Will They? On Saturday, April 11, 2020, New York City mayor Bill De Blasio announced that, due to Coronavirus, all school buildings will remain closed for the duration of the academic year, which is scheduled to end on June 26. Remote learning, however, will continue. A few hours later, NY governor Andrew Cuomo countered with… Continue reading Will NYC Students Have To Repeat a Grade? Can They? Should They?
This is a guest post by Dr. Anael Alston, who was born and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. “Dr. A” is currently the Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Access, Equity and Community Engagement in the New York State Education Department. “I am…” declared Michael D. Smith. “My Brother’s Keeper!” nearly 500 young men of color… Continue reading The My Brother’s Keeper Movement in New York State and the Audacious Goal of Success for All
One of my very best childhood friends who has known me since we were the same age of the students that I’ve taught over these years had a question for me. He asked, now that retirement has arrived, what were my goals when I first began teaching and did I meet these goals? An interesting… Continue reading Veteran Teacher Explains How He Went From A “Babe In the Woods” to “Developing a Clear Vision.”
New York City students completed taking their Regents exams last week, which led to a rather spirited discussion between my high school freshman and me as to whether Algebra 2, which my son passed at the end of 8th grade, should continue to be a graduation requirement or whether New York should get rid of… Continue reading Should New York Require Algebra 2 For Graduation? Answers from a NYC High School Student
Glenn Mason is a former CPA who spent over 25 years in a variety of roles in corporate America. He is presently a New York City public high school teacher. This is in his twelfth academic year in his newfound career and his fourth guest post with New York School Talk. “Mister, can I speak… Continue reading It’s The Two-Sided Teacher! Meet the Grizzly Bear and the Teddy Bear.
With a new school year underway, one of the major issues my school district will be tackling is one that is a growing problem across the United States, chronic absenteeism. Since the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act “fifth indicator” mandate of absenteeism, more and more states are tracking and reporting absences, and that is shedding… Continue reading Did You Know That 28 Percent of New York Students Are Chronically Absent? What’s The Solution?
Yesterday the De Blasio Administration announced that New York City’s new Chancellor will be Alberto Carvalho, most recently head of Florida’s Miami-Dade school district. A native of Portugal, Carvalho was once an undocumented immigrant who arrived in New York at age 17 speaking no English (he did speak French and Spanish) and started out as a… Continue reading What’s The Scoop on NYC’s New Chancellor? Answers Here.
It’s February of 2018 and public Kindergarten, Middle School and High School placements are due out in about a month (or two). In order to to convince families to stick with the system and ignore all their other options, the following are things the New York City Department of Education (DOE) would like you to… Continue reading Why Quantity Doesn’t Equal Quality In NYC Schools: So Where Is the Accountability?
I only had one Black teacher in my entire K-12 academic career. One. I graduated from Elmont Memorial High School (EMHS) on Long Island almost 25 years ago. I always brag about the quality education that I got there. It really was top-notch. The neighborhood in which we lived and attended school was culturally diverse.… Continue reading How Are These White Teachers At A Long Island High School Helping Black Kids Achieve Above- Average Graduation Rates?
Changes in Chicago’s Educational Policy Set Off Alarms For This New York City Public School Teacher!
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!
