SHSAT Sunset

Author: siteadmin

  • Pro-SHSAT Activists have Spent over Quarter Million Dollars Lobbying NY Democrats

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    Some advocates for keeping the test have decided to invest in lobbyists. The alumni foundation for Bronx High School of Science, one of the elite high schools, signed a $96,000 contract with lobbying firm Bolton-St. John, according to public filings. Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation, which renewed a $120,000 contract with firm Yoswein, has lobbied for…

  • The problem with high-stakes testing and women in STEM

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    Overall, the correlation was a loose one. Test scores predicted only 20 percent of the variation in students’ GPAs.  In other words, students with the same test high scores had wildly different GPAs at school the following year. At first glance, the test doesn’t seem very good at discerning A students from B students. Seventh-grade…

  • My journey shows why specialized high school admissions must change

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    With a sense of tragic déjà vu, reactionary forces are once again pushing back against any proposed integration of prestigious, but largely segregated, schools. This development is so predictable that it would be comical – were it not for the terrible consequences. Already, several irate New Yorkers have called my district office to voice their…

  • Response: De Blasio’s attempt to reduce the number of Asian-American students in the Discovery Program is unconstitutional

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    Recently, Attorney “Chris Kieser” wrote an opinion on the SHSAT, Specialized High Schools, and the Discovery Program.  Sadly, being an opinion piece, there was little fact-checking.  Mr. Kieser’s comments are quoted below. New York City’s specialized high schools are the envy of the nation. The above statement seems to be the standard opening to the…

  • Challengers of Affirmative Action Have a New Target: New York City’s Elite High Schools

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    This week, the Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative, libertarian-leaning law firm that has a history of challenging affirmative action policies, filed the first lawsuit against his admissions reform proposal, which he announced this summer. But the suit does not take on the part of Mr. de Blasio’s proposal that has provoked the most controversy: a plan that…

  • America Is Sacrificing Black Education for a False Meritocracy

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    New York’s segregated schools have become as much a national stain as the Mississippi segregation academies for which Hyde-Smith was shamed in November. Yet because they remain so desirable, and rich with opportunity for those who attend them, their basic premise goes largely unquestioned. As is the guiding principle that sustains them — that in America, a…

  • High-Stakes Standardized Testing Supporter: Jeffrey Dinowitz

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    Name: Jeffrey Dinowitz Assembly Link: https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Jeffrey-Dinowitz Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dinowitz Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Jeffrey_Dinowitz Phone: 718-796-5345 Assembly-member  Dinowitz claims the typical “the test is not the problem” position.  He gives no solutions to “the real problem”, just that it’s not the fact we use the SHSAT exam as the SOLE measure of merit for access to Specialized High Schools. Media: Assemblyman…

  • High-Stakes Standardized Testing Supporter: Ron T. Kim

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    Name: Ron T. KimAssembly Link: https://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/Ron-KimWikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Kim_(politician)Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Ron_Kim_(New_York_assemblyman)Phone: 718-445-0004 Assembly-member  Ron T. Kim seats on the Democrat Senate’s Education Committee.  He’s a proponent of keeping the SHSAT exam as the SOLE measure of merit for access to Specialized High Schools. Media: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-pol-carl-heastie-school-desegregation-20180607-story.html Response to 2018 SHSAT Results After lobbying to kill the 2018 SHSAT reform bill, Assembly-member Kim…

  • High-Stakes Standardized Testing Supporter: Toby Ann Stavisky

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    Name: Toby Ann Stavisky Senate Link: https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/toby-ann-stavisky Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Ann_Stavisky Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Toby_Ann_Stavisky Phone: 718-939-0195 Senator Stavisky is the ranking member on the Democrat Senate’s Education Committee. She’s also a vocal proponent of keeping the SHSAT exam as the SOLE measure of merit for access to Specialized High Schools. Her son’s lobbying firm also recently took a…

  • Stop relying on just one test: Mayor de Blasio is right to try to want to turn away from the SHSAT high school admissions exam

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    I was the valedictorian of my eighth-grade class and earned a special honor for never missing a day of school, but that wasn’t enough to help me, or others like me, gain admission into schools like American Studies. Instead, a single specialty test was used to gauge my intelligence, work ethic and worthiness. The mayor’s…