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School reports show progress
Sep 17, 2009 1:35 PM
UFT President Michael Mulgrew finds out how PS 189, Manhattan, went from the Schools in Need of Improvement list to an A from teachers (clockwise from left) Faryn D’Adamo, Victoria Wheeler, Julia Ramirez, Caitlin Cahill, Wendy Basora and Susana Corporan.
According to the latest measures from the Department of Education, 97 percent of the city’s elementary and middle schools received A’s or B’s on their progress reports. Only two schools received an F, down from 18 last year, and five schools scored a D. All schools that were graded F last year received A’s or B’s this year.
Three schools that the city tried to close last year — PS 194 and 241 in Harlem and PS 150 in Brooklyn — all earned A’s this year. The chancellor defended the DOE’s plans to shutter them, noting that school officials also look at factors such as declining student enrollment.
The schools were saved for the time being only because the UFT and parents sued to keep them open. Those three schools are being given contradictory messages, UFT President Michael Mulgrew said. “I’m happy our teachers are doing well, yet by continuing to talk about closings, it’s as if the DOE is saying it doesn’t matter what the teachers do,” he said.
PS 150 Chapter Leader Marisol Pena said that it is “discouraging” that the best efforts of teachers, students and the community to maintain their local school may not change the DOE’s plans for their school.
“I’d like to tell the chancellor that traditional public schools are worth the time and investment to get it right, and we have his data to prove it,” Pena said.
PS 189 in Manhattan, the site of a DOE press conference to announce the school scores, was once on the Schools in Need of Improvement list and this year scored an A on its progress report.
“You can see the dedicated teachers on every floor of this building. They don’t have to be here today [because school isn’t in session] but they are,” Mulgrew said.
Jessica Grabiner, a 5th-grade teacher at PS 189, shared the staff’s strategies for bringing up their school’s results.
“It was through collaboration, analyzing data, and setting high expectations that we were able to meet the goals that we are here to celebrate today,” she said. “My colleagues and I worked to create high-interest lessons and used formal and informal assessments on an ongoing basis. Each student had many opportunities to reach success.”
Mulgrew listens as Jessica Grabiner, a 5th-grade teacher at PS 189, shares the staff’s strategies for bringing up their school’s results.
She explained that she and her colleagues worked as a team to create their lessons. “It’s about getting to know your students — are they interested in science? We can use that in reading and math to create meaningful projects,” she said.
Informal assessments such as observations, conferences and class participation were critical tools, she said.
“We have a wonderful community and everyone is a part of the learning. I’m looking forward to keeping the momentum going,” Grabiner said.
School environment accounts for 15 percent of the grade, while the other 85 percent is a combination of student progress and achievement on state exams. Schools are compared to all schools at the same level citywide as well as to schools with similar student populations. Schools can earn extra credit when struggling students improve.
Reporters at the press conference questioned the high grades, which are based primarily on state test scores.
“We want to make it clear that the grades reflect that they met their progress targets, not that they don’t have a lot of improvement ahead of them,” Chancellor Joel Klein responded.
