Surprising (or is it?) realization that the results of the state exams may not have been the grand success that the Bloomberg/Klein team made them out to be. Article from todays NY Times follows.
October 15, 2009, NY Times
U.S. Math Tests Find Scant Gains Across New York
By JENNIFER MEDINA
New York State’s fourth and eighth graders made no notable progress on federal math exams this year, according to test scores released on Wednesday, sharply contradicting the results of state-administered tests that showed record gains.
In state exams, 80 percent of eighth graders met learning standards in math this year, a jump from 59 percent two years ago. But judged by federal standards, only 34 percent were considered proficient, up from 30 percent in 2007. Fourth-grade students actually performed worse than in 2007.
Across the country, many states posted disappointing results, with fourth-grade students stagnant nationally for the first time in nearly two decades.
The results of the federal exam renewed criticism that the state exams have become too easy. The gulf between the state and federal exams also put Joel I. Klein, the New York City schools chancellor, in a difficult position, because he has staked much on the state exams, tying them to consequences like student, teacher and principal bonuses and the city’s A through F grading system for schools. And the results come at a politically potent time for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who is trying to ride his record on education, and test scores in particular, to a third term.
While the results of New York City’s performance on the federal exams will not be available for several weeks, in previous years they have tracked closely to New York State’s federal results.
There has long been a chasm between what the state tests and the federal tests, called the National Assessment of Educational Progress, deem proficient. But perhaps the most embarrassing aspect of the latest federal results for New York education officials was that they showed little or no improvement during two years in which the state was claiming huge jumps in student achievement.
The state’s Education Department renewed its promise to raise standards and ensure that the state tests include less predictable questions next year.
“It is clear to us that this gap cannot stay,” said Merryl H. Tisch, the chairwoman of the state’s Board of Regents, who added that she considered the national exam the “gold standard” that did a better job of measuring overall student achievement. “We are going to start to address that this year and we are going to make the state tests more transparent and more truthful.”
David Steiner, the state education commissioner, said he was “particularly concerned by the tragically stubborn gaps” between black and Hispanic students and their white and Asian counterparts. According to the federal exam, 50 percent of white fourth graders are proficient in math, compared with 25 percent of Hispanics and 19 percent of blacks, contradicting results from state tests showing a significantly smaller gap.
“What this amounts to is a fraud,” said Diane Ravitch, an education historian who has been one of the most vocal critics of both the state exams and Mr. Klein. “This is a documentation of persistent dumbing down by the State Education Department and lying to the public.”
Christopher Cerf, a former deputy chancellor at the Department of Education, who is now advising the mayor’s campaign and spoke on its behalf, said that when the New York City numbers become public, they could show that city students outperformed their peers in the rest of the state.
“It would be impossible to draw any conclusions about New York City’s progress at this point,” Mr. Cerf said.
The federal exam, which is given every two years, uses what it calls a representative sampling of students. In New York, roughly 4,050 of the state’s fourth graders were tested, while nearly 198,000 students took the state test, which is given every year. In the eighth grade, about 3,800 students were tested on the national test, compared with 209,000 on the state exam. The state also tests grades three, five, six and seven every year.
The federal results for English tests are not expected to be released until the spring.
Critics of the state tests have said that they measure a narrow slice of the curriculum. And under state law, tests from previous years are publicly available, allowing teachers to give students many practice tests and predict what kinds of questions will be asked. The federal exam, on the other hand, does not encourage such preparation, in part because there are no consequences for teachers or schools if students do not perform well.
Mr. Klein said that the city has no choice other than to use the state exam to reward and penalize schools, because it is the only test that measures all city students. And he said that eighth-grade scores on the tests are reliable predictors of whether a student will graduate from high school. “This doesn’t in any way undermine what we’ve accomplished here,” he said.
In 2007, only 34 percent of New York City’s fourth graders and 22 percent of eighth graders were considered proficient on the federal math exam. On the state exam that year, those numbers were 74 percent and 46 percent, respectively.
The city made huge gains on the state math exams in 2009, with 85 percent of fourth graders and 71 percent of eighth graders passing.
“I have said many, many times that we should raise the bar,” Mr. Klein said. “The state’s definition of proficiency needs to be tethered to a more demanding standard.”
But in a show of the politics involving test scores, a spokeswoman for William C. Thompson Jr., the Democratic candidate for mayor, called the Bloomberg administration the “Madoff of the American education system” and a “national disgrace.”
“Bloomberg’s D.O.E. has systemically lied about test scores, graduation rates and dropout rates,” the spokeswoman, Anne Fenton, said in a statement. “Our children deserve a quality education; instead, they have become pawns in Mike Bloomberg’s 200-plus million-dollar public relations campaign to rewrite history.”
Defending the mayor and the city’s school system, Mr. Cerf, the Bloomberg campaign adviser, said that there were important differences in scope and content between the state and federal tests. And he and Mr. Klein noted that the even the federal No Child Left Behind law uses state tests to measure schools’ performance.
Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, the city teachers’ union, said the federal results showed that the state tests were not reliable yardsticks.
“We’ve designed a school system that is just test-taking prep, and we have teachers saying, ‘I know I am not teaching children what they need to learn,’ ” he said.
Michael Barbaro and Robert Gebeloff contributed reporting
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Teaching Tolerance Newsletter
September 3, 2009
The Teaching Diverse Students Initiative Teaching Tolerance has just launched a new online initiative to help you improve the quality of instruction experienced by racially and ethnically diverse students. Take a look at the tools we have to offer. Reaching Students Where They AreCulturally Relevant Teaching: Beyond the Basics
In Teaching Tolerance MagazineSee our new approach to Mix It Up at Lunch Day - and get on the map before Nov. 10, 2009! No time for traditional parent-teacher meetings? Grassroots organizing gets marginalized parents involved.Students with learning disabilities tell their stories.
¡Sí, se puede!Yes, you can order our teaching kit, Viva La Causa, for FREE.
Forward This to Your Colleagues!Did you receive this email from a colleague? Sign up for your own FREE e-newsletter subscription here.
We welcome your feedback.You can reach us onlineor by mail:Teaching Tolerancec/o Southern Poverty Law Center400 Washington Ave.Montgomery, AL 36104
The Teaching Diverse Students Initiative Teaching Tolerance has just launched a new online initiative to help you improve the quality of instruction experienced by racially and ethnically diverse students. Take a look at the tools we have to offer. Reaching Students Where They AreCulturally Relevant Teaching: Beyond the Basics
In Teaching Tolerance MagazineSee our new approach to Mix It Up at Lunch Day - and get on the map before Nov. 10, 2009! No time for traditional parent-teacher meetings? Grassroots organizing gets marginalized parents involved.Students with learning disabilities tell their stories.
¡Sí, se puede!Yes, you can order our teaching kit, Viva La Causa, for FREE.
Forward This to Your Colleagues!Did you receive this email from a colleague? Sign up for your own FREE e-newsletter subscription here.
We welcome your feedback.You can reach us onlineor by mail:Teaching Tolerancec/o Southern Poverty Law Center400 Washington Ave.Montgomery, AL 36104
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Charter School Invaision
There has been a lot going on this summer regarding charter schools. They are schools that are paid for with public money but according to the NY State Charter School Act of 1998, they are exempt from most "state and local laws, rules, regulations or policies governing public or private schools, boards of education and school districts.." Currently there are 82 charter schools in NYC, many in Brooklyn. Eighteen more have been approved to open this fall. By privatizing and outsoucing public education, charter schools are dividing communities in New York City and around the country. Access to a high quality public education is not something that should be won in a lottery- it is a basic human and civil right that all children deserve.
The 4.3 billion "Race To the Top" Fund recently outlined by the Obama administration will further expand this privatization of our schools. Following is an article written by Diane Ravitch which paints a clear picture of these issues.
Diane Ravitch, Historian of education, NYU and Brookings:
Someday when the history of the Obama administration is written, perhaps we will then understand why this President, who came to Washington as an agent of change, so fully embraced Republican ideas about education.Because of the economic crisis, the administration won a staggering amount of money--$100 billion-- to help the nation's schools weather the downturn in tax revenues. Most of that money went to the schools, as was intended. But $4.3 Billion was set aside for "innovation" and "reform."This unprecedented amount of discretionary money has been deemed the "Race to the Top" fund. The Secretary of Education has issued regulations that set forth specific criteria that states must comply with if they expect to win a share of the prize. They must remove any legal restrictions on the number of charter schools in their states. And they must remove any laws that prevent the state from connecting teacher evaluations to student test scores.This agenda is not evidence-based. It is a reflection of the GOP agenda of choice and accountability. There is no evidence that charter schools are unfailingly better than regular public schools, and there is no evidence that schools get better if teacher evaluations are based on student test scores.
In my forthcoming book (The Death and Life of the Great American School System), I show the origins of these ideas. They are an attempt to impose privatization on the schools and to use inappropriate business techniques in judging teachers.What we do know from research and experience is that charter schools vary wildly in quality, from excellent to awful, and that on average they are not superior to regular public schools. We also know from research on teacher effectiveness that a teacher whose classes get high test scores one year may not get them the next year, because of variations among the students in the classes.In short, the administration is on the wrong track. It is now imposing "solutions" that will solve nothing. And sadly a huge amount of money intended to help and support our schools will enrich edu-entrepreneurs and do little or nothing to help our schools and our children.----------------------------------Obama's Awful Education PlanBy Diane RavitchPosted: August 23, 2009 10:22 AM
The 4.3 billion "Race To the Top" Fund recently outlined by the Obama administration will further expand this privatization of our schools. Following is an article written by Diane Ravitch which paints a clear picture of these issues.
Diane Ravitch, Historian of education, NYU and Brookings:
Someday when the history of the Obama administration is written, perhaps we will then understand why this President, who came to Washington as an agent of change, so fully embraced Republican ideas about education.Because of the economic crisis, the administration won a staggering amount of money--$100 billion-- to help the nation's schools weather the downturn in tax revenues. Most of that money went to the schools, as was intended. But $4.3 Billion was set aside for "innovation" and "reform."This unprecedented amount of discretionary money has been deemed the "Race to the Top" fund. The Secretary of Education has issued regulations that set forth specific criteria that states must comply with if they expect to win a share of the prize. They must remove any legal restrictions on the number of charter schools in their states. And they must remove any laws that prevent the state from connecting teacher evaluations to student test scores.This agenda is not evidence-based. It is a reflection of the GOP agenda of choice and accountability. There is no evidence that charter schools are unfailingly better than regular public schools, and there is no evidence that schools get better if teacher evaluations are based on student test scores.
In my forthcoming book (The Death and Life of the Great American School System), I show the origins of these ideas. They are an attempt to impose privatization on the schools and to use inappropriate business techniques in judging teachers.What we do know from research and experience is that charter schools vary wildly in quality, from excellent to awful, and that on average they are not superior to regular public schools. We also know from research on teacher effectiveness that a teacher whose classes get high test scores one year may not get them the next year, because of variations among the students in the classes.In short, the administration is on the wrong track. It is now imposing "solutions" that will solve nothing. And sadly a huge amount of money intended to help and support our schools will enrich edu-entrepreneurs and do little or nothing to help our schools and our children.----------------------------------Obama's Awful Education PlanBy Diane RavitchPosted: August 23, 2009 10:22 AM
Let's think of some more ways to evaluate teachers!
The DOE has teamed up with the Gates Foundatin to create a new way to evaluate teachers and they are asking for volunteers to participate in this experiment. The UFT is also involved. I'm not sure yet what I think about this but there is some compensation involved, in case anyone is interested. Here's a link to the article in the New York Times followed by the letter sent out by the DOE and the UFT.
How Should Teachers be Evaluated?
September 1, 2009
Dear Colleagues,
The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and the Department of Education (DOE) are looking for volunteers to participate in a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation study to help develop fair, accurate, and useful guides to what really makes effective teaching and learning. This two-year research study is premised on the principle that good teaching is multi-dimensional, and that teachers and their schools need consistent and reliable information in order to identify and support good teaching.
Both the United Federation of Teachers and the Department of Education will be collaborating with independent researchers on this project because we all recognize that the work of teachers must be measured in ways that are fair and valid. Nationally, current measures of teaching rarely take into account the full range of what teachers do (no single measure really can), or the context in which they teach. The Measures of Effective Teaching project, on the other hand, begins right in the classroom and will explore a broad array of teacher measures: video observations, surveys, and student growth. It will compare these measures to each other, and to nationally recognized standards, and it will look at their inter-relatedness. It will be informed by actual teacher practice.
In other words, the real work of real teachers in real classrooms will be central to every aspect of this project. That’s why both the UFT and the DOE have looked forward to working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: we want to support student achievement with solid research based on what our teachers do in class.
To that end, together, we are inviting eligible teachers to join us in this project. Participation is completely voluntary, and those teachers who volunteer will be allowing Gates-funded researchers to collect information about their teaching from a broad variety of sources in order to answer two basic questions: what is our common understanding of the teaching and learning process, and how do we measure it consistently? To answer these questions, researchers will video classrooms; collect surveys from participating teachers and students; assess teacher knowledge of content and pedagogy through a brief test; and collect information on student academic growth through specially administered standardized tests. Researchers will look at the videos through the lens of several different sets of nationally recognized teaching standards to see which work best. And, teachers will also provide their own reflections on the lessons that have been videotaped.
As you can see, Gates hopes to capture the full range of what teachers do by gathering multiple sources of information, including information on the context in which the teachers teach. The goal is to use this information to create multiple, reliable measures of good teaching.
And that is important to all of us. We all know that teachers teach best when they know what the standards are for their teaching, have been supported in reaching those standards, and feel assured that no single, snapshot measure will determine the course of their career. If you volunteer, you will be joining us in a project that will help us understand what works when it comes to assessing teachers. We hope this will lead to fairer guides for all of us, and raise the level of achievement in our schools.
To acknowledge their contribution over the course of the two years, teachers will receive a $1,500 stipend. And of course, they will also have access to their own videos as well as student test results.
Finally, let us say clearly at the outset: this is a research project, and it assures full confidentiality to the teachers who volunteer. That means that principals and other DOE employees will not receive copies of your videos, surveys, or assessments. And, teachers will be able to opt out of the program at any time. This project is not about the evaluation of the 1,000 teachers we hope will join us, and it cannot be used by the DOE to evaluate them; rather it is about evaluating the multiple evaluation measures that are used across the country in order to ensure that they are fair, transparent, and consistent. Schools need a better understanding of these measures. To that end, the researchers do hope to share aggregated data with the central DOE and the union, which could prove helpful in supporting teachers.
Schools and teachers will have opportunities to learn more about this study in the coming weeks through borough meetings and other communications. More information, including important details about which schools and teachers are eligible and the requirements of the study, can be found at the DOE Web site.
We hope you will join us in this project; it may turn out to be among the most meaningful projects of your career. And, thank you, as always, for your work on behalf of our students.
Sincerely,
Joel I. Klein
Michael Mulgrew
Chancellor
UFT President
Friday, July 31, 2009
Teachers Choice for 2009-2010
I just received this information:
The Teacher’s Choice allocations are as follows:
$150 for all teachers;
$100 for social workers, school psychologists and guidance counselors;
$50 for school secretaries; and
$75 for lab specialists.
The purchasing period runs from Aug. 1, 2009 through March 15, 2010. You must save your receipts.
Everyone eligible to participate in the Teacher’s Choice program will receive a separate allocation from the DOE in December to cover purchases made anywhere – as long as the purchases are for appropriate educational materials for use in a classroom or other professional assignment.
Remember that unreimbursed spending on school supplies is also tax-deductible.
Also take advantage of Staples’ Teacher Appreciation Day on August 19 in Manhattan Staples stores and August 22 in stores in the other four boroughs. The first 100 teachers in each store receive a free gift bag while supplies last. Go here for details.
The Teacher’s Choice allocations are as follows:
$150 for all teachers;
$100 for social workers, school psychologists and guidance counselors;
$50 for school secretaries; and
$75 for lab specialists.
The purchasing period runs from Aug. 1, 2009 through March 15, 2010. You must save your receipts.
Everyone eligible to participate in the Teacher’s Choice program will receive a separate allocation from the DOE in December to cover purchases made anywhere – as long as the purchases are for appropriate educational materials for use in a classroom or other professional assignment.
Remember that unreimbursed spending on school supplies is also tax-deductible.
Also take advantage of Staples’ Teacher Appreciation Day on August 19 in Manhattan Staples stores and August 22 in stores in the other four boroughs. The first 100 teachers in each store receive a free gift bag while supplies last. Go here for details.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Welcome to the PS 307 Blog!
Greetings!
I hope everyone is enjoying a much needed and very well deserved vacation! I sure am, although I'm working in July sitting in at Sp Ed/IEP meetings for the Committee on Sp Ed at MS 113.
I've created this blog as a means to share information relating to PS 307, the UFT, and education in order to help us deal with the many issues we face as educators in NYC. I will post union news and information, as well as other stuff that may be of interest to you. Add on your comments, suggestions, questions, and ideas, and email me anything you'd like posted here.
Rest up and enjoy the summer!
Fraternally, Gloria
PS- Can anyone think of a better name for this blog????
I hope everyone is enjoying a much needed and very well deserved vacation! I sure am, although I'm working in July sitting in at Sp Ed/IEP meetings for the Committee on Sp Ed at MS 113.
I've created this blog as a means to share information relating to PS 307, the UFT, and education in order to help us deal with the many issues we face as educators in NYC. I will post union news and information, as well as other stuff that may be of interest to you. Add on your comments, suggestions, questions, and ideas, and email me anything you'd like posted here.
Rest up and enjoy the summer!
Fraternally, Gloria
PS- Can anyone think of a better name for this blog????
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