In Case You Missed It: Testing begins with many complaints; Mayoral candidates go after Mayor’s policies

Here on EdVox we’re excited to bring you the latest news about education issues and policies affecting our communities. It can be hard to keep up with all of the events and happenings, so – in case you missed it… Here is a recap of the latest stories in NYC education news, starting with the oldest:

MONDAY

• Times columnist Michael Powell details the negative effects of the Bloomberg administration’s closing schools policy on those schools’ students:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/nyregion/in-schools-cut-by-new-york-citys-ax-students-bleed.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
• A detailed analysis of the federal “turnaround” option for struggling schools showed mixed results:http://gothamschools.org/2012/04/16/nationally-federal-turnaround-funding-generates-mixed-reviews/
• Some parents have grown so disillusioned with standardized testing that their children are boycotting the exams this year:http://gothamschools.org/2012/04/16/small-but-determined-band-of-families-sitting-out-the-state-tests/

TUESDAY

•  The Working Group on School Transformation released a report critical of the Bloomberg administration’s school closure policies, and made suggestions for other strategies at a breakfast forum with candidates for mayor:http://gothamschools.org/2012/04/17/candidates-criticism-of-school-closures-includes-call-for-a-halt/
• The candidates who attended made news themselves by attacking Bloomberg’s policies and laying out positions of their own, while Council Speaker Quinn stuck more closely to the mayor:http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2012/04/17/mayoral-hopefuls-begin-to-define-their-education-policies/?partner=rss&emc=rss
• The mayor announced that 80 new schools will open in the fall:http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/city-set-open-record-high-80-schools-fall-article-1.1063302
• A study by the Schott Foundation identified an “opportunity gap” between black, Latino and low-income students and their white, Asian and higher-income peers:http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2012/04/17/new-study-identifies-opportunity-gap-for-students/
• The Republican Majority Leader of the state Senate said a Democratic push in the Assembly to limit mayoral control of schools will be dead on arrival in his chamber:http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bid_to_nix_mike_control_of_schools_MfV3ySr6aYEJ9XF8FdJm3L

WEDNESDAY

• Quinn’s endorsement in a Times interview Tuesday of making teacher evaluations open to the public was apparently a surprise to political heavyweight Randi Weingarten, an opponent of the idea and head of the powerful American Federation of Teachers:http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2012/04/5728849/quinn-confirms-shes-open-sharing-teacher-evaluations-weingartens-su
• Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez reported that state exams would take up nine hours of testing per student this year, and that a significant amount of testing would be devoted to “dummy” research questions that do not count:http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/students-required-9-hours-english-math-exams-state-dummy-questions-article-1.1063239

THURSDAY

• At a hearing, City Council members blasted Department of Education representatives over co-locations:http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2012/04/19/city-councilmembers-say-co-location-complaints-come-to-them-first/?partner=rss&emc=rss
• Critics of the mayor’s school closure policy protested outside Tweed:http://gothamschools.org/2012/04/19/the-school-closure-protest-and-the-championship-chess-team/
• A bizarre question on last week’s state test about a parable including a pineapple and a hare put the state and test administrator, Pearson, under fire and does not appear to have any correct answer or purpose:http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/talking-pineapple-question-state-exam-stumps-article-1.1064657
• A senior DOE official seemed to endorse the progress of a school his administration is targeting for “turnaround” at a public meeting:http://gothamschools.org/2012/04/19/top-doe-official-endorses-a-turnaround-transfer-high-school/

FRIDAY

•  The principal of Park Slope’s much-celebrated PS 321 took the state education commissioner to task over the system’s reliance on standardized tests and the exams’ questionable usefulness in a letter:http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2012/04/test-protests-grow-as-brooklyn.html