Category: analysis
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America Is Sacrificing Black Education for a False Meritocracy
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…
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CEC District 2 SHSAT Resolution Response
Update: Happy to report that District 2 CEC decided against passing this resolution. Personally, I believe that was very brave of them as they had to stare down a large group of very angry people in doing so. 3 CEC District 2 members recently released a resolution proposal titled: “Resolution: In Support of Comprehensive Community…
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Overemphasizing a Test, Oversimplifying Our Children: An APA Perspective on Specialized High School Reform towards Educational Equity
The SHSAT is misperceived as an objective, and “colorblind” tool to measure merit. However, an expansive body of research reveals that school screening policies that do not consider race or socioeconomic status do not reduce, but rather contribute to further “stratification by race and ethnicity across schools and programs.” […] In the field of testing,…
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Social Justice Was Always Essential to NYC’s Public High Schools
But here’s where Blumenstein and other critics get it wrong because, although Bronx Science founder Morris Meister was a firm believer in merit-based admissions, it was in the context of seeing science education as integral to a democratic social and political vision. Criticizing reforms intended to make the city more democratic by fossilizing Meister’s original…
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Whose Side Are Asian-Americans On?
Hsin, the sociology professor, told me, “If you were to put aside any concerns about goals of diversity at all and you just wanted to come up with mechanism for identifying the most talented individuals to be admitted to specialized high schools, you would never come up with the admissions policy you have now.” Grades,…
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SHSAT and Its Discontents: WNYC Audio Interviews
Madina Touré, New York City education reporter for Politico New York, andClara Hemphill, founder of InsideSchools at the New School’s Center for New York City Affairs, discuss proposals to change admissions policies at NYC’s specialized high schools. https://www.wnyc.org/story/shsat-and-its-discontents/
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Assessing the Assessment: SHSAT
Don’t assume that because your student does well in school that they will do well on any other test or in any other setting. Kids who do the best on the test are those who go into confident and prepared. Don’t make assumptions your kid will do well. If you’re thinking of a Specialized High…
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My Feelings about the SHSAT & Specialized Schools
I don’t think the standard mathematics curriculum IN MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASSES will prepare a student to successfully get into one of the specialized schools without going to extra math classes (and ELA, probably, but I’m focusing more specifically on the math, because that’s my area of expertise). Now, when I consider the ways in which…
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New York City released its study of the SHSAT. Here’s why it won’t end the admissions debate.
Still, the study doesn’t address key questions about whether the SHSAT is any better at predicting student success than the alternative system de Blasio put forward. And it can’t get at the heart of the debate about the importance of diversifying the elite schools. The study uses data from every single eighth grade student who…
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SHSAT History: New York Specialized High School Admission Policies Have Changed Over the Years
A new reform movement was launched in 1996 when a report issued by the community-activist organization ACORN branded the high-stake one-shot admissions test a form of educational apartheid. They were supported by Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew, but once again the campaign failed because of deeply entrenched political opposition. In 1995 the city opened a Specialized High Schools Institute (SHSI), city-run preparatory program…