Public schools awash in private school-ish activities

Posted by Philissa at 3:45 PM

To provide public school students with the kinds of activities popular in private and suburban schools, we've got Chess-in-the-Schools, StreetSquash, and youth league soccer in Harlem. Now we learn that cricket recently became the DOE's newest PSAL sport. It's only a matter of time before pole-vaulting becomes a right, not a privilege, for the city's public school students.

The Money Mom: The holiday spirit of giving

Posted by Jennifer Freeman at 1:35 PM

Next Thursday my child will play the trumpet in his winter holiday concert. After the music and singing, the class will gather for cider and cheese and crackers, to share a time together and give the teacher a little token of appreciation. The mom who arranged the gathering also asked parents to bring donations of food, if possible, for the nearby Yorkville Common Pantry, where, as in all food pantries in the country these days, food shortages threaten.

'Tis the season for kids to experience the joy of giving. For much of the year we put on fundraisers to supplement our kids’ classroom and programming needs, but at this season we can bring a sense of holiday spirit to school by reaching out to others. Whether it’s a bake sale to benefit the Heifer Project, which provides live animals to supplement the livelihoods of families around the world, or food for a local food pantry, or a spare change collection for a local charity, school kids can learn from working together on a benefit that lets them reach out and give to others, bringing a real sense of meaning to the holiday season.

Student Thought: The first step to saving our schools

Posted by Seth Pearce at 7:07 AM

As of this year my younger brother is no longer a public school student. Like me, he attended public elementary and middle schools, however, when it came to choose a high school, he and my parents decided that he would do better at a private school. Fortunately, they made a good decision for my brother. He is now at a school that he loves, he really succeeds in and he feels does a good job in educating the students.

Out of curiosity, I asked him what the difference was between the public school he had attended and his current school in terms of educational value. His answer was quick and simple: the adults in the building have time to care about the students.

In the NYC education system, the first step to improving schools is creating a situation in which educators have time to care about the students. This can only come for significant reductions in class size and teacher load.

One problem with my brother's public school experience, he said, was the feeling that whenever he approached a teacher for extra help or just general academic support, he felt as though he was burdening them, like they didn't have the time to help their student. This is a major problem and it is not the teachers' fault.

Through my high school experience so far, I can count on one hand how many of my classes were below the union cap of 34 (even though the City claims the average is 25). As a member of the NYC Student Union, I know students from every corner of the city, and over and over I have heard the same sentiment when it comes to class size. Just as problematic is the problem of teacher load, the total number of students a teacher teaches at any given time. This number is often around 170 in high schools.

Education is based on relationships, the most basic and important being that between a teacher and a student. Large class sizes and teacher loads, prevents many teachers and students from developing the relationships necessary to make education happen. Furthermore, while classes of 34 are extremely difficult to manage and teach effectively in, it should be noted that they are equally difficult to learn in. When I entered ninth grade, when confronted with larger classes, I came to an academic standstill. I tried to do the work and do well on tests, but inside I knew that I was just not learning as effectively as I had in previous schools.

Because these factors make teaching and learning just so impossible, they also prevent the clear evaluation of new academic strategies, as even the best programs are doomed to fail under these conditions. Thus, as the title reads, class size and teacher load reduction is the requisite first step to saving our schools.

What we need in New York City, is an education system that makes education possible. When educators are so overburdened that they don't have time to care about the needs of individual students, this is not the case. When the classroom is completely unmanageable and knowledge can not pass through the barrier between teacher and student because of population overload, this is not the case. And when students feel as though they are just another "problem" for the all-to-busy adults in the building, this is not the case.

It is time to cut class sizes and trim teacher loads. If we really want to save our schools, that is the first step.

Cross-posted at NYC Students Blog

What happened to the P-school students?

Posted by Philissa at 12:24 PM

The DOE closed its special schools for pregnant and parenting teens in June amid revelations that many were providing little in the way of substantive instruction. The 300-odd young women enrolled in those programs were instructed to enroll in other high schools, usually the ones they left when they became pregnant, and take advantage of the supports there. But according to a recent article in Women's E-News, this arrangement isn't ideal for some of the moms affected.

The article isn't totally clear about the specific problems facing pregnant students, and the young woman featured sounds slightly misinformed (she says metal detectors are dangerous to pregnant women; they aren't), but it does seem obvious that traditional high schools aren't great at meeting the specific emotional and academic needs of pregnant and parenting students. It also sounds like some schools are less tolerant of rules permitting maternity leave than others, forcing young women into tough decisions between attending the school of their choice and being as good a parent as they'd like to be. Given the DOE's track record of ignoring these students' needs, it's hard to trust the department to carve out special solutions for them.

The Brooklyn Young Mother's Collective (formerly the Brooklyn Childcare Collective) is tracking 20 students who attended P-schools when they closed. Let's hope they find that young parents are able to stick it out in regular high schools or, if they don't find that, propose solutions to help these students that the DOE is willing to implement.

Stuy kids riled up by new restrictions

Posted by Philissa at 12:58 PM

An article in the Sun today takes a look at tension between students and the administration at Stuyvesant High School, which has been percolating for years and has reached a new high this fall. Kids are upset that they must now swipe their ID cards when they enter the school and leave for lunch and that the school is now assigning lockers and locks to students, instead of allowing them to select their own. Students have started StuyWatch.com to protest these policies and monitor students' rights at the school; one user complained of “a general air of mistrust from the administration with regards to students,” the Stuyvesant Spectator reported. The site, which doesn't appear to be public right now, has hundreds of registered users, the Sun reports, but Principal Stanley Teitel isn't taking it too seriously; he says the new policies are necessary for safety reasons.

The situation at Stuyvesant is like those that Seth and the other members of the NYC Student Union are working on citywide. Across the city, kids must contend with policies that include random scanning and a cell phone ban. I'm guessing that even reasonable changes in this climate feel disrespectful to students.

MacArthur "genius grant" winner a hero to NYC kids

Posted by Philissa at 3:55 PM

The MacArthur foundation announced its latest group of $500,000 "genius grant" winners today, and among them is Deborah Bial, the founder of the Posse Foundation, which cultivates groups of talented city kids to attend elite colleges on full scholarships. Bial was inspired to start the program by her work in New York City schools, where kids told her they'd be more likely to go away to college and to stay there if they went with their "posse" from the city. Since 1989, the foundation has sent hundreds of New York City students to college. I've been in schools the day kids hear that they will be going to Vanderbilt University or Middlebury College for free, and you just can't put a value on their happiness and relief.

Student Action: The first NYC Student Union meeting of the year

Posted by Seth Pearce at 6:55 PM

The first NYC Student Union meeting of the school year will be held on Monday at 5 p.m. at the UFT (United Federation of Teachers) offices at 50 Broadway (between Exchange and Morris), on the 2nd Floor, in Room B. (Map) If you want to learn more about the union, check out this post from last week.

As always, there will be pizza and snacks. All public high school students are welcome! Email union@nycstudents.org if you need more info, want to add an agenda item or just want to let us know that you are dropping by.

Student, parent, teacher survey results now out

Posted by Philissa at 7:39 AM

Remember the "learning environment" surveys the DOE was pushing parents, teachers, and students to take last spring? Their results are now available in the "statistics" section of each school's DOE website. Each report has a ton of information to wade through, but the New York Times has a useful summary. Some of the most interesting tidbits:

• 26 percent of parents overall answered the surveys, far fewer than the DOE originally said it wanted but a reasonably good sample (though not representative — response rates were much lower in schools with poorer students).
• Most parents' responses indicated that they are generally happy with their schools, just as researchers have discovered pretty much every time they've ever surveyed parents, regardless of the quality of schools from which those parents are drawn.
  
• Perhaps for this reason, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum thinks the survey was "nothing more than a multi-million dollar P.R. effort."
• But there's actually a surprising amount of criticism of principals, coming mainly from teachers. I checked out the reports of a couple of schools that I know are having leadership problems, and it looked like teachers reported freely that their principals don't adequately respect or support them. I wonder whether the DOE will take a closer look at schools like these, even if the final grade into which the surveys are being factored isn't low.
• A quarter of parents said the single improvement they'd most like to see in their kid's school is smaller class size, a request that Mayor Bloomberg immediately downplayed. Small class size advocates mobilized around the surveys, so the results might be a little distorted, but it's still telling that parents almost universally chose class size reduction over "more effective school leadership" and "better communication with parents." And it's simply bizarre to see the disdain Bloomberg has for an idea that makes an unimpeachable goal, even if it isn't immediately attainable.

I'm impressed that the DOE released the survey results in such a straightforward manner. The next step is for the DOE to give parents, teachers, and students a real say in crafting the surveys (that way, perhaps special education would get addressed) and to translate the wealth of information into a language that's more understandable for those of us who aren't trained to analyze data.

Student Thought: Notes from the Inside Inside

Posted by Seth Pearce at 6:03 AM

Hi, Insideschools readers. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier but here it goes. My name is Seth Pearce, I am a senior at LaGuardia High School, an active Student Government and School Leadership Team representative, and a proud member of the NYC Student Union. There it is. On to the blogging:

On Insideschools, I am going to blog about two themes: Student Thought and Student Action.

In Student Thought, I will be writing about the students' perspective on issues in our school system. For a long time our views have not been taken into account, many times. Part of this comes from apathy and a lack of respect from higher-ups toward our feelings. Part of it comes from our own failure to organize and express our opinions to the larger education community. Through these posts, I seek to add our ideas to those of parents, teachers, and other members of New York City's education community.

In Student Action, I will be sharing news about student organizing and action around education and other issues in the city. This is another place where students have been underrepresented. However, with the creation of the NYC Student Union, students are starting to organize. The Union, which has representatives from schools all over the city, is expanding after a very successful first year. I will keep you all apprised of their actions as well as those of other students and student groups around the city.

Anyway, I look forward to hearing your opinions on everything that goes on over the next ten months. Here's to a great school year!

If you are student who wants to join the NYC Student Union or just want more information, email union@nycstudents.org or visit NYCStudents.org. To see all of my posts on education issues visit NYC Students Blog

Student Action: What is the NYC Student Union?

Posted by Seth Pearce at 9:30 AM

In my first post, I made a quick reference to the NYC Student Union. You might be wondering (and for purposes of this post I hope you are) "What is this so-called NYC Student Union?" Ashu Kapoor, an NYCSU member and organizer puts it this way:

The NYC Student Union (NYCSU) is an emerging collective organization of NYC high school students whose goal is to be a voice for student issues and rights, empower students to take ownership of their education, work with administration and DOE officials to secure an education students deserve, build connections across the NYC school system, and take collective action. The NYC Student Union is entirely organized and run by NYC high school students and is open to all NYC high school students interested in working to make a change in our schools.

The union was started by students from three Manhattan schools in spring 2006 to combat the cell phone ban. Representatives testified at the City Council Hearing on the issue, protested on the steps of Tweed (using cups and string as cell phones), and later had a letter to the editor published in the New York Times. From there we decided to expand.

After launching a student-created and run web site, the union held its first citywide student meeting Sept. 25, 2006. Students from around 15 schools attended. At the meeting, students aired their grievances about their schools and the school system.

For the rest of the year, NYCSU tried to take action on these problems. In addition to holding meetings like the first one every other Monday at the UFT, the union lobbied politicians on issues such as class size, security and funding; conducted workshops with middle school students on becoming engaged in their high schools; held a forum on youth involvement in the education system at Pace University with Future Voters of America; and then ran the Education committee of the 2007 New York City Youth Congress.

This year NYCSU wants to do even more. I'll keep you posted.

If you want more info or are a student who wants to join the union visit NYCStudents.org or contact union@nycstudents.org.

Kids kicking and screaming over summer reading?

Posted by Emily at 1:20 PM

Fear no more. There are few excuses to keep teens’ noses out of the books this summer, thanks to the many free resources and programs provided at the increasingly popular teens-only space, appropriately dubbed Teen Central, at Donnell Public Library in midtown Manhattan (Map).

To keep the reading momentum up and running once the final school bell sounds for summer, Teen Central keeps its doors open seven days a week for kids between the ages of 12 and 19. Offering the hottest new titles in Young Adult literature (think travel series and graphic novels), CD’s, DVD’s, video games, and free internet access, Teen Central serves as an oasis of stimulating and educational books and other media.

And just to make sure teens don’t get bored of all those free books and music, the staff at Donnell’s Teen Central has also put together an itinerary of events and competitions for its ever-active clientèle. Teens compete with blenders during “Iron Chef” days and with video game controllers on “Game On” days. They can channel even more creative energy at craft workshops.

Wise teachers and parents know well the importance of summer reading lists to keep kids’ restless minds (and bodies) occupied. Yet new research shows just how much of an impact that summer reading has. As EdWeek reported this week on a recent Baltimore study, gaps in student achievement might very well be linked to the amount of reading done (or lack thereof) during those precious months outside school walls.

Check Teen Central’s calendar for a complete schedule of hours and programs going on this summer. Then check back in soon to see what the library has in store for the fast-approaching back-to-school days.

Congrats, kids and teachers!

Posted by Philissa at 8:27 AM

It's the last day of school, and kids and teachers should be proud of themselves for making it through another year, one replete with mid-year busing changes, reorganization announcements, and interim assessments. Enjoy your summers!

We hear so much about the challenges the school system and its students face, but there are always some success stories too, and a number of them have made it into the news lately. Today, the New York Times profiles six valedictorians, many of whom overcame great obstacles to graduate at the top of their classes. The DOE has also been highlighting a couple of top graduates each day, including a student at Eleanor Roosevelt High School who received a full scholarship to Franklin and Marshall College despite a period of homelessness and a Midwood High School graduate who left his family in Ghana to come to school in New York. He plans to be a teacher.

Taking a longer look at success, the New York Daily News checked in earlier this week with members of a 1994 kindergarten class at Harlem's PS 36. The students should be graduating from high school this year, and more than half are. Some, especially those who made the cut to attend the selective Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem, have done quite well and been admitted to selective colleges. In a city where the four-year graduation rate has only recently topped 50 percent, it's no surprise that some PS 36 kids are still enrolled or have dropped out. But across the city, kids have worked very hard to graduate, and we should all be proud of them.