Time for PS 20 Principal to Get The Boot?
In an article about how the Community Roots Charter School in Fort Greene is now harder to get into than Harvard today (play-by-play of the lottery is here), The Brooklyn Paper points to the unpopular principal at PS 20 (where a new gifted school is scheduled to open next year) as one of the reasons…
In an article about how the Community Roots Charter School in Fort Greene is now harder to get into than Harvard today (play-by-play of the lottery is here), The Brooklyn Paper points to the unpopular principal at PS 20 (where a new gifted school is scheduled to open next year) as one of the reasons why so many parents signed up for the charter school lottery. The sentiment echoes numerous comments on the schools thread we had on Brownstoner earlier this week, where even the school’s critics and defenders seemed to agree that the principal was a big problem. A commenter on Inside Schools says something similar: “The principal is a disaster. He is authoritarian, defensive, and almost incapable of taking input seriously.” And speaking of PS 20 in a recent thread on the Times’ Local blog, one commenter said, “The DOE needs to clean house.” So the anecdotal evidence against this principal is sounding pretty compelling. Let’s see if a poll backs that up—and then maybe someone who has a connection to Joel Klein can forward the feedback. At the very least, perhaps he can be persuaded to change his ways. If you live in Fort Greene or Clinton Hill, please vote below.
Of course parents are looking at tests scores. But a lot of Brooklyn parents (with the money to buy expensive real estate) also want a nurturing environment, creative expression, stimulating after-school programs, music, dance, theater, art… Ahem, they want 321. Or something very like it.
There are a handful of “good” schools in Brooklyn, which have little to offer other than high test scores, achieved largely by spending an inordinate amount of time on test prep.
I don’t know anything about the school in question… this is just a general observation.
Testing as a measure of success is certainly more objective than word of mouth or anonymous postings on the internet.
I mean when its time for your child to go to middle school, its the test score that counts, not the reputation of the principal or school.
While i personally didn’t feel welcomed into the school by the principal at 20 I feel like this kind of poll is in bad taste. It feels vaguely threatening- and unfair. If people want to discuss the situation with the school board i think that information is only relevant if people put their names to it.
In terms of test scores- on an objective level there are a lot of parents that want a school that is test/ clearly goal oriented- and for these parents the style of the principal and school works. A principal has much sway over how a school acts and feels – and in this situation I think that a lot of the people who go to the school like what he is doing with it. A lot of these parents might not be reading or commenting on brownstoner so a poll like this is even less useful- and quite possibly divisive. I think that the problem here lies less with the principal than with parents freedom and ability to choose where they send their children
In terms of test scores at 20 vs 11 – i think a lot parents- rather than being interested in seeing a school test well- or even their child test well- are more concerned that their child is learning in less test oriented way- as they feel that in the long run the children will be more successful in terms of their ability to think on a deeper conceptual level. Parents should have more ability to choose where their child goes- rather than test scores – school desirablity – or in other words- market forces – would be an even stronger indicator of school success.
I admit I am not familiar with this school or the principal but I am appalled by the tone of the post. Based on a few shreds of evidence you are calling for the firing of a principal, backed by a poll that allows for multiple votes? How about a more reasoned debate? How about considering other methods before calling for removal of a person who clearly is not all bad? You’re potentially damaging or ruining some person’s career forever, so please do them the courtesy of going beyond a flip post and a superficial poll that can easily be manipulated.
thanks. interesting. the huge fluctuations y-o-y for scores for many of the schools doesn’t really inspire confidence in testing as a good measure, does it?
i disagree,
Citywide ELA results in Excel format, http://schools.nyc.gov/accountability/Reports/Data/TestResults/2008/ELA/Excel/Ela%2038%20School%20By%20Grade%202006-08.xls
Citywide Math results in Excel format, http://schools.nyc.gov/Accountability/Reports/Data/testresults/2008/math/Excel/Math%2038%20School%20By%20Grade%202006-2008.xls
These are pretty big files with every school district. PS 20 is District 13. Sort and you will find..
can you link me to your stats, csa? the most recent ones i have seen are incomplete (just english):
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/nyregion/20070522_SCORES_GRAPHIC.html
and ps 11 seems to be outpacing ps 20 by quite a bit, and ps 9, 282 and 8 appear to be doing better than (or at least as good as) both in the early grades. i’m not zoned for 11 or 20, so i don’t have a dog in this fight, really. but i’m intrigued by the new gifted program and would like to see it succeed in our district.
For all the negative anecdotal evidence against the Principal of this school, the actual objective test scores tell a different story. 95% of 3 grade students scored a 3 or 4 on the state Math test(3rd highest in district) and 78% of 3rd graders scored 3 or 4 on the state ELA(highest in district). By most measures, this would be considered a successful school.
How can this school be soo bad when they consistently score at the top in district 13. PS 11 by example, scored 83%(13th) on Math and 62%(9th) on the ELA in this same subset.
I don’t understand why the principal at PS 11 continues to get rave reviews as test scores have actually fallen off since 2006.
I have no personal experience, and am only going with what I’ve seen posted on inside schools and overheard on the playground, (we’re zoned for 11), but it sounds like the typical gentrification stuff to me. PS 20’s principal has made the school somewhat of a success, I gather? But some parents don’t like his methods, and so the school is … uh, not that diverse.