GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

• Nationally, $1.7 billion is spent annually on standardized testing; some say it’s not enough. (HuffPo)
• NYU pulled the plug on a Harlem Children’s Zone-like initiative to help Newark schools. (Hechinger)
• A teacher’s open question: “How do you combat (and … change) low teacher morale?” (B Niche)
• Chicago teachers say they’re hopeful but not confident about performance tasks in evaluation. (Catalyst)
• A map of charter school penetration by city shows that New York is not close to the lead. (Flypaper)
• John Liu visited his alma mater, Queens’ P.S. 203, and met a younger version of himself. (YouTube)
• Rick Hess: Thinking the Common Core will change everything suddenly is a mistake. (Straight Up)
• A critic of the state’s strategy for counting student growth pans Merryl Tisch’s op/ed. (School Finance 101)
• A teacher riffs off questions about Joel Klein’s life story to ask questions about her impact. (SchoolBook)
• The second-term exodus from the U.S. Department is underway — at the press office. (Politics K-12)

Students at Central Park East High School, one of several now receiving city credit for college-level courses its teachers developed.

At Harry S. Truman High School, juniors in an honors English class arrange their desks in concentric circles to discuss Marxist and feminist theory in the American literary canon.

At Central Park East High School, students taking the Mt. Sinai Careers course develop research projects on the health sciences while interning in hospital departments like pediatrics, orthopedics, and Mt. Sinai’s morgue.

And at East Side Community School, seniors compare ancient Greek tragedies.

The courses are as challenging as any Advanced Placement class, their teachers say: To pass, students must demonstrate not only deep knowledge but also the kind of critical thinking required for success in college. But last year, when the Department of Education moved toward giving high schools credit in their annual letter grade for exposing students to college-level work, the courses did not count.

This year, they are among 52 courses in city high schools to get the department’s “college and career preparatory” stamp of approval, meaning that students who pass them typically stay in college after many ill-prepared students drop out. (more…)

TripodProject.org

Should students have a say in how their teachers are evaluated? The question surfaced this week after the teachers union came out in staunch opposition to the idea as an evaluation measure. Department of Education officials say that they would eventually like to see it happen.

In comments and on Twitter, teachers reacted with a range of emotions.

One teacher, Mook, said the surveys would be a welcome measure if it meant less of an emphasis on test scores:

I would like to have the option of using student surveys as part of my evaluation.  Of course, I’d like to use it in place of whatever ridiculous measures of student progress we’ll eventually be forced to use.  Not only am I confident I would do well on the surveys, but they wouldn’t take an extra minute of my planning time.  No data collection, no seething about the lack of scientific rigor in the collection of the data.

But many teachers shared their union’s position on student feedback, which is that placing such a high-stakes decision into the hands of students was unreliable and could wrongly threaten their ratings.

“Seriously????” asked DisgustedNYCTeacher:

After 25 years of teaching, my professional future will d[e]pend on the evaluations of 13 year olds?  The same ones who can’t remember to bring a pen to school every day and forget their books in class? (more…)

• The city is assuring worried parents that mold is no issue in Sandy-damaged school buildings. (NY1)
• With no safety agents on hand, schools shut because of Sandy saw expensive supplies disappear. (NY1)
• Millennium High School returned to its building while repairs were still underway. (Downtown Express)
• Teachers at Boys and Girls HS say the school will get yet another F if the principal stays. (Daily News)
• A group wants research to sway mayoral hopefuls away from current schools policies. (GothamSchools)
• Bronx Science’s volleyball coach quit to protest school sports policy before a big game. (Riverdale Press)
• One detail in an overview of evaluation talks: Principals think their deal will get done. (SchoolBook)
• Board of Regents Chancellor says New York City needs to agree on new evaluations already. (Post)
• College students held a march to call for a city-union deal about new evaluations. (Columbia Spectator)
• David Bloomfield: Gov. Andrew Cuomo should empower the Regents to effect real change. (Daily News)
• Parents aren’t happy about plans to split school zones in Greenwich Village and Chelsea. (The Villager)
• California wants to stop school districts from locking themselves into onerous borrowing. (WSJ)

• Louisiana may forgo new textbooks because of Common Core alignment issues. (Curriculum Matters)
• Teacher: The UFT should secure pay raises in exchange for an evaluation deal. (NYC Educator)
• Some Indiana parents have pulled their kids out of school over bullying concerns. (HuffPo)
• The Campaign for Fiscal Equity may reopen a lawsuit over education funding. (NYC PS Parents)
• Doug Harris’s teacher evaluation proposal merits a closer look from states. (Quick and the Ed)
• Joel Klein is among education company leaders supporting Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush’s policies. (CNBC)
• A bill to let Chicago school closings happen later awaits Gov. Quinn’s decision. (Catalyst Chicago)

Mayoral candidates have only just started outlining their education policy agendas as campaign season heats up. But one advocacy group is stepping in to help them figure out what those platforms look like.

A+NYC, a new coalition formed earlier this year to shape policy in time for the 2013 mayoral election, launched an online “policy hub” today that includes research briefs on 20 education issues that the group wants to be the focus of debates in months to come. The coalition will eventually make policy recommendations once it is done hosting more than 60 local community meetings.

A+ NYC is made up of many of the same organizers who are behind New Yorkers for Great Public Schools, a union-backed coalition of advocacy organizations. Both groups are trying to influence what education policies the mayoral candidates implement, but while New Yorkers for Great Public Schools has held rallies and criticized its opponents, A+ NYC is seeking a quieter strategy.

That strategy began by recruiting 11 education non-profits to look at research topics of expertise and compile summary briefs on each one. Though the coalition was formed in the spirit of changing many policies established in the last 12 years, the summaries highlight research that occasionally supports Bloomberg initiatives, including special education reforms and the city’s wish to use student surveys on teacher evaluations.

In some instances, the briefs initially left out well-known research. The charter schools research brief omits findings from Macke Raymond’s 2010 CREDO report on New York City’s charter sector, which showed charter students scored higher on reading and math tests than district school peers. The brief instead highlights a 2009 study by Caroline Hoxby, which found similar gains made by charter school students, and notes that those findings were contested. (more…)

Comptroller John Liu was one of four likely mayoral candidates to speak at an event in Harlem hosted by a group that opposes the Bloomberg administration’s school policies.

In a series of short stump speeches last night to a group fiercely opposed Mayor Bloomberg, four Democratic mayoral contenders delivered abbreviated versions of their visions for the future of education in New York City.

Given just five minutes to speak, the candidates didn’t have much time to get into specifics — something that, 10 months before the primary election, most are being careful about doing.

If anything, the night was an opportunity to make a good first impression for New Yorkers for Great Public Schools, the group formed by union and progressive community leaders to oppose the Bloomberg administration’s schools policies in the mayoral election. Interspersed among the candidates’ speeches, parents and religious leaders criticized the co-locations, budget cuts, and school closures that have taken place under Mayor Bloomberg.

The appearance was also an important one to make for candidates who hope their path to victory includes a coveted endorsement from the teachers union. (more…)

• The new Campaign for Fiscal Equity is threatening to sue the state for $5 billion in unfunded aid. (Times)
• Almost all students who attend selective high schools came from selective middle schools as well. (Post)
• Student surveys aren’t likely to be part of New York City’s evaluation plan this year. (GothamSchools)
• Uncertainty hangs over the city’s timeline for submitting and implementing the plan. (GothamSchools)
• A Bronx school facing closure enrolls 950 students whose top choice was elsewhere. (Riverdale Press)
• Local officials approved a plan to rezone some of Park Slope’s popular zoned schools. (PS Patch)
• High-priced tutors basically do the work for some students at top schools, teachers and tutors say. (Post)
• Online public schools spend millions in advertising to attract students to enroll in classes. (USA Today)
• A chain-wielding parent was arrested at a troubled high school after he threatened staff.  (Post)
• A newly reopened Queens school held students in an auditorium that should have been closed. (Post)

• Charter school advocates are launching a campaign aimed at shutting weak schools down. (HuffPo)
• U.S. Ed Sec Arne Duncan joked that he’s more likely to strip than succeed Hillary Clinton. (Inside Politics)
• Duncan also sketched out a second-term agenda that leads with improving teacher prep. (Politics K-12)
• But if Duncan was vague about his plans for the next four years, he has his reasons. (Answer Sheet)
• A GothamSchools-moderated panel discussion on Thursday is about “Data For What?” (GS Calendar)
• Beach Channel’s post-Sandy reopening has been delayed from next week to Jan. 2. (GS Twitter)
• Eighth-graders on the high school hunt can consult a list of underexposed good schools. (Insideschools)
• Here’s a roundup of this morning’s panel discussion of several education heavyweights. (SchoolBook)