GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

To some, it may seem that there’s no way this year can be more exciting than 2008, with its protracted campaigns and historic presidential election. But with questions about governance, leadership, and funding looming large, 2009 promises to be quite the year in the New York City education world.

Here are three big questions that will be answered, at least in part, in the next 12 months: (more…)

A Boston-based program that pairs adult mentors with middle school students who want to learn how to design video games or launch a business is now bringing its brand of mentoring to New York City kids.

Citizen Schools, a decade-old organization that facilitates apprenticeships for students in almost 20 cities nationwide, set up shop at four middle schools this year, two each in Brooklyn and East Harlem. At each school, the organization is offering professional instruction, an after-school program, and classroom support, according to Nitzan Pelman, Citizen Schools’ New York City executive director.

The centerpiece of Citizen Schools’ programming is the apprenticeship, in which adult volunteers spend 12 weeks teaching students about a particular subject before the students present their work to a panel of experts on that subject. (more…)

One of the books I read during my blogging vacation was “Those Who Dared: Five Visionaries Who Changed American Education.” The new volume, edited by Carl Glickman, contains autobiographical essays by five progressive educators. This week, I’ll be highlighting the most provocative observation made by each one.

First up is Deborah Meier, one of the progenitors of the small schools movement who founded an influential elementary school, Central Park East, in East Harlem in 1974. She went on to help create a host of non-traditional schools in the neighborhood and now teaches at New York University’s education school.

A proponent of play, democratic classrooms, and assessments other than standardized tests, Meier generally isn’t part of the education policy discussion dominated by fans of “no excuses” schools such as KIPP. But in her essay, she describes one challenge currently facing some “idealocrat” reformers: How to sustain innovative schools that are only barely able to exist in the first place. On that question, Meier doesn’t have much advice. She writes:

None of the schools I started were permanently protected from the standardizing influences that have surrounded them in the last 20 years. Above all, I never figured out how, in the world of here and now, such schools could survive without very particular conditions — strong godfathers, politically strong leadership, and few key politically hep parents. Sustainability, short of revolutionizing the entire system to one’s way of thinking or breaking free altogether of the public system, has eluded me.

When I was a kid, I was always ready to go back to school after two boring weeks at home. But a lot of my classmates weren’t happy about returning to a schedule filled with homework, tests, and early morning wake-up calls. Checking out teachers’ blogs this morning, I can see that they, too, experience a range of feelings on the eve of returning to school after an extended break.

Pissed Off Teacher, a veteran teacher at a large high school in Queens who was eligible for retirement two years ago, writes that the vacation renewed her spirits:

I am definitely going to wait until summer vacation to decide whether I should retire this year or not. When I am at work, I am tired and frustrated and ready to pack it in. Yet, as I contemplate returning tomorrow, I feel excitement, not dread. (OK, a little dread. I am really not looking forward to getting up at 6:15 while the house is cold and everyone in it is asleep.) I know I am nuts, but I missed the lunacy that goes with my life as a teacher.

A first-year teacher and brand new blogger, teachnyc, didn’t feel the same way, instead creating a TeachFor.Us blog to express his anxiety about returning to the classroom. Teachnyc writes:

I have one day left of glorious winter break and instead of spending it relaxing and simply enjoying it I am trying to figure out way to get the knots out of my stomach. Like most teachers  I am not quite sure why I am having this reaction to going back to school, in fact I never felt this way as a student but for some reason the thought of being back up in front of the class make me want to dig a deep dark hole in the ground and hide in it. To make matters worse, I could be spending this time lesson planning so that my first week will not be miserable and stressful but just thinking of lessons sends me diving back under my covers.

FROM NEW YORK CITY:

• Caroline Kennedy was not required to disclose her finances when she was a DOE employee. (Times)
• The fate of mayoral control is still undecided. (Queens Chronicle)
• Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he will vote to renew mayoral control if it’s “tweaked.” (Post)
• Both the Post and the Daily News line up in favor of mayoral control, without tweaks.
• The city’s teaching force has grown more experienced in recent years. (Post)
• Because of a quirk in the city’s funding formula, closing schools have lots of extra money. (Post)
• The expansion of middle school choice has created middle school admissions panic. (Times)
• At Queens cram schools, kids spend vacations prepping for high school admissions tests. (Times)
• Most Muslim students feel safe in school. (Daily News)
• Kids are still dealing with the cell phone ban in underhanded ways. (Riverdale Press)
• Nat Hentoff adds another column to his chronicle of police abuse in the city schools. (Village Voice)

AND BEYOND:

• 2008 was no banner year for the country’s public schools. (USA Today)
• All those education plans of Obama’s will probably have to wait. (NPR)
• Schools in Chicago were home to innovations under Arne Duncan. (Washington Post)
• Passed over for ed secretary, Denver’s superintendent is becoming a senator. (Times, Denver Post)
• The country is still short on math and science teachers. (Christian Science Monitor)
• The New Teacher Project says new teachers do better than experienced ones. (Times-Picayune)
• Michelle Rhee plans to fire more teachers and improve those who remain. (Washington Post)
• Nationally, homeschooling is on the rise. (USA Today)
• PTAs are covering the costs of some budget-cut casualties. (Wall Street Journal)
• Some school districts are letting students lead parent-teacher conferences. (Times)
• Jay Mathews tries to unpack the vague phrase “21st-century skills.” (Washington Post)
• Bill Ayers calls Arne Duncan “the smart choice” for education secretary. (Huffington Post)