Of the 490 students at P.S. 188, 210 kids are homeless and use the shelter system. Almost all the student qualify for free or reduced meals, and nearly a third are English language learners.
Teacher Michelle Xiao helps 4-year-olds Alex Lin (l.) and Daniel Peng (r.) build with blocks at Happy Dragon Pre-K in Brooklyn.
Pre-K Teacher Tensile Prince reads to students at Happy Dragon Pre-K. Some families that only speak English send their kids to the school to help them pick up Chinese at a young age.
P.S. 161 in Richmond Hill in Queens.
Zakiyah Ansari, the advocacy director at the Alliance for Quality Eduction believes comparing public schools to charter schools doesn't make sense.
Ansari, who protested in front of Stephen Colbert’s studios in 2014 against his interview with Campbell Brown after Brown filed a lawsuit arguing for changes in teacher tenure, called comparison "invalid if we don't make them serve the same needy students."
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/nyc-schools-continue-struggle-student-poverty-article-1.2153021
PreviousNext
The Daily News visited dozens of city classrooms and interviewed scores of families and educators in a wide-ranging investigation into what’s happening in our schools.
The News examined problems within the schools and challenges like poverty and homelessness that follow students through the front doors.
Some of the numbers are staggering.
FIGHT FOR THEIR FUTURE: COMPLETE COVERAGE OF NYC'S SCHOOLS IN CRISIS
More than 265,000 city students were enrolled in public schools where fewer than one in five kids could read at grade level in 2014. Barely one in three city kids could do math on grade level in that year, according to the state. And 50,000 kids are trapped in failing city schools, the state found.
Despite the grim school stats -now a battlefield issue between City Hall and Albany - dedicated educators and public servants are making sure at least some of our kids get the education they need.
The city is staking its efforts to transform public education on universal prekindergarten and the creation of nearly 200 community schools with expanded services for kids.
At Public School 188 in Manhattan, educators have built an entire program around the idea that kids struggling with poverty can learn as well as anybody — but it helps when the unique challenges posed by their socio-economic status are addressed at school.
“Our core idea is that every child matters, every child is entitled to an opportunity,” said principal Suany Ramos. “Our community school is integrating social services because we know that a child living in poverty is starting from a severe disadvantage,”
To that end, the red brick building on Houston St. now functions like a neighborhood hub, offering expanded teaching days, Saturday classes, on-site social and medical services and even counseling centers.
FIGHT FOR THEIR FUTURE: NYC STUDENTS CAUGHT IN CUOMO, DE BLASIO BATTLE ON EDUCATION
Out of 490 students, 210 kids are homeless and use the shelter system — roughly 43%, Ramos said. In addition, 32% have disabilities, 31% are English language learners and 96.5% qualify for free or reduced meals, Ramos said.
PreviousNext
Many come from broken homes or have survived domestic abuse, which is why the school offers on-site family counseling and access to a social worker.
In a popular class known as Internet Cafe, 14-year-old performer Kapone Quartes works out some of his home-life issues in song.
“I like to find a way to express what I want to say,” said the rapper, who wrote and performed “Struggle” about the death of an uncle and his dad’s incarceration.
Internet Cafe is the brainchild of teacher Lou Lahana, who created a website called techbrarianabout social problems — many of which the kids have experienced themselves — and invited them to find solutions.
Britney Eats Insects from Lou Lahana on Vimeo.
That’s how an eighth-grader named Brittany recently found herself eating bugs for a project on global hunger and then posting online the documentary she made about it.
Three other kids who live in shelters tried to increase compassion for the homeless by handing out “blessing bags” full of essentials for street survival, and made a movie about it. “What the students see here is that there is a team of adults working together to help them, there's a true partnership,” said Chris Caruso, executive director of the new Office of Community Schools.
That approach starts even before kids enter first grade, according to the city, mainly through its expanded pre-k programs.
Out in Sunset Park, in a predominantly Asian neighborhood, the Happy Dragon prekindergarten program helps youngsters in immigrant families learn English.
The majority of the 4-year-olds in the school speak either Cantonese or Mandarin and no English, said Jane Yao, executive director of Happy Dragon Children & Family Center.
PreviousNext
“We make sure to have all three languages in each classroom, through teachers’ and teacher aides,” said Yao. In some cases, she said, the kids teach each other their native language — and some English-only families send their kids to the pre-school to help them pick up Chinese.
At the other end of the equation are teachers. The city has arranged for extra classroom time for them, too.
FIGHT FOR THEIR FUTURE: SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL DISTRICT IS NYC'S WORST
As part of its recent contract with the teachers’ union, educators now stay after school twice a week to collaborate on ways to improve their skills.
At the Arthur Ashe School in Richmond Hill, principal Jill Hoder went from room to room on a recent morning checking in on her teachers.
In one room, some first-grade teachers hunched in small chairs to talk about specific students.
“It’s so much better when you don’t have to sit by yourself and think ‘There must be things I can do better.’ You feel like you are the only one struggling,” said teacher Dawn Saperstein.
But even with the city’s latest efforts, the education battle rages on — with funding a major point of contention.
Critics of Gov. Cuomo’s charge to expand charter schools have blasted him for not giving public schools full financial backing first.
They also charge that it’s unfair to make charters and district schools go toe-to-toe on achievement levels, because the ratio of challenging students enrolled isn’t the same.
“Comparison is invalid if we don't make them serve the same needy students,” said Zakiyah Ansari, the advocacy director at the Alliance for Quality Education.
But education reform advocate Jenny Sedlis, the executive director of StudentsFirstNY, rejected the argument that economic realities determine results.
“Let’s look at what these schools are doing effectively instead of trying to find evidence that poor children can’t learn,” said Sedlis.
Cuomo’s proposals to strengthen teacher evaluations, expand charter schools and take over struggling city schools make sense, Sedlis said.
“The city is not doing enough ensure that only the best teachers are in our classrooms,” Sedlis said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment