Your independent guide to NYC public schools

Anyone who regularly reads Department of Education documents knows better than to expect fine literature. Many DOE memos and letters are so full of the bureaucratic nonsense known as “eduspeak” that they make an IRS 1040 form look like “Huckleberry Finn.” But a letter recently sent home with my 1st-grader set a new low.

The title, “Newly Identified District in Need of Improvement Year 10,” is parents’ first clue they’re in for trouble. Only the DOE could have a school district in need of improvement for 10 years and describe it as “Newly Identified.” But it gets worse.

I give you the second paragraph, as written, with boldface letters as shown in the original:

"During the 2010-11 school year, English Language Arts was designated as a District in Need of Improvement Year 9 (DINI-9) in English Language Arts. Because the District failed to make AYP at the elementary, middle and high school level in English Language Arts in 2010-11, the District has been designated as a District in Need of Improvement Year 10 (DINI-10) in English Language Arts for the 2011-12 school year."

At Insideschools, we aim to provide up-to-date data on New York City public schools. This data includes official statistics from New York City and New York State and is available on the Department of Education website as well as the New York State Report Card site. Charter school data not included in city statistics was provided by The Charter School Center. Below is a list of the main sources for data along with what we post on our site from each source:

Name, address, telephone number and principal name from the Department of Education LCGMS database 

Progress Report - Attendance, graduation rate, college ready, college enrollment, high school ready

NYC School Survey - percentage of student who feel safe, percentage of teachers who trust principal

School Demographics and Accountability Snapshot - Enrollment, free and reduced lunch, percent of English language learners, percent of students receiving special education services, ethnicity

Achievement Results - ELA and math scores for grades 3-8

Period Attendance Reporting - Attendance, enrollment for new schools

Class Size Report schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/data/classsize/classsize.htm Average class sizes (updated twice a year. If link is broken try schools.nyc.gov and search "class size")

Elementary school directory gifted and talented, dual language, and magnet programs.

Elementary and middle school zone maps:

http://nycopendata.socrata.com/Education/School-Zones-2011-2012/dqkt-8x6u

School overcrowding: School Construction Authority utilization reports

http://www.nycsca.org/Community/CapitalPlanManagementReportsData/Pages/EnrollmentCapacityUtilization.aspx

All other data was provided by the Department of Education by special request.

Dear Judy,

How does the DOE decide to start a dual language program? Are they proposed by interested parents?

ELL Mom.

Dear ELL Mom,

Parents do have a big role in establishing dual language programs: the Department of Education is obligated to start one if at least 12 parents of English language learners who speak the same home language request one.

Parents attending parent-teacher conferences this week may be hearing talk about the “Common Core” and wondering just what it is. At a Department of Education presentation in October, David Coleman, founder of the Grow Network and one of the authors of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), declared, “If you do this work [aligned with Common Core standards] then you’re ready for college.”

In short, the CCSS is not a curriculum but a set of standards defining the knowledge and skills that students from pre-kindergarten to 12^th grade need to master each year to be prepared for the next grade, and ultimately college or work. Creating common academic standards across the country was a state-led initiative, involving a coalition of governors and educators. The actual standards were developed by teachers, administrators, experts and parents.

Modeled after successful programs in the U.S. and abroad the Common Core standards are meant to provide teachers and parents with a shared understanding of what students are expected to learn. One aim is ensure that kids who move across city or even state lines end up in schools with the same information being taught.

At PS 24 in Sunset Park, 90 percent of the students are Latino and many are still learning to speak English. But, instead of giving them English-only instruction PS 24 offers a dual language program, with kindergartners getting 90% of their instruction in Spanish.

In 1st to 5th grade, students study half a day in English and half a day in Spanish but the early immersion in Spanish helps solidify reading and writing in two languages, offering longterm benefits for bilingual children, according to Principal Christina Fuentes.

Ramaa Reddy Raghavan, a reporting fellow at Feet in Two Worlds, writes that the"city’s dual language schools have a tough time competing with other schools in terms of academic performance." Because of that, some schools may be reluctant to start a program, despite the benefits for children becoming profiicent in two languages.  PS 24 got a "B" on last year's Progress Report -- an "A" for environment but a "D" for student performance on state tests.

Read A Dual Language School in Brooklyn Struggles to Meet DOE expectations But Succeeds in Child Development Areas on Feet in Two Worlds, a project of the Center for New York City Affairs.

Chancellor Dennis Walcott and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr will join education historian Diane Ravitch, Pedro Noguera and other education policy heavy-hitters at the first-ever Bronx Education Summit, Saturday, Oct. 15 at Lehman College.

Dr. Ravitch will deliver the keynote speech, "Improving Education for the Children of the Bronx," in the morning, followed by break-out sessions for parents and teachers on topics including early childhood, special education and English language learning. Our own education experts Jacqueline Wayans, Insideschools assignment editor, and Kim Nauer, education project director at our parent organization the Center for New York City Affairs, will participate in a panel discussion about parent involvement from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. In the afternoon, a panel of local education policy experts will discuss education in the Bronx, "from cradle to career."

A full schedule is available on the Bronx Borough President's website, though unfortunately, at this time, it appears that registration is closed. For those looking for advice from Jacqueline Wayans, it's not too late to register for her Oct. 25 workshop at City College, "Choosing the Right School for Your Child."

Half a dozen middle schools are experimenting with an unusual approach to teaching new immigrants English: Children write stories about their own lives and read them out loud in front of an audience. The exercises builds confidence and, in some cases, serves as a catharsis for children dealing with trauma, as an article by Peter McDermott in Feet in Two Worlds shows.

One boy described what it was like to walk across the border from Mexico. He shook as he told the story, but was greeted with thunderous applause when he finished. A girl described the sorrow of losing her mother. A girl wrote a poem about a troubled man in Pakistan.

The program is part of a federally-funded Story Studio for the Urban Arts Project. Some 365 students took part in the 2010-2011 school year at MS 131 in Manhattan; IS 62, IS 281 and IS 223 in Brooklyn; and IS 145 in Queens, and the program will continue this year.

Parents who want New York’s schools to help their children become bilingual can learn details about the city’s dual language programs on Saturday, Jan. 22, at a kindergarten information fair on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

The 60-minute documentary Speaking in Tongues, about four students who become fluent in two languages while attending public schools, will be shown Saturday from 1 to 2 p.m. during the District 3 Elementary School Fair. A 30-minute panel discussion titled “Why Dual Language?” will follow the film.

Saturday’s fair and dual language information session are designed for parents of children who will attend kindergarten in District 3, however the information about dual language programs is applicable citywide. The fair is at PS 165, located at 234 West 109th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue and runs from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The most common dual language programs offer instruction in Spanish and English, but some schools  offer programs in French, Chinese, Korean, Haitian Creole, and Russian. A list of schools with dual-language classes is available from the Department of Education website.

Most dual language courses offer full-immersion instruction, with instructors speaking English half the day and a foreign language the other half. Dual language classes typically feature a mix of kids who are native English speakers alongside kids who speak a foreign language at home.

Application to a dual language program for native English-speakers is made once your child is registered and admitted at a New York school that offers a dual language class. Space in dual language classes is sometimes limited, and spots cannot always be guaranteed during the registration period. Preference may be given to parents who can prove their child will be encouraged to speak both languages at home as well as in school. Students who are still learning to speak English, or who are native speakers of another language, have the option of enrolling in dual language, English as a Second Language, or bilingual programs.

Without the option of a local diploma many students won't graduate at all, according to a report released today by Advocates for Children (AFC).  More than a Statistic: Faces of the Local Diploma, chronicles nine high school graduates' pathways to college and careers taken after earning a local diploma. A local diploma has less stringent requirements than a Regents diploma and is being phased out for both general and special education students.

In 2009, roughly 15 percent of statewide graduates earned a local diploma.  A disproportionate number of them were Black and Latino students, English language learners, and students with special needs.

"The paper calls on officials to remember the needs of this group of students and develop alternative pathways to earn a regular high school diploma in the State," said AFC Director, Kim Sweet.  “No matter what you think of the local diploma, it does in fact have value as a credential that makes opportunities available to the students who receive it, ” Sweet stated in a press release.

Under the state's  new requirement, general education students entering ninth grade in 2008  or later, and special education students entering 9th grade in 2011 or later, will have to meet the standards of a Regents diploma to graduate.

“Ultimately, we would like to see all students have a pathway to a Regents diploma,” said Sweet. “but merely removing the option of the local diploma is not enough to move all students to the point of meeting the more demanding Regents diploma requirements."

Read AFC's press release here and the full report here.

Eighteen parents of students learning to speak English and 21 parents of children with special education needs have come forward to run for election to the newly created citywide parent council for English Language Learners and the Citywide Council for Special Education. The creation of the councils was mandated by the state law in August which extended Mayor Bloomberg's control of the city schools.

Each council has 11 members, nine parents and two experts appointed by the public advocate who are expected to have extensive experience and knowledge in educating or working with people with disabilities, or with students who are learning to speaking English. A high school senior will also be appointed for each council.

Forums to introduce the candidates were held this month in all boroughs to introduce the candidates,although they were sparsely attended.

The Department of Education is urging parents of ELLs and children with special needs to vote in an advisory election online now through Friday, April 30. This advisory election is meant to instruct Parents Association officers who do the actual selection of the council members. Parents may log onto www.powertotheparents.org to vote.

The vote is only open to parents of students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or English Language Learners.

To vote, log onto www.powertotheparents.org .

(1) Click button on the screen that says "VOTE HERE"

(2) Enter your Student's ID # (OSIS) to login

(3) Enter your Zip Code as the password

(4) When the candidate list appears, click the box next to the name of candidates that you want to vote for.

(5) Click the button that says "SUBMIT VOTE"

An acknowledgment of the vote will appear on the screen so parents know their votes have been received.

What do you think of the new councils? Are you planning to vote? Comment below.