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November 13, 2008

Brooklyn High Schools Improve

brooklyn-tech-1108.jpg
When school report cards were released back in September, there were troubling results: even some popular, esteemed schools got bad grades (which could have been the fault of the grading system itself). Well, better news today. New York City high schools have now been reviewed, and their scores are looking pretty good, both the NY Times and the NY Post reported. Eighty-two percent of schools earned an A or B, up 17 percent from last year. Brooklyn Tech jumped from a B to an A, and what was the number one best rated high school? Brooklyn International, downtown.
Most City High Schools Improved This Year [NY Times]
High Marks for High Schools [NY Post]
Photo by AllWaysNY.




Posted by lisa at 9:04 AM | Comments (12)
Categories: Schools

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Comments

Does it seem suspect to anyone else when the BOE grades itself?

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at November 13, 2008 9:09 AM

yeah really dave.

and do kids even GO to school?! i work in soho and sees hordes and hordes of fantastically dressed kids walking around in the middle of a school day buying useless crap. perhaps im just jealous tho. ha.

however im also a firm believer that you make what you want out of your education. you can go to the crappiest school ever and still get a great education. spending 30k a year on a 6th grader's education might open more doors for them but it doesn't make them any smarter.

-r

Posted by: PitbullNYC at November 13, 2008 9:22 AM

They count on the high drop out rate among HS students in order to relieve overcrowding in the schools. That way they don't have to build any new ones.

Posted by: IMBY at November 13, 2008 9:39 AM

yeah i was just reading an article the other day about most kids are just automatically passed anyway just to keep some from being in high school for 5 years?

-rob

Posted by: PitbullNYC at November 13, 2008 9:43 AM

if dropout rate reaches a certain point, hopefully we can turn the school to a condo conversion

Posted by: goldie at November 13, 2008 9:44 AM

I think Klein's report cards are absurd. I'm really distressed that he's on the short list for Obama's Secretary of Education.

Posted by: mscrochety at November 13, 2008 10:56 AM

It should always be remembered that these are "progress" reports, not evaluations of the school per se. A bad school that made great strides, but is still pretty mediocre, can get an "A" or a "B" on its progress report. An excellent school that remains unchanged can receive a grade that misleadingly gives the impression that its not a good school.

Posted by: g man at November 13, 2008 11:07 AM

"however im also a firm believer that you make what you want out of your education. you can go to the crappiest school ever and still get a great education."

Quite true - I'm from a family that includes several educators, and have myself attended public schools in NYC and private schools in New England. Parental involvement and the student's desire to achieve are the most critical elements.

Posted by: East New York at November 13, 2008 11:24 AM

ENY - totally agree with your last sentence. Unfortunately the debate usually moves to blaming the teachers and/or city.

Posted by: dittoburg at November 13, 2008 1:05 PM

damn straight east new york! the books are out there to read

Posted by: wine lover at November 13, 2008 4:22 PM

The new "progress" grades for schools are simply a scheme to distribute money to schools that traditionally underperform.
Basically, each school is supposed to receive an equal share of education funds, but crappy schools that have traditionally performed badly need an incentive to do well, problem is, they can't just give the money to these schools and tell them to do better without giving equal amounts to schools performing above average.
thus the "progress" grades. these grades enable the bureaucrats to distribute funds to needy schools without giving money to schools performing well already.
what results is a bunch of discordant grades; schools that are known for excellence and achievement get mediocre grades of B or C because they can't progress any further, schools that seem to be doing better get A's and a pat on the back with some money, schools that are hopeless just fail and are given notice.

Posted by: Legion at November 13, 2008 7:53 PM

Apparently they haven't gotten around to giving an overall grade to my alma mater, South Shore, but it's nice to see that the statistics indicate it's still a giant shithole, with a four-year graduation rate of 30%.

Posted by: fordmadoxfraud at November 14, 2008 6:21 PM

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