GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

• The number of black and Hispanic students admitted to elite high schools is down, again. (GS, NYT)
• Some schools think it kinder to mail home specialized high school acceptance letters. (InsideSchools)
• Cathie Black is doing better one-on-one with teachers than with the public. (AP)
• Peter Murphy: absent some big changes, the college readiness gap won’t budge. (Chalkboard)
• Laying off teachers based on U-ratings sounds good, but in practice merit can be arbitrary. (GS)
• Told his students aren’t progressing fast enough, a teacher has to face hard truths. (GS)
• DiNapoli says the state could save money by focusing on at-risk students. (Politics on the Hudson)
• Randi Weingarten says she asked Bloomberg to let the union “police itself” in 2004. (NPR)
• School-related comments bookend a list of Bloomberg’s worst gaffes. (Daily Politics)
• When turnaround principals move from school to school, their work is sometimes undone. (Early Ed)
• If Congress approves Race to the Top spending for 2012, it might be for districts-only. (Politics K-12)

This week, state officials released some grim statistics: according to measures derived from a study conducted by a state committee last summer, just 23 percent of city high school graduates are well-prepared for college.

But the college-readiness recommendations the City University of New York gives for its incoming students require even more achievement than the measures used by the state this week.  And the city is preparing to judge high schools on how well they prepare students for college on a range of standards that city officials claim are more robust.

For their data release this week, state officials examined students who earned at least a 75 on their English Regents exams and an 80 on their math A exams. Those cut-offs were based on an analysis of state test scores performed by Harvard University testing expert Daniel Koretz and assistant professor Jennifer Jennings last summer. That analysis predicted that students receiving those Regents exam scores would likely receive a C or higher in the college-level course.

CUNY officials also recommend that students enter their classes having received at least a 75 on the English exam and an 80 on the Math A test. But in addition, they suggest that students also have scored at least a 65 on the Math B, the next test in the math sequence. (more…)

Today’s the day that guidance counselors distribute envelopes to eighth graders with news of whether and which of the city’s top-tier high schools opened the door for them. But for minority students, the news continues to be grim.

Combined, white and Asian students account for 70 percent of the students admitted to elite schools like Stuyvesant, the Bronx High School of Science, and Brooklyn Technical High School. Hispanic students make up 6 percent of those admitted and black students 5 percent. The remainder, 18 percent, come from private or parochial schools and racial data for them was not available.

Despite repeated statements of concern from city officials about the tiny number of minority students earning entry to top high schools, the numbers have only declined in the last three years. In 2009, 744 black and Hispanic students earned seats at specialized high schools. This year, 642 made it in.

Meanwhile, the number of minority students sitting for the exams has increased. Black and Hispanic students now make up a greater percentage of test takers than they did in 2009. (more…)

• UFT chief Michael Mulgrew says the city’s layoff threat is overblown and agenda-driven. (Brooklyn Paper)
• A Brooklyn high school teacher explains her opposition to seniority layoff protections. (Brooklyn Paper)
• Education Reform Now is running an ad opposing “last in, first out” policies. (GS,Post)
• Erasmus’s basketball coach is retiring with a winning record of college attendance. (Daily News)
• The city is using celebrities to try to woo truant students. (GothamSchools, Post, NY1)
• The city hasn’t yet met the legal requirement for all charter schools to have parent groups. (GS)
• The parents who are challenging Cathie Black’s waiver officially filed their appeal. (Daily News)
• SUNY and CUNY are asking the state to let them mitigate budget cuts with private money. (NY1)
• The city is cutting more day care programs, with no end to the cuts in sight. (WSJ)