GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Sample progress report

Principals around the city are celebrating their top grades on the city’s annual school report cards today, and many say the system helped them plan and execute the progress that drove the slew of high scores.

They can do that because the report card grades rise with test score gains — and they also provide an intricate breakdown of exactly what elements brought the overall grade up or down.

Rowena Penn-Jackson, principal of P.S. 230 in the Bronx, realized that the school needed to place greater emphasis on teaching reading comprehension of non-fiction and poetry. Several principals at high-achieving schools said the reports showed them the school needed to devote more resources to English language learners.

Survey data nudged Democracy Prep Charter School’s Seth Andrew and Amber Charter School’s Vasthi Acosta to modify their methods of communicating effectively with parents. Hellenic Classical Charter School principal Christina Tettonis instituted more professional development sessions to train teachers to use test scores to personalize instruction for individual students. (more…)