Letter to Parents/Guardians from the Chancellor about the state scores

Dear Parent or Guardian:

As you may know, the State earlier this week released the results of the annual New York State math and English Language Arts (ELA) exams for students in grades three through eight.

I am sure you are anxious to see your child’s results. In the fall, all families will receive individualized reports from the State with their child’s test scores. This report will help you understand areas where your child needs work and will show you how your child is doing compared to other students.

Additionally, if your child was not promoted to the next grade in June and is currently enrolled in summer school, you will receive a letter later this week letting you know if your child still needs to take the citywide ELA and math exams in August. This decision will be based on your child’s final State test scores. If we had today’s State test results at the time summer school decisions had to be made, additional students would have qualified for summer school. Since these results were not available in time to place these students in summer school, they will instead receive additional support during the school year to ensure they master the content and skills necessary to succeed in their current grades.

If you prefer to get your child’s scores in advance of the start of school, we are making scores available to parents online. Beginning Monday, August 16, you will be able to access your child’s test scores through the DOE’s ARIS Parent Link website, which provides personalized student data.
• If you have visited the site before, or if you have your child’s student ID number and a temporary password, go to www.arisparentlink.org to log in. Once there, click on your child’s student profile to see your child’s results on the 2010 State tests.
• If you do not currently have ARIS access, see the end of this letter for more details.
As you know, we have made dramatic progress over the last several years. But this year, the State changed the way the tests were graded. As you may have heard, the State now holds students to a considerably higher bar compared to previous years. As a result, a score that last year was high enough to earn a rating of 3, or “proficient,” may only have earned a rating of 2, or “basic,” this year. The tougher grading system resulted in a significant drop in overall ratings across the entire State and here in the City. However, despite the drop in overall ratings, our students this year generally earned ELA and math scores that were consistent with last year’s results and, in some cases, were even better than last year.

Mayor Bloomberg and I applaud the State’s effort to continue to raise the bar and set higher standards for our students. Earlier this month, the State adopted new national Common Core standards, which will begin to influence what’s taught in schools. These standards will introduce more writing, problem solving, and critical thinking and help teachers and principals better connect learning across different subject areas and grade levels. Principals and teachers this summer are already working together to map out how these new standards will begin to affect their work with your child next year.

I expect each school in the City to analyze closely the State exam results and make the appropriate adjustments to curriculum and supports for students so that they can reach and eventually exceed these higher standards. I also expect each school to work with you and your child to identify areas of proficiency and strength, and areas that require extra support and attention.

Make no mistake about it—we have already made tremendous progress, but we realize we must do even better. We will not give up until every child is receiving a high-quality education and until every graduating student is ready for college or a career. Looking back, and looking ahead, I’ve never been more hopeful that we can reach this goal.

Sincerely,

Joel I. Klein
Chancellor

Statements of Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Klein on Results of State Math and English Tests

Statements of Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Klein on Results of State Math and English Tests
07/28/2010

Statement of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg:

“Today, the State Department of Education released the results of the math and English exams administered this spring. This year’s scores maintained the major progress we have made raising student achievement levels in recent years, and the decision by the State to raise its benchmark for proficiency will help us raise achievement levels even higher. According to the new, tougher benchmarks, roughly 54 percent of city students in grades 3-8 are meeting or exceeding math standards, while just over 42 percent are meeting reading standards. Parents, teachers and principals should understand that these numbers do not mean our students are performing any worse than they were last year; it just means that there is a new, tougher benchmark for measuring our successes.

“In this increasingly competitive global economy, we need our students to have a strong foundation to be successful – and we are clearly headed in the right direction. Since 2002, we’ve seen an ongoing trend with New York City students outperforming students in school districts throughout the State. And I believe if we keep working together to raise our standards and give our students the support they need, there’s no limit to what they can achieve.”

Statement of Chancellor Joel I. Klein:

“After substantial progress since 2002, our kids should be proud. By any measure, on both the state tests and the highly respected National Assessment of Educational Progress, New York City students have far outpaced students in the rest of the state.

“Today’s lesson is that we have a long way to go – with higher expectations, our toughest and most exciting work is just beginning. Our goal has never been just proficiency, or even a high school diploma; our goal is to graduate all our students college and career-ready. It’s time to come together to help our students meet this great challenge. It will take an unprecedented effort from school officials, teachers, students, and parents; and it will take a more rigorous set of standards that require our students to do college-level work.”

Changes to the State Scores in ELA and Math

On July, 20, 2010, the New York State Board of Regents announced approved scoring changes to the Grades 3-8 Math and English assessments, raising the bar on the level of proficiency. The changes will be reflected immediately by lower test scores when the New York State Education Department releases the results this week.

The approved changes resulted from a comprehensive review of how student performance on the state tests relates to performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam, future performance on Regents exams, and first year performance in college. The study concluded that the state “exams didn't sufficiently test students' abilities - the bar was set too low” according to Senior Deputy Education Commissioner John King.

Currently, scores classify student proficiency into four categories: Level 1 - not meeting learning standards, Level 2 - partially meeting learning standards, Level 3 -meeting learning standards, and Level 4 - meeting learning standards with distinction. The tougher grading will likely impact school districts across the state. “Fewer kids are going to hit that 3, which indicates proficiency,” King said. A press release from NYSED stated the Regents’ goal is to provide all students with a world-class education that prepares them for college, work, 21st century citizenship, and lifelong learning.

In the link above, there is a NY Times article explaining the justification behind the re-calibration of the scores.

Letter from the Chancellor

Dear Parent or Guardian,

As you are no doubt aware, the current schedule for school to start in the fall has students returning to class on Wednesday, September 8, 2010.

But over the past few weeks, we heard directly from many parents and school communities concerned about the impact of Labor Day and the Jewish holidays on the first week of school. They asked us to consider moving the first day of school to Monday, September 13, 2010.

Recognizing the importance of not losing an instructional school day, the parents who wrote us further proposed that our teachers and staff use that Wednesday, September 8, 2010, as a professional development day, and instead use what is known as Brooklyn-Queens day—a professional development day that falls on Thursday, June 9, 2011 as an instructional school day.

Both the Mayor and I thought this proposal made sense for all involved and, in fact, would save parents the hassle of finding child-care for a one-day, mid-week holiday in June.

But in order to move forward with this plan, we needed the agreement of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT).

Unfortunately, the UFT refused our proposal and therefore we are left with no choice but to keep the calendar unchanged.

I also want to briefly address UFT’s statements in the press that we should allow different schools to start classes on different days. That idea is simply not feasible.

We cannot have a chaotic system where different schools start classes on different days, which would require different bus schedules as well as different food schedules. It would be confusing to parents, a further strain on our budget, and disruptive to the overall school calendar.

We understand and are sympathetic to the stress some families may feel because of the schedule during the first week of school, and regret that we were unable to make a change we saw as straightforward and fair to all.

But given our inability to reach an agreement with the UFT, we will proceed with starting school on Wednesday, September 8, 2010.

I wish you and your families an enjoyable, relaxing summer, and look forward to seeing everyone in the fall.

Sincerely,

Joel I. Klein

End of Year Reflection and Goodbyes

June 21, 2010

To the Holliswood School Community:

This year, we have had many wonderful memories. From our multicultural celebration to the numerous concerts and shows, we have had a successful year. We are thrilled to have such a supportive community of families and dedicated staff, committed to promoting the growth of every student in our school.

This month, our school became the winners of the Trashmasters Contest for Super Recycling, sponsored by the Department of Sanitation. We won the Queens Borough Award for best recycling. In sports, our Elementary Rugby Team became runners-up during the Citywide Mayor’s Cup Tournament on June 5, 2010. Fifty-six teams from private and public schools competed in that tournament.

Academically, our students have demonstrated growth. While all of our standardized test results are not yet available, we have exceeded our previous year’s performance on the fifth grade NYS Social Studies Assessment. This is not only attributed to our faculty, but to the tremendous work that you do with your children. We are pleased that our graduating eighth grade class will attend such prestigious high schools as Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, Townsend Harris, High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College, Queens High School for the Sciences at York College, and local schools, such as Bayside, Cardozo, and Francis Lewis.

We would also like to share news regarding personnel changes. After four years, our Assistant Principal, Patrick Klocek, will be leaving our school and moving on to a principal position outside of New York City. Furthermore, after 23 years of service at the Holliswood School, our Supervising School Aide, Carmel Leong, will be retiring. Please join me in congratulating our beloved staff members who will be leaving us this year.

Thank you for everything you do to make our school community truly unique and special.

We look forward to beginning another terrific school year this September.

Sincerely,


Jennifer C. Ambert
Principal

Half Day Reminder

Please be advised of the following citywide half days:

June 8, June 17 and June 28th

On all dates, dismissal will be 11:30 AM.

In addition, there is no school on June 10th due to the citywide staff development day.

No School - May 31

Please be advised that there is no school on May 31, 2010 due to Memorial Day.

However, the Samuel Field Y Program will be open at 178 for students enrolled in their program. For questions, please contact the Y directly.

Thank you.