GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

This and next week I am raising objections to the idea that new standards — particularly new national standards — are worth the attention they get. It is ridiculous to think that they can be a meaningful lever of broad educational improvement. In fact, I do not think that they can have any significant impact at all.

Problem #4: Classrooms

I have never heard a teacher declare that s/he was going to change what they were teaching because of something s/he saw in a standards document. Never.

Have you?

I have known teachers and other educators to look through standards and declare what they like or do not like. I have heard them say that they approve of certain changes and not approve of others. But no one has ever said that they have to stop doing something because it fell out of the standards or that they need to start something new because it is in the standards.

The fact is that teachers already know what they want to do in their classes. Whether or not you or I agree or approve of their ideas, they already have them. The ideas could have developed during their own days in school, during their preparation, from things they have read, from discussions or experiences with colleagues or any number of other ways. I suppose that, in theory, reading standards documents could shape these ideas, but I have never seen any evidence of it, and I doubt that you have, either.

Previous: Problem #3 — Fear of Failure Rates!
Next: Problem #5 — Tests Matter; Standards Do Not!

• The Delaware district that suspended a 6-year-old Boy Scout will revise its discipline rules. (Times)
• Candidates’ education records were prominent in last night’s mayoral debate. (GothamSchools, Times)
• That NYC students are doing better is as indisputable as the earth being round, the Daily News argues.
• Richard Whitmire explains why Michelle Rhee has to act so mean. (Washington Post)
• Arne Duncan says states will have to do more than promise changes to get his innovation funds. (AP)
• A promising senior at Manhattan’s Satellite Academy was gunned down in Brooklyn. (Times)
• An NYU professor reminds us that school violence is not a new phenomenon. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Thompson and Bloomberg fought over their education records in the first mayoral debate.
• Mr. Talk blasts the Daily News’ support of the Fair Student Funding model.
• Corey Bunje Bower pulls out some tidbits from the NCES’ new study on U.S. school enrollment.
• A third grade teacher shows a student that, like the cowardly lion, he just needed to find his courage.
• Leonie Haimson takes a closer look at the DOE’s new analysis of city test scores.
• Nevada seems to be taking a pass on federal Race to the Top funding….
• …While California moves closer to eligibility for the stimulus money.
• Peter Murphy defends an Albany charter school’s taping of its teachers.
• NYSUT endorses the Republican candidate for 23rd Congressional district.
• Ed Money Watch has a guide to understanding Title I funding.
• The director of Washington’s Sidwell Friends School is one of the “most powerful” in D.C.
• The US DOE is funding new centers on math education and turning around struggling schools.
• And tune in to the Leonard Lopate Show tomorrow — teacher/blogger Mrs. Mimi will be a guest.

The city’s Department of Education will likely lift the ceiling on class sizes this year, a department official said today.

DOE chief operating officer Photeine Anagnostopoulos told the City Council education committee this morning that it was realistic to expect the city to “adjust” its class size targets. How dramatic the increases will be is still unclear, she said.

“We have to go back and do some more homework,” Anagnostopoulos said.

Anagnostopoulous’ comments came during a hearing on the department’s use of state Contracts for Excellence funding. The funds are given to school districts that prove they will spend the funds in six key areas, one of which is class size reduction. (more…)

Before I started posting to GothamSchools, I polled readers of my blog to find out parents’ perspectives on test prepping their child for the OLSAT to get into the NYC gifted and talented program. I must admit, I was a little suprised so many parents voted they’d be fine if others found out they test prepped their child. But there’s still a good chunk of parents who claim they’d never test prep their child at all. 

Here’s the question I asked: Would you tell anyone if you prepped your child for the OLSAT test for gifted and talented program?

And here are the results I found:

• 56% – If someone asked, I’d be more than happy to tell them but I wouldn’t broadcast it. (more…)

• The city continues to be months or even years late in getting special ed payments to parents. (Post)
• Chancellor Klein told business leaders the city schools are doing well. (GothamSchools, Times, NY1)
• Klein emphasized that schools in Queens and Staten Island are on par with the state. (Post, Daily News)
• The head of Opportunity Charter says there should be more special ed charter schools. (Daily News)
• The city should not give up on Fair Student Funding, an education expert argues. (Daily News)
• Protesters targeted a New Jersey school where students praised President Obama. (AP)
• Two Virginia politicians say private industry could save the nation’s aging schoolhouse stock. (Times)
• The Times editorializes in favor of “common-sense” discipline policies, not zero-tolerance ones.
• GED classes are hard to find in NYC, which has a GED pass rate lower than D.C.’s, the Times laments.