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New York
June 26, 2015

We asked, you answered: What did you learn this school year?

With the year at an end, we asked some Chalkbeat readers to tell us — and they had some great answers. We'd love to know yours, too.

A New Challenge

New York
September 8, 2014

For unaccompanied minors, the school year begins with uncertainty

Hundreds of minors who have fled violence in Central America will start school this fall with the question of their immigration status looming overhead.
New York
July 1, 2014

As Columbus closes, its last class celebrates a bittersweet graduation

More than 140 under-performing schools have closed since the Bloomberg administration began phasing schools out early in his tenure. Christopher Columbus High School is one of 18 to graduate its last class this year.
New York
August 9, 2013

The Envelope, Please: Checking My Common Core Math

Here’s the dirty little secret: No one truly understands the numbers. We are behaving as though the sorting of students into four proficiency categories based on a couple of days of tests tells us something profound about our schools, our teachers, and our children.
New York
August 2, 2013

Big Schools Questions That Need Candidates’ Answers

New York's school system is too complex, our students too diverse, for yes/no answers to our most pressing problems. In electing someone to govern, rather than merely win, mayoral candidates should be made to answer hard questions to earn their place in City Hall.
New York
July 18, 2013

When My School Failed, Nelson Mandela Re-Inspired Me

On the occasion of Nelson Mandela's 95th birthday and Mandela Day, celebrated worldwide, GothamSchools is collecting tales from New York City schools about the former president of South Africa. Jeniffer Montano met him in 2009 when she was a student at Jill Chaifetz Transfer High School. Nelson Mandela, the man, the leader, the hero, had, for a brief moment, acknowledged me. That simple handshake changed my whole life. If I could do something worthy enough to be placed in front of Mandela, then surely I could achieve anything.
New York
July 18, 2013

Independent Study Spurs Unlikely Meeting With Mandela

On the occasion of Nelson Mandela's 95th birthday and Mandela Day, celebrated worldwide, GothamSchools is collecting tales from New York City schools about the former president of South Africa. Rabih Ahmed is a college student who met Mandela in South Africa when she was a ninth-grader at Bronx Guild High School. Had I not traveled to South Africa during my freshman year of high school, I wouldn’t be the conscious and educated young adult that I am today.
New York
July 15, 2013

Reading Closely For Connection In The Common Core

The Common Core’s reverence for the text as “the master class,” as chief creator David Coleman said in a 2011 speech, means that students’ personal interpretations are deemphasized — and even denounced. That particular pendulum swing has me concerned because, in my experience, students must also bring their own perspectives and experiences to the text if they are to read critically.
New York
June 21, 2013

Toward A Broader Definition Of Teacher Excellence

A few days after a new teacher evaluation system made headlines in New York, I was honored as one of 50 finalists for the Department of Education's Big Apple Awards, designed to “recognize the city’s best teachers and support a system-wide conversation about excellence in the classroom." ... But couldn’t the Department of Education do more to honor not just 50 of “the city’s best” but the great majority of city teachers who work hard for their schools and students every single day?
New York
June 6, 2013

Broker Like a Champion

I’ve been a Doug Lemov devotee for a couple of years now, but I never expected his lessons for teachers would also apply to apartment-hunting until I was racing around Brooklyn with real-estate brokers during a sticky Memorial Day weekend.
New York
May 21, 2013

If NYC’s Common Core Test Scores Mimic Kentucky’s

Until now, only Kentucky has administered state assessments aligned with the new Common Core standards, and the results were frightening. ... I’ve made some projections of New York City’s likely performance on the new state assessments, based on what happened in Kentucky.
New York
May 10, 2013

Having A Dream, And A Dream Director, In High School

It is so easy to feel defeated in high school, so it is incredibly powerful to know that there is someone in my school whose full time job is to support my dreams and believes in me.
New York
April 24, 2013

The Trouble With Not Releasing State Test Items

Discussions about the content and quality of New York State's Common Core-aligned assessments are hamstrung by the state's decision not to release test items to the public.
New York
April 22, 2013

A Principled Defense Of Standardized Testing

Some of the criticism that has been directed toward the latest state tests has been misplaced. Understanding basic principles of test design makes it possible to see that the tests are doing their best to accomplish a steep, socially important task.
New York
April 12, 2013

How Student Work Can Illuminate Teaching

Sometimes, after a discouraging week, I sit down to correct homework and am enlightened, intrigued, and moved by what I read. For this reason, the opportunity to showcase and discuss my students’ work comes as a great treat.
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