The absurd, silly, ridiculous school grades

See articles on this year’s elementary and middle school grades, or “progress reports”: Times, NY Post, Daily News, NY1, and this piece in Gotham schools (the best).



They are replete with examples of the absurd results, with schools such as PS 82 in the Bronx jumping from an “A” to an “F” and back this year to an “A”. PS 8 in Brooklyn which got an “F” last year and this year got an “A”, with the principal saying they did nothing different. The three schools that Klein tried to close last year to put charter schools in their place-- P.S. 194, 241 and 150 – all got “As”.

In fact, 84% of the schools got an “A” this year, and only two schools out of more than one thousand got “F”s. This is grade inflation that would put any human being other than Joel Klein to hide his head in shame.

And yet, according to the NY Times, “he clearly took pride in the results. “If you’re asking whether I would rather see less A’s,” he said, “the answer is no.”

Meanwhile, 87% of principals said in a recent survey that their schools were unable to provide a quality education because of excessive class sizes.

The absurdity of the grades this year derive from two profound flaws: First, 85% of the grade is based on one year’s gains or losses in test scores, which experts have found to be statistically unreliable and extremely erratic.

And two, the state tests have become so much easier and their scoring so lax that students can pass them without reading the questions – as long as they manage to fill in a few bubbles along the way. (For more on this scandal, well-reported everywhere except the Times, see the Daily News here and here, Gotham Schools and this NY Post column by Diane Ravitch.)

I wrote an oped for the Daily news about the new grading system when it was first announced in the fall of 2007: “Why parents & teachers should reject new school grades.” It starts out this way: “The new school grading system unveiled this week by Chancellor Joel Klein is a fiasco.”

But what do you expect when you had two guys in charge, Liebman and Klein, who are ignorant as to statistics, the unreliability of test scores, and even the larger goals of education?

Perhaps the best result is where we have now arrived: hopefully everyone realizes that the emperor has no clothes and they should ignore these silly grades, as they should have in the first place.

Advocates for Children candidate survey results

Advocates for Children announced the results of a new survey on education policy today. Candidates in the 2009 New York City elections for mayor, public advocate, and comptroller provided answers to questions covering a variety of controversial issues that affect local public schools. Mayor Bloomberg, unfortunately, refused to respond.

Click here to see the full press release and here to download the full results. Here are the results regarding class size:

5. Education outcomes will not improve significantly until class sizes are reduced.

Public Advocate

Bill de Blasio No Response

Eric Gioia Agree

Mark Green Strongly Agree

Norman H. Siegel Strongly Agree

Alex T. Zablocki Agree

Mayor

Tony Avella Strongly Agree

Robert Burck Strongly Disagree

Joseph Dobrian Strongly Disagree

Tyrell Eiland Strongly Agree

John Finan Strongly Agree

Walter Iwachiw Neither Agree nor Disagree

Roland Rogers Strongly Agree

Bill Thompson Strongly Agree

Frances Villar Strongly Agree

Comptroller

Joseph A. Mendola Strongly Agree

David Yassky Agree

Was it the Bird? Was it the Plane? No, it was Super-Mayor!

September 2, 2009 (GBN News): A recent New York Post report appears to blame a “kamikaze bird” for an incident involving Mayor Bloomberg’s plane on the way to Senator Ted Kennedy’s funeral. However, the results of an FAA investigation tell an entirely different story, one which could prove embarrassing for the Mayor in an election year.

The FAA report, obtained by GBN News, finds that the Mayor’s plane “deliberately targeted a flock of Canada geese, striking one directly with the engine, killing the bird instantly.” The report was forwarded to the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation, which immediately slapped the Mayor and his entire party with a fine for “hunting out of season, and without a license”.

A spokesperson for the Mayor categorically denied that Mr. Bloomberg’s plane purposely targeted the ill-fated bird. But an FAA official, speaking to GBN News on condition of anonymity, said the investigation showed that the Mayor had clearly demanded that the pilot go after the birds. When asked why Teachers Union President Randi Weingarten, traveling with the Mayor, was included in the charges, the official said, “She acts in such lockstep with the Mayor over education issues, we just assumed she’d do the same in this situation.”

J. Fredrick Runson, head of the School of Veterinary Medicine at Manhattan University, was asked why the Mayor would choose this particular method of hunting. “It’s just typical Bloomberg overkill,” he told GBN News. “Why use a mere rifle when you’ve got an entire jet plane at your disposal? It’s no different from the way he uses his billions to go after political opponents. Won’t even give them a sporting chance.”