GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

One of the Bloomberg administration’s first big education policy moves was to create a fast-track principal training program that in its early years recruited heavily from outside the school system. Now, in the administration’s final year, that program — which drew fierce criticism and produced mixed results — is smaller and the Department of Education is investing in programs to develop potential principals from within the city’s teaching corps. Here, the department’s chief academic officer explains why the department is looking inside itself for future school leaders.

By engaging strong educators early in their careers, we can cultivate their leadership skills as they take their first steps toward school leadership. (more…)

I’d like to respond to some of the reactions to Friday’s post:
1. Cut scores: Contrary to Leonie Haimson’s allegation, we did not determine the percentage of A grades after learning the results of the 2009 state tests. The cut scores for the elementary and middle school progress reports were set in September 2008 and communicated to (more…)

In a post on this page earlier this week, “Comparing Small Apples to Large Apples,” Teachers College Professor Aaron Pallas raised several important issues with respect to New York City’s high school progress reports. A frank dialogue about the strengths and weaknesses of our accountability system is important as it helps us make improvements while (more…)