GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

I am in a 5-8 middle school. And guess what? This will be the last year with Grade 5. The city decided to put a suspension site into my school instead of keeping the fifth grade.

If memory serves, the schools that followed the 5-8 grade configuration in that timeframe (1995-2002) were often G & T programs, which in itself would explain the difference in test scores.  Also, the tests were changed during that timeframe, further skewing results, much as the recent “recalibration” has.

Charter middle schools probably start in 5th grade partly so they can get a first pass at high-performing kids based on 4th grade test scores, and also so they can remove strugggling students quickly and still have grades 6-8 to produce their “stellar” results.  Much of the “counseling out” happens between 5th and 6th grades, letting those students rejoin their cohort in the mainstream public schools in 6th grade.

Seems like these results may be rendered null if we actually had a coherent core curriculum.

I wouldn’t want my 2nd grader in the same school with a 8th grader.  Sorry, not safe.

depends on what 8th graders we’re talking about, i would think. 

I attended a conference on middle level education last year, and was surprised by many workshops on aspects of school structure, behavior management, advisory programs, etc. that transform middle school from a form of purgatory into a model that can really meet the specific developmental needs of the age group. Few of the ideas I encountered there get much real attention in NYC, at least in the places I’ve worked (until recently). 

On the other hand, I think narrow age ranges cost schools many opportunities in the kind of community that can be created, where younger children learn from and look up to older, and older children see themselves as mentors and role models. Again, though, this won’t work if you treat all the students as though they have the same needs – attention needs to be paid to how their needs change as they grow up.

Office of Portfolio & Planning changed our school to a K-5 this fall (we were K-6 last year).  Apparently they discovered we had more 6th graders than the zoned middle school we fed into.  Another feeder school didn’t want their 6th grade anymore, so it was decided “there is a need for single entry point to MS in the Rockaways” and apparently we were the last K-6 school left.  Central came out for their “Educational Impact Statements” and told parents entering MS in 6th was better than 7th, and would help their children get into better high schools (by giving them a transition year) since they look at 7th grade scores for admission decisions (since 8th grade scores aren’t available by the time HS make their decisions).  I guess that’s one way to look at the data, but what they neglected to see was that our 6th graders were doing MUCH better than the 6th graders in the zones MS.  All of this after we were encouraged to apply to become a K-8 school the 2 years prior, but they’d only ever give 1 week notice to apply…what school can create a whole MS plan/program/proposal in one week?!  To make a long story short, no word yet on what may/may not be coming into the building next year.

Charter schools aren’t allowed to pick their students. It’s all by lottery. Also can’t remove struggling students. Don’t hate on my underprivileged kids, they deserve the very best. Speculation shows your ignorance.