Pre-K round II news

Posted by helen at 8:46 AM

Families who applied for pre-K seats in the second application round should have news by the end of this week; letters went out by mail yesterday afternoon, according to an email from the DOE's Andy Jacob.

Follow-Up on DOE: G+T

Posted by helen at 1:00 PM

Last week, Insideschools spoke with Anna Commitante (head of DOE G+T), Elizabeth Sciabarra (OSEPO head) and Marty Barr (OSEPO's elementary-schools head) about gifted and talented programs, enrollment, and admissions policies. Here are highlights from our conversation; a longer article in the next alert will answer some new questions, too.

Centralized admissions will still be the mode for grade-school gifted and talented programs in 2009-2010. The two exams currently used to evaluate youngsters, the OLSAT and the Bracken School Readiness Test, will continue in use; there is no plan whatsoever to add a human, subjective eye to assess the effects of, say, a suddenly tongue-tied, shy, or stubborn four-year-old. The OLSAT carries triple the weight of the Bracken, because the former looks at aptitude and the latter, at actual knowledge (letters, numbers, colors, etc.).

Sibling priority enrollment meant, this year, that applicants with older sibs in the program or in the school building (a subject of significant confusion at PS 9, which also houses the Anderson School) were eligible for citywide g+t classes at lower test scores than kids who don't have sibs in the first-choice school. The three citywide g+t schools, Anderson, NEST+m, and TAG, accepted siblings with scores from the 99th to the 96th percentile. Non-sib applicants were admitted at the 99th percentile at NEST and Anderson, with a few exceptions at TAG.

We asked how many of the newest crop of citywide g+t Kindergarten students were younger siblings vs. non-sibs; DOE rep Andy Jacob said he would get us the numbers, and we hope he will.

The question of opening a new citywide g+t school in an outer borough is under discussion, but has not yet been resolved. (We'll know more in a few weeks, promises Liz Sciabarra.) Ditto, for whether gen-ed Kindergarten applications will be centralized or school-based. Pre-K applications will, however, continue to be centralized again this year -- but the timeframe will be earlier, and communication, everyone promises, will be better, clearer, and more consistent.

As parents learned this year, some districts start g+t programming in Kindergarten, and others in first grade. While there's no citywide mandate to regulate when g+t 'should' start (or, for that matter, an official, citywide g+t curriculum, above and beyond grade standards), DOE planners now recognize that their guarantee to seat every qualified student was understood by many parents to mean, starting in Kindergarten, with new classes created where none existed before.

But new K classes were never part of the plan, said Marty Barr. The decision to hold over scores -- the 'exemptions' parents got letters about -- came about in the wake of parent protest. Most kids who qualify for g+t seats will receive them, but in first grade. (Qualifying students in Districts 7 and 14, however, were offered seats in alternate districts, because no g+t programs were offered within 7 and 14, forcing parents to consider commuting challenges and other daunting logistics.)

"It's a communication issue," said Sciabarra, who cited 'lessons learned' and a desire to "take the angst out" of admissions. "We have to do better at that."

We couldn't agree more.

(Readers seeking nitty-gritty answers to fine-tooth questions, watch for an expanded story in the upcoming alert -- too much here to bog down the blog.)

Special Ed Delays for Middle Schoolers

Posted by helen at 8:15 AM

In the days since middle-school placements were announced, we've heard repeatedly from parents of kids in CTT and self-contained special ed classes: Some students haven't received seats in middle school, even though they will graduate from grade school in a few days.

"Special education students will receive their placements this week," according to the DOE's Andy Jacob, who says that "a more comprehensive approach" to placement, along with making sure needed services are in place, cost the process "a few additional days" (which others might describe as a week or more, but never mind).

Elementary school guidance counselors were told that the special-ed students' placements would follow mainstream-ed matches, according to the DOE. Whether and when parents were similarly informed -- and if not, why not -- remains unclear. (We've asked.)

Parents who write us say there's a two-tier approach to middle school admissions, and that special-ed kids are treated as "second-class citizens." It's hard to believe that's actually true, but easy to see how parents, waiting for middle-school news and wanting the best for their children, can think it possible.

Readers, please keep us posted on when your special-needs children receive middle school placements. Also, we'd love to know how the school your child is offered compares with the choices ranked on the application. Thanks as ever for your feedback.

G+T Update: Courier Service

Posted by helen at 8:21 AM

Parents citywide should have g+t kindergarten and first grade placement results no later than today, according to the DOE, which used couriers to hand-deliver letters across all five boros -- even in Staten Island, according to one commenter.

Apparently, the fallout from pre-K had big bureaucratic repercussions: "We identified issues that caused confusion with some pre-Kindergarten placements, so we ran additional checks on the gifted and talented placements -- especially the placements for siblings," said DOE press spokesman Andy Jacob.

The extra efforts were made to "ensure that parents receive clear and accurate information," according to Jacob. "We delivered the letters via courier because we wanted parents to get the letters when they expected them, and with sufficient time to accept or decline their offers." According to Elizabeth Green in the Sun, deliveries cost about $5 per envelope -- plenty pricey, but less than overnight-mail fees. (Parents can also expect duplicate letters via conventional post.)

Timing is crucial for schools as well: As these last days of school unfold, schools that will receive new students need to know who's coming, in order to plan their mix of classes.

If you expect a placement letter and don't have one by the end of the day today, telephone OSEPO's elementary placement office, at 212 374-4948. They're following up on undeliverables, which they estimate to be less than 1% of letters, but a quick hello can't hurt. (And if you have a chance, drop us a note, too - curious to see how many deliveries found their mark, and how many went awry.)

DOE: Rethinking for Next Year?

Posted by helen at 12:03 PM

With the pre-K dust still swirling and hundreds of middle-school families still waiting for official word on where their children have been placed, the citywide admissions process obviously needs rethinking. Politicos like Betsy Gotbaum, Bill deBlasio, Brookyn borough president Marty Markowitz and others are challenging the DOE to review, and redo, applications as needed. (DeBlasio, a public-school parent, is also waiting for middle-school news for his own child.)

The difficulties are undeniable, and the cures uncertain. But while the DOE says they'll work to clarify whatever confused parents this year ahead of next year's applications, they don't (yet) explain how they will address and amend this year's problems. It's increasingly difficult to wait with a degree of patience.

Comments like "it's simply not correct to say that we're running way behind" on middle-school notification, which Andy Jacob wrote to me this morning, sorely test that patience. Earlier this week, he said all letters were to have gone out by Monday June 2. Now, he says, "some of the assignments went out last week. ... Some of them went out earlier this week. All the letters should be out by today." Does that 'should' make you nervous, too?

We are working with the DOE, seeking detailed comment on specific enrollment and admissions questions. We hope for their candor and prompt communication. And for the reader who wondered, where's Chancellor Klein in all this? He's in Washington, DC -- giving a talk this afternoon at the American Enterprise Institute, on the challenges of revitalizing urban schools.

"Noise," but Not Much News

Posted by helen at 3:38 PM

A midday protest on the steps of Tweed organized by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and City Council member Bill deBlasio drew a few dozen parents and DOE representatives David Cantor and Andy Jacob, who fielded questions but had few concrete answers to offer.

"The scale of the problem is misrepresented by the amount of noise," said Cantor, as parents of barraged him with questions. "Everything will be resolved within the next couple of days." That means a seat in a pre-K program, although not necessarily at the first-choice school, for siblings of already-enrolled students.

DeBlasio and others challenged the DOE's count of 200 families affected. "The issues this raises for parents are huge," he said, citing the thousands parents may have to pay for private pre-K, and the fact that many programs are already full for fall. Frustrated parents want to know what to tell their kids, and worry aloud about plans to centralize next year's kindergarten admissions process.

DOE reps promise that all legitimate sibling priority enrollments will be honored (though again, not necessarily at the first-choice school), and that all calls and emails to OSEPO will be returned (not what we're hearing). But the issue, while immediately pressing for hundreds of city families, has a much larger import.

"We know pre-K is an essential educational tool," says UFT president Randi Weingarten. "They've done with this what they did with high school enrollment, and with middle school enrollment -- they've taken all human judgment out of the equation. They dismiss the nature of neighborhoods, they dismiss the nature of human needs, for what a computer tells them to do. It's a computer, instead of common sense."

And for the record, even DOE staff aren't immune from the vagaries of the system: Cantor's 4-year-old will attend their local public-school kindergarten in the fall -- but, he said, "even my kid didn't get into pre-K" last year.

Pre-K Application Review: Home Stretch

Posted by helen at 10:06 PM

Incredible as it seems, we've had some follow-up from the DOE on pre-K sibling applications.

The DOE has reviewed "about 9,000 sibling applications by hand, " according to Andy Jacob, and found "issues we might need to address" in about 200, some of which are still under review. Some scenarios are clear, as when one twin was sent to one school and another twin to another school. "That's a mistake on our end, and we will address it," says Jacob. Address matching issues persist, as do some questions about sibling verification (when sibling ID numbers were incomplete on the application, for example). And he says some parents thought the sibling preference pertained even when the older sib was graduating, or when the big-sib's school wasn't listed first -- no dice.

Jacobs' bottom line: "In any of these cases, where we are able to verify a sibling that meets the criteria we set, we will contact the parents directly to work out a suitable placement." Read those tea leaves for a mixed message: A younger sibling will get a pre-K seat, but 'suitable placement' doesn't really guarantee that seat will be at the same school.

It's worth noting that of 20,000 pre-K applications submitted, 17,000 children were offered seats, 15,000 at their first-choice schools. The DOE's count of 200 possible sibling errors works out to 1%, which doesn't sound so extreme in the abstract -- unless and until it's your kid. And it's cold comfort to the 3,000 families whose applications were denied altogether.

Waiting for deadline info on second-round applications; a slight bit of good news is that parents will receive application materials by mail, if they don't want to trek to the OSEPO offices -- but after the ongoing postal misadventures, a little snail-mail wariness is fully understandable.

good night -

Any G+T, Middle School News, Parents?

Posted by helen at 10:10 AM

Here's the start of a G+T thread for parents to share information, leads, and news.

The latest sense we have is that citywide gifted and talented schools have sent out acceptances and rejections; parents have yet to hear from other schools to which their children applied.

Andy Jacob of the DOE says "some middle school offer letters went out late last week. The rest should go out today. Parents should receive the letters this week. Parents expecting letters who haven't received them by next Monday (June 9) should contact their child's guidance counselor. Acceptances are due June 12."

Know more? Have questions? Pipe up.