9486 in the collection  

Some Question the NY List of Schools to Receive Dictated Curriculum

The list of 208 public schools that will retain control of their curriculum was released Friday, prompting grumbling from some educators about who made the “artificial benchmark” and who didn’t.

Others were relieved and excited over the long-awaited list, which included 70 schools in Queens. At least one principal, Howard Wholl of PS 230 in Brooklyn, popped into classes to announce they’d made it.

“It’s confirmation of the hard work we do every day, and it doesn’t reflect on any other school,” said Wholl, who’s planning a coffee and cake celebration for the staff when they come back from the weeklong holiday break.

But despite city officials’ explanations, many in the education community view the list as a demarcation between the haves and the have nots, the good schools and the bad, the affluent, white schools and the poor, minority ones. About 15 percent of the schools on the list are considered high-poverty, 18 percent middle poverty and 67 percent low poverty schools.

Some new, specialized schools made the list, even though they only have records from one or two years. Top schools that admit only the best students also got on the list. Four alternative high schools and one from the chancellor’s district, which oversees failing schools, were also named, raising questions about why schools with better test scores didn’t make the grade.

Elementary schools dominated the list, while only 10 out of more than 215 middle schools were named. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said Thursday that the 208 schools should not be viewed as the system “elite” but rather as schools that showed enough success under the department’s scoring formula to merit being left alone.

However, teachers union president Randi Weingarten called the list an “artificial benchmark” that has divided parents and staff.

“Any attempt to reduce the rating of a school to a single number – no matter how sophisticated the methodology or well-meaning the intentions – will shortchange some schools and overrate other schools that should be doing even better than they are,” she said.

The principals’ union began comparing Klein’s list to other education lists — the state’s recent compilation of schools that made the most improvements on math and English tests; schools whose principals were given bonuses last year for meeting student performance goals; and schools overseen by the 10 superintendents named by Klein recently to head the new, regional districts.

What Jill Levy, head of the principals’ union, found so far made no sense to her. For example, some of the superintendents that the chancellor chose to oversee the new districts barely made a showing on the list, she said.

“I don’t understand the correlation between things here,” Levy said. “I don’t understand how you can get on the performance incentives bonus list and not get on this list.”

Being on the list gives principals like Wholl the power to adopt a curriculum but his classes have been already using those programs with success. His school is being touted by education headquarters as a prime reason why Everyday Mathematics and Month by Month Phonics have been chosen as the citywide programs.

Wholl said he has no intention of abandoning the current curriculum but sees other advantages to the list. “It’s good for school morale,” he said.

Under the formula to get onto the list, each school was put into a high, middle or low poverty category, based primarily on the number of free lunches students qualify for. Each school was then scored based on test results and modifying factors, such as the number of special education students, non-native English speakers and recent improvements.

The top 20 percent of each category made the list, and schools facing more challenges didn’t have to score as high to get on.

Klein expects the list to grow in coming years and said the 208 schools will probably stay on the list for about two years before they’re reviewed again. The system’s 1,000 other schools can apply for waivers to the citywide math and English curriculums.

— Ellen Yan
208 Schools Make The Grade
Newsday
Feb. 14, 2003
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/nyc-skul0215,0,225383.story?coll=ny%2Dnynews%2Dheadlines

---

INDEX OF OUTRAGES

Pages: 380   
[1] 2 3 4 5 6  Next >>    Last >>