Are “replacement” schools making the grade?
The Daily News reported yesterday that five of the city’s schools that posted the lowest scores on state math exams this year had been opened to replace failing schools closed by the Department of Education for poor performance. Additionally, the News reported, some of the schools slated for closure this year actually made test score improvements that were twice that of the citywide average . Other schools targeted for closure posted scores close to the citywide average when their student demographics (such as the special education population or number of English Language Learners) are taken into account.
The policy of closing schools is one of the most controversial initiatives launched since the state gave Mayor Bloomberg control of the city’s school system. What is your experiences with “replacement” schools in your neighborhood? Do you support or oppose the policy?
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I think that replacement schools are ineffective if they continue to accept/have placed in them the same type of students the original school had. Something has to change; students with lower test scores need to be spread around/not grouped in one school, and the same goes for students with behavior issues. In my experience, the schools I’ve seen closed are the ones that were used as “dumping grounds” for the students that no other school wanted. Sometimes these were students from outside the district, sometimes not. If certain schools in the district are exempt from taking students with behavioral issues, it leaves a larger number for those schools that do. Choice districts, where some schools accept “1st Choice applicants, only” or where they are “special” schools exempt from neighborhood catchments, will always have schools on the other end that have large populations of students with lower scores, behavioral issues, etc. One end (the so-called “top end” breeds the “bottom end”. Some might compare this to G & T programs vs non-G & T (Aren’t all our children gifted? isn’t it up to the educators to bring our children’s giftedness out, in whatever way it manifests itself?)Sorry if I went a little off topic…
Comment by Anon — July 15, 2009 @ 7:20 pm