 2021, New York City parents need to decide whether to opt their children in –rather than out — of the annual state tests. The deadline to sign up for 3rd through 8th grade English Language Arts (ELA) exams was April 15, and the deadline to sign up for… Continue reading Should You Opt Your Child Into NYC State Tests? The Pros and Cons!

Who Is Really Paying For NYC to Have “Free” Pre-K for 3 Year Olds?
DOE Fails · educational equity · NYC Schools · NYC Teacher · NYC Teacher Voices · School Budget · Teacher Voices · Teaching in NYC

Who Is Really Paying For NYC to Have “Free” Pre-K for 3 Year Olds?

Chloe PashmanLeave a comment

The recent “3K For All” expansion has once again been hailed as an altruistic “achievement” of the DeBlasio administration, and, of course, it is anything but.  “Chloe, how can you say that? Isn’t it a good thing that more children can go to school?” Absolutely! I think we all can agree on that. However, I… Continue reading Who Is Really Paying For NYC to Have “Free” Pre-K for 3 Year Olds?

NYC Parents Sound Off on 2021 Kindergarten Admissions: Your Most Commonly Asked Questions… Answered!
admissions · NYC Kindergarten · NYC Parent Voices · NYC School Admissions · Parents Helping Parents · School Choice · School Waitlists · transferring schools

NYC Parents Sound Off on 2021 Kindergarten Admissions: Your Most Commonly Asked Questions… Answered!

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

Early on the morning of April 8, families began emailing me to report that New York City’s parent portal was acting funny. General Ed Kindergarten results were appearing in the waitlisted section, then promptly disappearing. This is good news, I told them. Based on previous years, when results arrived via blank and garbled documents, this… Continue reading NYC Parents Sound Off on 2021 Kindergarten Admissions: Your Most Commonly Asked Questions… Answered!

How Carranza Could End Up Helping the Students of NYC After All!
Computer Science · coronavirus · NYC Schools · NYC Schools Reopening · remote learning

How Carranza Could End Up Helping the Students of NYC After All!

Alina Adams1 Comment

When Richard Carranza was the School Chancellor of New York City (April 2, 2018 – March 15, 2021), his repeatedly stated goal was to provide the exact same education to every single public school student in grades Pre-K through 12. That’s equity, his key professed value. He championed Computer Science… For All! (Despite not understanding… Continue reading How Carranza Could End Up Helping the Students of NYC After All!

Why Every School Should Be a Community School
Accountability · achievement gap · NYC Schools · student voices

Why Every School Should Be a Community School

Gregory WickhamLeave a comment

Every school in New York City should become a community school, because it is the right thing to do, and because it’s better for students. Community Schools, which I’ve described in depth here, are essentially schools which offer services beyond those of a typical school in order to meet a wider range of students’ needs.… Continue reading Why Every School Should Be a Community School

How Will NYC Schools Deal With Learning Loss…. Amidst Claims None Happened?
Accountability · achievement gap · coronavirus · NYC Schools · remote learning · UFT

How Will NYC Schools Deal With Learning Loss…. Amidst Claims None Happened?

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

Last week, we asked parents to weigh in on how New York City schools should spend the federal relief money coming our way. On Wednesday, March  24, 2021, President Joe Biden urged districts to use the funds to open all schools. However, according to the White House’s parameters, “all” schools are already “open.”  The federal… Continue reading How Will NYC Schools Deal With Learning Loss…. Amidst Claims None Happened?

Understanding NYC’s Community School, Renewal, Rise Programs
Accountability · achievement gap · educational equity · NYC Schools · student voices

Understanding NYC’s Community School, Renewal, Rise Programs

Gregory WickhamLeave a comment

Community Schools are a small step in the right direction for New York City and for education as a whole. They have the potential to empower communities to support their own children using their own resources in their own ways. To understand why this is, though, requires understanding what Community Schools are right now, which… Continue reading Understanding NYC’s Community School, Renewal, Rise Programs