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Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
NYC Schools' Calendar Error: Last-Minute Calendar Change Frustrates Principals
This article was originally published in Chalkbeat. New York City's 2024-25 school calendar was set more than a year ago. But the Education Department made a scheduling error for this week's Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and didn't communicate about it until Tuesday morning, frustrating some principals as the school year entered the June homestretch. New York City schools faced a particularly strange week: All schools are closed on Thursday for Eid al-adha/Anniversary Day. On Friday, though 6-12 and high schools are open, elementary and middle schools are closed to students while their staffers were expected to show up for a 'clerical' day. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Schools typically use the day for grading and collaborating on planning for the year ahead. They often use the time to take tech inventory or address other classroom housekeeping issues. Some schools schedule kindergarten or sixth-grade student orientations and tours. But in Tuesday's weekly email from the Education Department to principals, amid a litany of other news, officials included a brief note that Friday would not be an in-person staff day as planned because of Eid. The holiday starts Thursday evening and goes into Friday. Several principals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, expressed annoyance at the last-minute change, questioning why it had not been communicated earlier or in a direct and transparent manner with officials owning up to their mistake. One Manhattan elementary school principal wondered whether the Education Department failed to understand when the Muslim holiday began. The observance of the holiday is dependent on moon sightings, and it can shift year-to-year, officials said. 'The change was made to provide greater flexibility for educators to complete various end-of-year tasks,' Education Department spokesperson Chyann Tull said in a statement. 'We are working closely with school leaders to support them in adjusting plans as needed.' Students in grades 6-12 schools who need to be absent, late or depart early for observance of Eid may be excused, Education Department officials said. 'We had already planned a full day, including an in-person orientation for our incoming sixth graders,' said one Manhattan middle school principal, who scrambled on Tuesday to find teachers willing to volunteer to come in person to avoid canceling the orientation while also reworking the other staff activities for the day. 'Most of what we planned won't translate to remote, or at least won't translate without significant changes,' the principal said. A Brooklyn middle school principal echoed similar concerns. 'We had a planned-out day dedicated to June-planning on teams and class list-making,' the principal said. 'While that can technically happen remotely, it will greatly diminish productivity and actual preparedness for the close of the year and the start of next year. It's a real shame.' Some school leaders, however, were pleased with the change — even if they were critical of the way it was communicated. 'I think the impact is relieved happiness overall and for some staff members who are observing Eid, overall relief,' one Bronx assistant principal said. 'I anticipated this was going to be a low staff attendance day anyway.' This isn't the first time New York City schools made a last-minute pivot to remote on this particular day. Two years ago, air pollution from Canadian wildfires forced schools to go remote for staffers on clerical day as well as students in schools that run from grades 6-12. 'But that was an external and last-minute thing due to an emergency,' one Manhattan elementary school principal said, unlike this year's switcheroo. Another Manhattan elementary principal recalled having to cancel a kindergarten orientation that day of the wildfires — and having to do damage control the entire next year for the parents who were still upset over not being able to have an in-person tour. That principal no longer uses that day for orientations, but was still scrambling on Tuesday to come up with a Plan B for school staffers, including office staff, whose work is harder to do remotely. 'The last-minute scramble and the gaps in communication — it's a frustrating pattern that has happened over multiple chancellors,' the principal said. 'It's a whole ripple effect.' Many principals were pleased, however, that the Education Department has already addressed an issue with next year's calendar, making Friday, Jan. 2 a day off so there isn't a one-day week after winter break. 'This isn't the biggest thing, but it just doesn't inspire a lot of confidence,' the Manhattan middle school principal said of this week's last-minute change. 'On the positive side, they did take away Jan. 2… but at least with that one there is plenty of advance warning so everyone can plan accordingly.' This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
NYC students have regained ground lost during the pandemic, but reading scores remain stubbornly low
New York City children who just started grade school during the pandemic are rebounding in math — but schools are still struggling to teach students how to read, according to highly anticipated data released Wednesday as part of the 'Nation's Report Card.' The National Assessment of Educational Progress, or 'NAEP,' showed an 8-point increase in the average test score of a local fourth grader in 2024, according to district snapshot reports. With the latest improvements, students are performing at about the same level as fourth graders before the COVID years. In 2022, the last year the test was given, fourth-grade math scores plummeted by 9 points — a record drop since the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the gold-standard exam, started collecting data. 'The latest NAEP results underscore the resilience of New York City's students and educators,' Chyann Tull, a spokeswoman for the city's public schools, said in a statement. 'Our test scores have returned to pre-pandemic levels, and this stability reflects the extraordinary efforts of our schools to support learning recovery and maintain high standards for all students.' But signs of headway end there. The latest NAEP results show how a representative sample of fourth and eighth graders performed in math and reading. Apart from fourth-grade math, New York City schools failed to improve on any of the other tests — though averaged roughly the same scores as before the pandemic and in other large cities. In 2024, fourth-grade readers considered 'economically disadvantaged' had an average score than was 37 points lower than their peers — a significant widening over two decades, when that gap was 18 points. 'We hoped to see post-pandemic improvement — but the reality is that it hasn't happened,' said Marielys Divanne, executive director of the New York chapter of Educators for Excellence. 'We cannot afford to be passive in the face of these disparities.' On top of the disruptions to classroom time, the pandemic contributed to mental health challenges for young people. Chronic absenteeism has remained stubbornly high, with more than one-third of local students missing 10% or more of last school year. Average reading scores dipped by 2 points among the city's fourth graders and 1 point in eighth grade. Neither decline is considered significantly different by NCES but continue a worrisome trend: Fewer than 3 in 10 local-test takers scored proficient — or better — in reading. (The NAEP standard for proficiency exceeds that of most state tests.) 'This is not just a pandemic story,' NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr told reporters during a briefing. 'Our nation is facing complex challenges in reading.' The city's top education officials are trying to overhaul how the system teaches literacy, requiring community school districts to choose between one of three research-backed curricular options. While teachers are still being trained in the new methods, experts have advised the local school system to stay the course as the city's school chancellor, Melissa Aviles-Ramos, has made some tweaks to the requirement. A similar push to standardize curriculum is also underway in math. 'While there is still so much to be done, we remain committed to building on this foundation and fostering continued growth citywide,' said Tull, the city schools spokeswoman. Other states that have adopted the so-called 'science of reading' before New York saw improvements in their NAEP scores. Carr cited Louisiana as doing 'what most states were unable to do' by surpassing its pre-pandemic reading scores for fourth graders. 'They did focus heavily on the science of reading,' Carr told reporters, 'but they didn't start yesterday. They've been working on it several years. So I would not say that hope is lost. And I would not say that we cannot turn this around — it's been demonstrated that we can.'
