Post by Chris_Wendt on Mar 28, 2014 6:50:18 GMT -5
I like to probe, that is my nature. Probing is related to poking and provoking, which are both effective methods of probing.
I also fixate, tenaciously, on issue of major interest to me. I am also one of those few people left who still like to talk on the train with my fellow passengers. By train, I mean the LIRR and the NYCTA Subways. By talk, I mean face-to-face conversations. Since August, many of my conversations have been about the Common Core and people's perception of it, their experiences, attitudes, reactions and plans.
Yesterday, I was speaking with a man, originally from Brazil, who has two daughters, a Kindergartener and a Fifth Grader, in Queens. His kindergartner is doing well under the rigor, as is my granddaughter who attends full-day K in Suffolk County. His fifth grader is preparing for her second year of Common Core-based State Assessments. She did well last year in fourth grade in both ELA & Math (3's). This year he expects she will also do well, along with the rest of her class (and the rest of her school) at PS/IS 49 in Queens District 24. What was the basis for his optimism?
This school has embraced the Common Core, and dare I say that all of the parents have "bought-in" to meeting the challenge to raise the bar for their children's education. This may sound like Pollyanna, even to me. But I wrote that statement after I looked into the facts. The principal of the school and the teachers decided to offer a voluntary extra "period" for CC test preparation at 7:15 AM each day. I am told that everybody has taken advantage of this, effectively moving the start of the school day early...until the Assessments begin next month. Today is the last early morning test prep period, and the guy I was talking to was happy about that, for selfish reasons. He had to make arrangements with his own job in order to get his older daughter to school early, which caused minor stress for him.
So, was this additional work valuable? Of course it is too early to know for the 2014 Assessments; how difficult will the actual test be compared to last year, how well (better?) prepared were the teachers (and thus, the kids) for the actual subject matter? The results won't be out probably for 3, 4 or 5 months, if last year is any gauge of that. Ah, but last year told an important story at PS/IS 49, Dorothy Bonawit Kole School (K-8), in Middle Village, Queens. I ran the numbers yesterday, using the raw scores and rankings (1,2,3,4) from the 2013 Assessments against the 2011-12 NYSED School Report Cards (these being the only data available to the public at this time). In 2012 the (non-Common Core-based) State Assessment ratings for this school were 80% attaining 3 or 4; last year, the (Common Core-based) State Assessment results averaged only 51% attaining 3 or 4 ratings (Grades 3-8, ELA & Math scores, aggregated, for comparing both results). A 37% decline of "Passing" scores (3+4), 29 points off their average, in one year.
But these parents all knew that their children did not get stupid in that one year between assessments. They know what their children are capable of achieving, So this year, in that school, they worked hard, made sacrifices of time and effort, and there was zero talk about "opting-out". Instead, its: "We're Ready. Bring it on!"
Bring it on!
Chris Wendt
Data/Facts about the school, PS/IS 49
1,060 Students
32 Average Class Size
47% Eligible for Free/Reduced Price Lunch
5% Limited English Proficiency
54% White
29% Latino
15% Asian
01% Black
95% Attendance Rate
0-0% Student Suspensions!
(This is NOT a Charter School)
I also fixate, tenaciously, on issue of major interest to me. I am also one of those few people left who still like to talk on the train with my fellow passengers. By train, I mean the LIRR and the NYCTA Subways. By talk, I mean face-to-face conversations. Since August, many of my conversations have been about the Common Core and people's perception of it, their experiences, attitudes, reactions and plans.
Yesterday, I was speaking with a man, originally from Brazil, who has two daughters, a Kindergartener and a Fifth Grader, in Queens. His kindergartner is doing well under the rigor, as is my granddaughter who attends full-day K in Suffolk County. His fifth grader is preparing for her second year of Common Core-based State Assessments. She did well last year in fourth grade in both ELA & Math (3's). This year he expects she will also do well, along with the rest of her class (and the rest of her school) at PS/IS 49 in Queens District 24. What was the basis for his optimism?
This school has embraced the Common Core, and dare I say that all of the parents have "bought-in" to meeting the challenge to raise the bar for their children's education. This may sound like Pollyanna, even to me. But I wrote that statement after I looked into the facts. The principal of the school and the teachers decided to offer a voluntary extra "period" for CC test preparation at 7:15 AM each day. I am told that everybody has taken advantage of this, effectively moving the start of the school day early...until the Assessments begin next month. Today is the last early morning test prep period, and the guy I was talking to was happy about that, for selfish reasons. He had to make arrangements with his own job in order to get his older daughter to school early, which caused minor stress for him.
So, was this additional work valuable? Of course it is too early to know for the 2014 Assessments; how difficult will the actual test be compared to last year, how well (better?) prepared were the teachers (and thus, the kids) for the actual subject matter? The results won't be out probably for 3, 4 or 5 months, if last year is any gauge of that. Ah, but last year told an important story at PS/IS 49, Dorothy Bonawit Kole School (K-8), in Middle Village, Queens. I ran the numbers yesterday, using the raw scores and rankings (1,2,3,4) from the 2013 Assessments against the 2011-12 NYSED School Report Cards (these being the only data available to the public at this time). In 2012 the (non-Common Core-based) State Assessment ratings for this school were 80% attaining 3 or 4; last year, the (Common Core-based) State Assessment results averaged only 51% attaining 3 or 4 ratings (Grades 3-8, ELA & Math scores, aggregated, for comparing both results). A 37% decline of "Passing" scores (3+4), 29 points off their average, in one year.
But these parents all knew that their children did not get stupid in that one year between assessments. They know what their children are capable of achieving, So this year, in that school, they worked hard, made sacrifices of time and effort, and there was zero talk about "opting-out". Instead, its: "We're Ready. Bring it on!"
Bring it on!
Chris Wendt
Data/Facts about the school, PS/IS 49
1,060 Students
32 Average Class Size
47% Eligible for Free/Reduced Price Lunch
5% Limited English Proficiency
54% White
29% Latino
15% Asian
01% Black
95% Attendance Rate
0-0% Student Suspensions!
(This is NOT a Charter School)
