Fewer dangerous city schools

Posted by helen at 8:54 AM

The good news, from the DOE and the State, is that crime in the city's schools is on the wane: Of 25 city schools described as persistently dangerous by the State last year, 15 were removed from the list in light of improved safety and lower crime. The downside is that 11 city schools remain on the danger list. New York City also added more schools (six) to the state's list than any other area of the state.

In counterpoint, Comptroller William Thomson asserts that as many as one in five violent/criminal/safety incidents that occur in schools go improperly or incompletely reported. City leaders hope that a proposed amendment to the City Charter will improve school security by directing complaints of police misconduct to the Civilian Complaint Review Board (not the current norm) and requiring regular reporting on school violence to the DOE and NYPD.


In an article today, the Post documents a number of District 75 schools on the state's list -- D 75 schools enroll special need students with the most acute needs. Reports of persistent violence in D 75 schools, where staff ratios are far smaller than mainstream schools, raise difficult questions on all sides. And an AP story from am New York sets New York's improvements against a national canvas, noting without irony that the other 49 states document a total of 21 persistently dangerous schools compared to New York State's 19 (although reporting criteria vary from state to state).


Notably, despite pop-media visions of metal-detectors and box-cutter-wielding teens, "persistently dangerous" schools include elementary and middle schools, too. Under the provisions of NCLB, parents can request safety transfers for students enrolled at "dangerous" schools. But time is short before the start of school; those interested in seeking transfers should contact their school this week to explore the process.

Grad rates at last: Inching up, with caveats

Posted by helen at 4:40 PM

The State and the City finally released the 2007 high school graduation rate today, and the news is both heartening and discouraging, on more than a few counts.

First, the good news: The overall graduation rate continues to nudge upward from the swamp where it had long languished. For the city as a whole, 52.2% of students who started high school in 2003 (the 2003 cohort) graduated in four years. Another 3.6% graduated in August, via credit recovery and other recuperative programs (mention of which flummoxed the Mayor briefly at a press conference today). If this seems lower than the 60% that was so widely celebrated last year, it is -- in years past, the city included GED-earners in the grad rate, unlike the State's more stringent criteria, which the city now shares.

More Asian and white students continue to earn diplomas than their African-American and Hispanic classmates (bad news) but the gap between the races is narrowing -- slightly (good news, but not that good): Nearly 71% and nearly 69% of Asian and white students graduate in four years; only 43% of Hispanic kids earn their diploma in the same time, as do just over 47% of African-American students. So while it's true that grad rates are rising for African-American and Hispanic kids, it will be a long, long time before the academic playing field is even approximately equal. And demographics notwithstanding, boys continue to lag behind girls in academic achievement. But back on the good-news side, New York leads the state's biggest cities in academic gains. On the bad-news side, the cities still lag well behind the state's overall grad rate of 79.2%.

Less enthusiastic results were posted for English Language Learners, who Chancellor Klein identifies as "our greatest challenge." ELL grad rates dropped in recent years and now have risen three points, to 23.5% for four-year grads and 32.4% for kids who stay in high school for five years (no typo on those stats). Students with disabilities showed slight change in their graduation rate (from 19.4% in 2006 to 19.1% in 2007. Good news, no drop; bad news, scant improvement.

The general tenor of the announcement this afternoon was celebratory but clear-eyed; the Mayor, sporting a spectacular tan, praised all involved, from Klein (also summer-bronzed) and Weingarten down into the academic trenches -- teachers, principals, APs, parents, and of course the students, especially the kids who stick with high school into a fifth or sixth year. "That they didn't do it in four years is immaterial," said the Mayor, who added that staying longer in high school is "demonstrative of someone who wants to take charge of their life," and graciously crediting Jennifer Medina's Times story today as proof.

Still, Bloomberg acknowledged, "despite this heartwarming progress," there's "enormous room for improvement." Notably, 38% of students don't graduate in four years, and nearly 14% drop out. "It's going to be very hard to get them back," he said. (About 10% stay enrolled in high school beyond four years.) The dropout rate contracted slightly since last year, from 15% to 14.7%; we're waiting for follow-up from the DOE on students who were discharged from school -- and don't show up in DOE records as students or dropouts.

Students now in high school can earn one of three diplomas -- local, Regents, or Advanced Regents. About two-thirds of NYC grads earn a Regents diploma, which is good news -- but not so good for the third who get less-rigorous Local credentials, and moot entirely for the kids starting high school next month, who are not eligible to earn the local diploma at all. We've asked the DOE for diploma and grad-rate details on the new small high schools and Career and Technical Education schools, and for more specific demographic and gender information -- and we'll report back whenever we hear more.

Let us know if you have questions; the State published a thick deck of data slides, and we'll post links to specifics if there's interest.


Update: A correction for clarity: The overall state graduation rate cited above, of 79.2%, reflects the grad rate for schools outside the state's five biggest cities, and not the state as a whole. Regrets for any confusion.

'Beat goes on' Dept.

Posted by helen at 10:33 AM

Newsday asked today what we asked yesterday -- but they're getting about the same answers: Tom Dunn of NYSED said in an email the "target" date for report cards was late next week; in the article, bets are hedged to within the first two weeks of August.

And DOE belt-tightening doesn't seem to extend to travel, according to a July 29th report from City Comptroller (and mayoral hopeful) William S. Thompson. Oversights on travel expenses are presently nil at the DOE, the report said, leading to violations in bidding procedure, expensive out-of-town-retreats that could've been held locally (with no travel or hotel expenses), and DOE staff getaways in the Catskills where about a third of invited (and paid-for) participants didn't show.

The DOE didn't argue with the report's conclusions, and has "generally agreed" with the Comptroller's recommendations for additional oversights (more accountability!) and standard-operating-procedure bidding in the future.

Report cards, grad rates, AWOL as usual

Posted by helen at 9:25 AM

Just over two weeks ago, we asked -- and not for the first time -- about high-school graduation rates and school report cards. (The Times asked, too, but didn't get a clear answer.) The New York State Department of Education said in May that they would release the data by the end of June; nothing doing. In July, they said the data would post by the end of July. It's the 30th. Anyone here think we're going into August without knowing how schools did, and whether more kids are graduating than in years previous?

School report cards help parents (and professionals, like principals and teachers) learn more about schools by reporting detailed ("granular") data on enrollment, testing, teacher qualifications and more. The grad rate is the education acid test -- how many kids finish high school is a pretty effective yardstick, and the one against which Bloomberg and Klein measure their success.

The city and state disagreed for years on how to define and count high-school grads. This year, they've reached agreement on who qualifies as a graduate (excluding GED completers, for example). High schools rise and fall on grad rates and other accountability data; don't parents -- the taxpayers who support the schools -- deserve timely reporting on how the city's students are doing? The state and the city's DOE owe the accountability they cite as a foundation of responsible, progressive school reform to the people who pay their salaries.

Tardy report cards

Posted by helen at 7:46 AM

Over two weeks ago, we asked about delays in reporting the high-school graduation rate; why, we wondered, were school report cards and other data MIA at the end of the school year?

Today, Elissa Gootman's Times piece explores the question at length -- but guess what? There's no clear answer. Blame falls on pricey, whiz-bang data systems and on faulty reporting; fingers are wagged in many directions. But still, no data.

In an email earlier this month, Tom Dunn of the New York State Education Department said the report cards would probably post by late July. Well, we're halfway there. We're glad for the Times' muscle on this question, and hope that we'll know the grad rate before this year's rising seniors show up for school in September.

NYC's GPA?

Posted by helen at 8:20 AM

School's out. The kids have their report cards. But official school report cards, that show school stats and test scores? Not just yet.

State-generated school report cards are built on 2005-2006 numbers. City-generated Annual School Reports use old data, too -- data that predate the creation of dozens of new, small high schools, and omit principals posted since '05, and current counts of students and teachers. (This is especially crucial for young, growing schools; some have tripled in size and staff since the report cards were posted.) The New York State Department of Education has repeatedly said that updated report cards will post "around" the end of June. That's Monday; we're skeptical. (Last year, they posted before the end of May.)

We're also waiting for the city and state to release the much-anticipated high school graduation rate, the benchmark against which Bloomberg and Klein measure their Children First reforms. For the first time in decades, NYC's DOE and the NYSED are actually using the same basis for counting grads (in prior years, each defined grads in different ways, making direct comparison dicey). When will the grad rate post? According to Chancellor Klein, that's up to the State, too.

Grade the kids, grade the schools; rate the principals, rate the teachers. Along with reports on how their kids progressed, parents deserve current knowledge on how the city's schools are doing. Why is the wait for these reports stretching into summer?

Scooooooore: ELA and Math test scores released today

Posted by helen at 10:00 AM

At high noon today, the New York State Department of Education will present the 2007-08 English/Language Arts (ELA) and Math scores for students statewide, including New York City public school students. (We'll post a link when they go live, anticipated for noon.)

Of course, the official New York State report cards, available for most city schools, are two years out of date (with data from 2005-2006). Last year, new report cards posted in late May. This year, it's late June and we don't yet know when the updated report cards will go live. We've heard "end of June" -- but who's counting?

Update: Sorry for initial misdirect; here's the link to 2008 ELA and Math scores. It's an unwieldy pdf; we're looking for a more compact, accessible link.

Just heard from David Cantor of the DOE, who says they'll post city stats today; stay tuned.