New York legislators push for more climate change education in schools
NPR features The Lehman Alternative Community School’s inquiry-based climate change curriculum as a model for the state.
By Rebecca Redelmeier, WBFO - NPR, Apr. 2, 2024
Revising Graduation Requirements Could Improve Academic Rigor in New York
Some students flourish in a more progressive educational environment, which reduces the importance of formal examinations. The schools currently in the Performance Standards Consortium, working under a partial waiver of the current testing requirements, are allowed to replace two of the four required Regents exams with their own rigorous assessments and have a strong record of success with these students. The Regents are right to expand that project, with support for the proper training of teachers in the Consortium’s methods. Finally, the local diploma should be reinstated, indicating that a student attended high school (with their attendance really tracked and at a reasonable level) and passed their courses.
By Ray Domanico, Education Next, Winter 2024
The test without the Regents: New York must have high standards for high school grads
the New York Performance Standards Consortium have pointed to a better way, replacing five passing scores with more compelling proof that kids have learned at a high level, typically analytical essays, extended original science experiments and the like, all of which are graded using rigorous criteria. The principal of one such school said the approach “frees you to go into much more depth into what you’re studying and allows for inquiry.” A 2020 study showed kids from the schools were likelier to graduate, to go on to college — and to stay in college.
By the New York Daily News Editorial Board, Nov., 2023
[If you have trouble accessing the article at the above link, try here.]
As state rethinks grad requirements, a group of NYC schools offers lessons on swapping out Regents
…17-year-old Helen Chen hunched over a case of essential oils, extracting drops and mixing them together as part of a months long quest to develop new perfume scents free of toxic chemicals. There’s an unusual level of student freedom. School staffers say that would be impossible without a key feature of Leaders that sets it apart from most other New York City high schools: Students here aren’t required to take year-end Regents exams that usually serve as graduation requirements. Instead, Leaders’ seniors will document the results of their experiments and present their findings to a panel of educators and experts in what’s known as a “performance-based assessment.” When Regents exams are the end goal, the entire curriculum is shaped to drive success on the tests, said Leaders Principal Tom Mullen. Without those tests as the final assessment, there’s a “really powerful” opportunity to reshape what and how students learn. “It frees you up to go into much more depth into what you’re studying and allows for inquiry,” he said.
Michael Elsen-Rooney, Chalkbeat, Mar 28, 2023
My high school is exempt from Regents exams. Other schools should be, too.
Proponents of standardized testing say eliminating these assessments would lower high school standards. In reality, consortium schools raise the bar. Students at my school hone sophisticated research and writing skills and contribute to the community in profound ways. As a New York state commission mulls eliminating the Regents as a graduation requirement, I want them to know that my peers are some of the most brilliant, responsible, and upstanding people I have ever met. Our high school experience has taught us to be free and independent thinkers. We are more than prepared for college and beyond. I wish all New York City public school students had the opportunities that we do.
Alexander Calafiura, Chalkbeat (Mar 28, 2023)
Some New York schools providing alternative to Regents exams
According to the New York State Education Department, Regents exams prevent 13.1% of high school students from graduating on time… "School Without Walls is part of a group of schools called the New York Performance Standards Consortium and because of that we are exempt from all Regents exams except for the ELA," said Wasa Bouphavong, a social studies teacher at the school. In place of passing Regents exams, students learn skills they can use in college, like researching and public speaking. "In life, you know, there's not just one answer, one complete, one perfect answer," Bouphavong said. "We try to teach that there are multiple ways to get to wherever you want to go." For Bullock, the different approach to her education has proved beneficial. "I feel really good," she said. "This will prepare me for college. I'm not really as nervous to really get into college now. I feel like I'll be really good for right now."
In June, the Consortium sponsored Math Is a Problem, a close look at how, with innovative approaches to pedagogy and motivated teachers, Consortium kids can help solve the problem of math education in our public schools. Students led groups of adults through the thinking process for tackling challenging problems of mathematics and clearly impressed all who attended.
Phyllis Tashlik, New York Daily News (Jul. 2022)
Shockingly good news about New York City public high schools
A conservative think tank does the research and highly recommends the NY Performance Standards Consortium. In their words, "The success of these schools in getting graduates into college — and the success of their students once they are in college — is admirable.”
Reporting on this research, Jay Matthews writes, "It’s hard work to toss out standardized tests in favor of performance assessments and big research papers. But I wish more districts in other parts of the country would give such schools a try.”
Jay Matthews, Washington Post (Jan. 2022)
Teacher Shortages Will Linger When the Pandemic Wanes
“Retaining and attracting good teachers will require a rethinking of what it means to treat them as professionals. High levels of teacher engagement and retention are key to high student outcomes, and almost always involve giving teachers greater autonomy in exchange for accountability, and providing the training and support teachers need to succeed.
At one end of the spectrum are the progressive public schools affiliated with the New York Performance Standards Consortium, which decades ago were allowed to replace most standardized tests with projects focused on writing, problem-solving and research — a system that relies on in-depth teacher training and collaboration. Consortium teachers coach junior faculty and evaluate projects at other consortium schools to ensure that standards stay high. Consortium schools have outpaced schools with similar demographics on both graduation and college matriculation rates, and turnover is a fraction of the rate at comparable public schools.”
By Andrea Gabor, Washington Post (Jan. 8, 2022)
Oral presentations, research papers, science experiments: NY to pilot new ways of earning a diploma
“A yearslong effort to rethink how New York students earn a diploma is inching along with the announcement of a new pilot program on Monday aiming to study alternatives to the more than century-old Regents exams.
The pilot program, which is still in the planning stages this school year, will add some real-world data to other efforts that are again underway over diploma regulations. State officials are restarting a series of roundtable discussions with educators and families across the state about how they’d want to change diploma requirements, they said Monday. That initiative had started in 2019, but paused in March 2020 when the COVID pandemic hit New York.”
By Reema Amin, Chalkbeat (Oct. 18, 2021)
Stop testing NYC kids into a tizzy
“While children often suffer because of them, standardized tests benefit no one more than for-profit testing companies…
After the trauma of 2020 and 2021, kids need to return to schools that are welcoming places of vibrant learning, warmth and joy. Many will be entering school buildings for the first time ever, and most will be experiencing an in-person learning environment for the first time in three semesters. This fall, the DOE should be helping schools focus on community, curiosity and socialization. It should help teachers unlock students’ potential and make school a humane and inviting place. Screening students for “learning loss” ignores the reality of their lives during the pandemic, which required mental flexibility, resilience, new skills, self-management, and, above all, grit.”
By Johanna Miller and Ann Cook, New York Daily News (Sep. 14, 2021)
Let Schools Decide How to Spend Pandemic Windfall: New York and other places are imposing top-down approaches to the use of federal funds instead of expanding choices. Big mistake.
Consortium and its schools cited for their curriculum and allocation of sustainable budgets.
By Andrea Gabor, Bloomberg Opinion (Jul. 23, 2021)
Opinion: Project-Based Learning Can Jumpstart a New Educational Era for NYC Schools
“But PBL/PBA provides a real instructional solution hiding in plain sight. A PBL/PBA-based subdistrict, the New York Performance Standards Consortium, has operated in the city’s schools for decades and is recognized by the State Board of Regents as a successful model for achievement and assessment, backed by strong research evidence. Though many of our best schools use the strategy in isolation, it has received scant central attention. By immediately scaling up, we can truly reinvent mainstream public education here and beyond. Broad use of PBL/PBA in the city’s schools could jumpstart New York’s post-pandemic educational era away from the drill-and-kill, standardized test-based techniques of the last 20 years, invigorating teachers and students when motivation and a sense of success are so needed.”
By David C. Bloomfield, professor of education leadership, law and policy at Brooklyn College and The CUNY Graduate Center, City Limits (Jul 15, 2021)
In assessing student learning, one size doesn’t fit all
“The message is clear: One size need not fit all. That has been a hard lesson for policy wonks: despite being a pervasive billion-dollar industry with advocacy from wealthy foundations, mandated standardized testing has not produced significant educational gains. Nor does it provide the specific information parents want to know about their child’s growth and potential.”
By Ann Cook and Phyllis Tashlik, New York Daily News (Jun 18, 2021)
America's Covid spring shouldn't include standardized tests for any students
“Many educators have long been clear that regular grading provides the best assessment of student performance in schools; we should empower teachers to focus on the curricula and assessments that best serve students... schools in the New York Performance Standards Consortium have shown how to evaluate student learning with unique, nontest assessments of what students actually know and can do: write persuasive essays, give oral presentations, engage in scientific experiments and undertake independent research, among other things.”
By Rep. Jamaal Bowman, Democratic U.S. representative from New York’s 16th district and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers
Spare the tests, support the children: Forget about standardized exams this year
Ann Cook and Phyllis Tashlik, New York Daily News (Jan 12, 2021)
Assessing College Readiness Through Authentic Student Work How: the City University of New York and the New York Performance Standards Consortium Are Collaborating Toward Equity
Michelle Fine and Karyna Pryiomka of The Public Science Project at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, document the success of a pilot admitting public high school students who graduated based on their performance assessments rather than standardized test scores. “This small pilot has opened an institution-wide conversation about admission criteria, racial/economic equity, and academic success in one of the largest urban systems of higher education in the country . . .”
Learning Policy Institute (July 2020)
Colleges Crack Open the Admissions Door to Consider Students’ Skills
EdWeek, By Catherine Gewertz (February 05, 2019)
There are better ways to assess students than with high-stakes standardized tests. These schools are using them with success.
Valerie Strauss, Washington Post (April, 2018)
Authentic pedagogy: examining intellectual challenges in social studies classrooms
John W. Saye, Jeremy Stoddard, David M. Gerwin, Andrea S. Libresco & Lamont E. Maddox (2018) Journal of Curriculum Studies, DOI: National study of 62 social studies classrooms found that participating Consortium classrooms exhibited the highest level of authentic intellectual work, "a necessity to maintain democratic societies."
Learning is Social and Emotional: Why Science Says School is Boring
Shael Polakow-Suransky, president of the Bank Street College of Education; Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, professor of Education, Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Southern California; and Doug Knecht, executive director of the Bank Street Education Center. The authors cite the Consortium for the “high levels of preparation and engagement students exhibit in these schools.” Ed Week (July 2018)
Bronx students grow produce in class with hydroponics systems
Feature on students at Bronx International High School and their hands-on science projects. Bronx.news12.com (June 2018)
How is Change Achieved When Protest Ends? A Unique Schools Sends Kids Citywide Seeking Answers
Michael McQuillan and Michael Kosciol, teachers at Brooklyn Leaders, describe their spring Intensive and students' active participation in community advocacy. (Harlem World magazine, May 2018)
Communities of Character
David Brooks, New York Times
Case Study: The NY Performance Standards Consortium
Gareth Robinson, Institute for Health Professions, and Ann Cook
Voices in Urban Education
Schools in This NYC Consortium Promote Discussions, Slash Testing and Black Students Are Thriving
D. Amari Jackson, Atlanta Black Star
Uprooted to Brooklyn, and Nourished by Cricket
Michael Powell, New York Times
Putting the Focus on Student Engagement
A description of the Consortium’s performance assessment system and values, American Educator
N.Y.C. High School Strives for 'Authentic' Assessment
Catherine Gewertz, Education Week
"Alternative High": Raising the Bar on Public Education
Eleanor J. Bader, TruthOut
How a Group of NYC High Schools Ditched Most Regents Exams — and Created Better College Students
Helen Zelon, The Village Voice