College and Career Ready

New York State Has a New Education Plan: What Will It Mean For You and Your Kids?
Accountability

New York State Has a New Education Plan: What Will It Mean For You and Your Kids?

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

Last Monday, September 11, 2017, New York State submitted its revised Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Plan to the federal government for approval. The document includes slight tweaks to the standards for Math and English and shorter tests, a change to the way teachers are assessed and certified, and more emphasis on “student growth.” It’s full… Continue reading New York State Has a New Education Plan: What Will It Mean For You and Your Kids?

New York State is Understaffing High School Guidance Departments: What Can Parents Do?
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New York State is Understaffing High School Guidance Departments: What Can Parents Do?

Tina PosterliLeave a comment

Guidance counselors are an important resources to students, especially during the crucial junior and senior years of high school. Guiding and advising students about the college preparation and application process and the almighty question of “how to pay for it,” are invaluable services. The true significance of counseling has just begun to dawn on me,… Continue reading New York State is Understaffing High School Guidance Departments: What Can Parents Do?

Why I Make My Son Study For the “Ridiculous” SHSAT
Finding the Right School · School Choice

Why I Make My Son Study For the “Ridiculous” SHSAT

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

My older son graduated from a New York City Specialized High-School this June. Now it’s my younger one’s turn to prep for the qualifying Specialized High-School Admissions Test (SHSAT). “You realize how ridiculous this is,” my 13 year-old posited after taking yet another practice test from one of the many books we’ve purchased for the… Continue reading Why I Make My Son Study For the “Ridiculous” SHSAT

This Long Island Parent Asks, Is My Daughter’s School Preparing Her For College?
Accountability · Blog

This Long Island Parent Asks, Is My Daughter’s School Preparing Her For College?

Tina PosterliLeave a comment

As the mother of a daughter who will be entering the 11th grade this fall in a Long Island, New York public high school, my summer months  have been consumed with thoughts about these final two years and if they will truly prepare her for the transition to college. While the testing has become more… Continue reading This Long Island Parent Asks, Is My Daughter’s School Preparing Her For College?

Changes in Chicago’s Educational Policy Set Off Alarms For This New York City Public School Teacher!
Accountability · Blog

Changes in Chicago’s Educational Policy Set Off Alarms For This New York City Public School Teacher!

Vivett DukesLeave a comment

New York City public high school students recently dodged a policy bullet that just struck Chicago’s public schools. According to the Washington Post, To graduate from a public high school in Chicago, students will soon have to meet a new and unusual requirement: They must show that they’ve secured a job or received a letter of… Continue reading Changes in Chicago’s Educational Policy Set Off Alarms For This New York City Public School Teacher!

From Dream to Reality: The Entire Class at this Brooklyn Charter School Is Going to College!
Finding the Right School · School Choice

From Dream to Reality: The Entire Class at this Brooklyn Charter School Is Going to College!

Laura Waters1 Comment

Kiara Damon first started thinking about college when she entered fifth grade at Williamsburg Collegiate Middle School, a Brooklyn charter school run by the Uncommon Schools network. “It was always college, college, college,” Kiara said. “We were always the class of 2021, not the class of 2017.” Kira was one of 87 graduating seniors from… Continue reading From Dream to Reality: The Entire Class at this Brooklyn Charter School Is Going to College!

Graduation Season Is Upon Us
Accountability · Blog

Graduation Season Is Upon Us

Vivett DukesLeave a comment

As I scroll through my social media news feed, I am so excited to see all the graduates. From Pre-K to eighth-grade, from high-school to college and beyond, each graduation is momentous and marks an educational milestone for not only the graduates and their loved ones, but for their teachers as well. Graduation season, for… Continue reading Graduation Season Is Upon Us

Why Do Community Colleges Have Such a Bad Rep?
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Why Do Community Colleges Have Such a Bad Rep?

Vivett DukesLeave a comment

Across schools throughout the City, bulletin boards proudly display colleges and universities that high school seniors will be attending in the fall. It is commonplace for teachers, students, and visitors to view these boards and comment on the fine schools into which students have been accepted. Recently, I was viewing one such board with a… Continue reading Why Do Community Colleges Have Such a Bad Rep?

NYC Announces Universal Pre-Kindergarten for Three-Year-Olds Despite Lack of Space, Qualified Teachers, Or Results
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NYC Announces Universal Pre-Kindergarten for Three-Year-Olds Despite Lack of Space, Qualified Teachers, Or Results

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

On April 24, 2017, as East Side parents were planning a march to protest their children being sent to Universal pre-Kindergarten classrooms multiple blocks away, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio trumpeted the following: New York City is starting the path to 3-K for All for fall of 2017, aiming to serve over 11,000… Continue reading NYC Announces Universal Pre-Kindergarten for Three-Year-Olds Despite Lack of Space, Qualified Teachers, Or Results

“There Are Black Women Like Me Doing That Kind of Work”: Brooklyn Charter Students Impress College Recruiters
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“There Are Black Women Like Me Doing That Kind of Work”: Brooklyn Charter Students Impress College Recruiters

Laura WatersLeave a comment

Nearly 100 colleges participated in a career fair in Brooklyn this week, illustrating the growing influence that high-performing charter schools are having on college admissions in New York. That many colleges at one fair at a school is not atypical for magnet schools like Stuyvesant High School or Hunter College High School. But what was… Continue reading “There Are Black Women Like Me Doing That Kind of Work”: Brooklyn Charter Students Impress College Recruiters