GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Advocates for gifted children in the Riverdale section of the northwest Bronx are shaking their heads in disbelief — and disgust.

The Department of Education’s rules for admission to gifted and talented programs have shut some qualified children in Riverdale out of the program located in their own zoned school. At the same time apparent changes in the rules allow several students who didn’t qualify under the city’s rules to be added to district’s other gifted class at the discretion of that school’s principal.

Two years ago, the city decided that children would have to meet a citywide standard for admission to gifted programs in each borough. The goal was to increase equity and access to the programs, DOE officials said at the time. (more…)

There is a growing consensus over New York State’s standardized test scores. They are so inflated that even the Daily News and New York Post aren’t buying in anymore. These are the mayor’s most unquestioning allies, usually loathe to present data that might undermine the case that Mr. Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein are the only ones capable of saving our schools. Yet even they are now skittish over the data upon which the mayor’s case is built.

It’s about time that it is drummed into the public consciousness that serious questions have been raised about both the Regents subject mastery exams taken by high school students, and the grade 3 through 8 tests required under the federal No Child Left Behind law. These impact all of the programs advanced by the mayor and other “reformers,” skewing results and compromises the billions we are investing in the schools.

This issue recently got some front burner attention when the city released their controversial report cards for the schools, a key element in the data based strategy of Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein. (more…)

The choice of David M. Steiner as New York State’s new education commissioner could mark a new direction in school policies. 

Dr. Steiner, the Dean of the School of Education at Hunter College, is positioned to change the policies that have been very rewarding to politicians and school boards, but have shortchanged children in our state.

New York, like many other states, has been engaging in wholesale grade inflation of standardized tests. This is driven by the constant pressure of making “annual yearly progress” to conform with the federal “No Child Left Behind Law,” which demands the impossible result of all students performing at grade level by 2014.

Since we are dealing with human children, this is a highly unlikely outcome. And since the federal government foolishly allowed the states to set their own standards, many states, including ours, have engaged in what can only be described as deceptive practices: making the tests easier, changing the scoring scale to provide better results, and in some cases both.

Politicians love higher scores because they imply higher student performance that reflects well on them. Much of Mayor Bloomberg’s advertising campaign hinges on these soaring scores. But inflated scores don’t mean our children are any smarter. (more…)