Friday, August 28, 2009

DOE says poor SAT scores due to kids' race

From the NY Post:

City and state scores on SATs spiraled downward for the fourth straight year, according to new data.

Since hitting a peak in 2005, the city's average score on each 800-point section of the SAT has dropped by 13 points in reading, to 435, and by 18 points in math, to 459.

Scores on the writing section, which was introduced in 2006, have dropped by six points, to 432.

The state and country -- whose averages in each section of the most widely accepted college-entrance exam continued to exceed the city's by as much as 66 points -- have also seen decreases since 2005, although not as hefty as the city's.

City Department of Education officials said the dramatic drop was fueled by the substantial increase in low-performing students taking the test -- particularly black and Hispanic students who may not have considered college in the past.

The percentage of minority students among SAT test-takers climbed from 42 percent in 2005 to 54 percent in 2009.


So they urge black and Hispanic kids to take the SAT then blame them for bringing down the scores? Wow, what a bunch of Archie Bunkers there are over at DOE! Scores can't be down because Bloomklein's high school curriculum is a joke, now can they?

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you have any understanding of statistics? Have you ever studied anything quantitative?
Also, who is "blaming" in a negative sense? If the city is seeking to have more students in underperforming neighborhoods, which statistically are more often black or hispanic, attend college, then the comparable pool is not the same as it was in 2005.
Do you have any specific examples to support your contention that the reason scores are down is due to the Ed. Dept.'s decisions regarding teaching?

Anonymous said...

Isn't school supposed to prepare you to be able to take these tests? What is the point of going through high school passing tests and having Bloomberg brag about it if you can't do well on the test that will get you into college?

Anonymous said...

Scores are down because the K-12 curriculum is a joke. Have you seen the Teacher's College curriculum? It's so hysterical but yet makes me want to cry. Phonics, Grammar, Spelling, Vocabulary lessons - GONE. Learning to read from a reading partner sitting on a dirty rug - IN. They even don't want you to write on a chalkboard(they've been turned into bulletin boards), only a "smart board" which is maybe 18 inches by 36 inches at best where you need a constant supply of dry erase markers and erasers. BloomKlein ate up Teacher's College philosophy(bascially whole language) without once consulting any teacher and without realizing the woman who created the program had never herself taught her own class. Nice, huh?

And BloomKlein's whole "treat schools like a business" is about to implode. I'm gonna go out and get some popcorn.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to know what race has to do with kids doing poorly on the tests. If all the kids are taking the same classes and learning the same curriculum, then why would scores go down?

Queens Crapper said...

City Department of Education officials said the dramatic drop was fueled by the substantial increase in low-performing students taking the test -- particularly black and Hispanic students who may not have considered college in the past.

Why did the DOE feel the need to specify black and Hispanic students? Why not just leave it as "low-performing students"?

See, this is what I don't understand.

Anonymous said...

Obviously Mayoral control, as in ability to rig a test, does not extend to the SAT.

Anonymous said...

If citywide scores for public school students (more and more minoirty % every year)are rising and SAT's are dropping what does that say about the "fix" in the reporting on student improvements?

neversleep said...

Crapper-

Funny to hear you upset because they cut the lace off the press release, instead of relying on what is pretty much a code word.

Teachers now top out over $100K... wasn't that supposed to be the answer?

Anonymous said...

"Teachers now top out over $100K.."

What good is topping out at 100K(after 25 years btw), if you are targeted and harassed by your principal on a daily basis BECAUSE you make that money?

Anonymous said...

Teachers can’t do there job--to many kids, unruly wild brats who don’t speak English in the household, 5different or no fathers. Those kids are all messed up due to bad parents.
DOE is just a babysitting service. Parent teacher night must be a freakshow requiring 100's of translators

The book teachers must study to get certified is a f_ing Joke.
"Skills for a multicultural society" Well Something like that (white book with "urban" kids on the front) -- Italian Girl ?

Phonics, Skills, Science, Math, History --OUT

Ebonics, Multiculturalism, Queerness and ESL --In.

A friend of mine was studying to be a NYC teacher, she said since said F_ this ...they want me to be a babysitter.

A Better NYC said...

The NYC public school system is absolutely, positively, undeniably the most worthless, inefficient and corrupt institution in the entire country.

A complete joke.
Zero learning takes place.
A complete embarrassment.
Zero learning takes place
A complete waste of time.
Zero learning takes place.

I can only imaging how bad things really are within the system.

Unfortunately we only hear about the stories that make the news...imaging what goes on within the system day after day that isn't make public.

It's just one black eye after another, year after year.

How could this happen!?!?!?

georgetheatheist said...

Does anyone today know how to diagram a sentence?

Anonymous said...

Untrue about zero learning.

My son goes to public school, he is in the dominantly asian class (the "fast track" or "smart" group)and he is way ahead of my nephew in catholic school and two grade above him.

It's the lower level classes that are difficult for teachers to teach anything because of disruptive and unmotivated students and/or parent who are disinterested in their children receiving good grades and thrilled if they pass by the skin of their teeth.

Anonymous said...

Joe?
I don't know about the "Urban" book because I haven't been to school in a while.
You're right about several things depending on the neighborhood in which you teach. In your low-income areas, you definitely have single moms or grandparents raising the kids both of who have education last as their priority. Many of the dads are in jail or gone(likely out fathering more kids they won't be taking care of). During Parent-Teacher night you are right, translators have to be on hand, depending on the need. With my Hispanic parents, I sometimes use hand signals. It's pretty funny. Or I try and speak Italian and see if they get what I'm saying. Most of those parents couldn't give a crap what their kid is doing in school as long as they don't get in any trouble.

Your friend is wrong about it being a babysitting service. If only it were that easy. They demand soooooo much from the teachers it's literally impossible to measure up. The system, set up by Klein, is designed to "get" the teachers, to build cases against them in any way they can in order to be able to easily fire them. The DOE has turned schools into a very hostile environment for teachers and many are leaving. Really good teachers are leaving every day and being replaced by brand new teachers, who let's face it, are never good teachers. It takes YEARS to become a really good teacher. And yet they have no problem placing incompetent and inexperienced principals in a school. Some of these people have never even been a teacher! Would you make a person a partner in a law firm who's never been a lawyer? Or a CEO of Goldman Sachs who's never been a banker? Of course not.
Teaching in a NYC public school has become unrecognizable. I predict it'll be even worse if Bloombucks is elected again.

Anonymous said...

Thats funny.

The self styled media capital of the world this morning is crowing about an increse in learning.

This city is increasingly getting third world in attitude, even Manhattan with the rich and poor.

georgetheatheist said...

Collectivist schooling. That's why parents "kill" to get their kids into Bronx Science, Stuyvesant, or Brooklyn Tech. That's why teachers "kill" to teach there. In any collectivist system, you strive to get away from the dregs of the mob. You dispute this? Can't wait to see the fall-out if collectivist health care gets passed.

Anonymous said...

"Teachers can’t do there (their) job"

Obviously. Two points I have not seen are the facts that the media recently reported that many NYC students need remedial classes while attending college and that parents have to provide supplies that were, in the past, provided by the Department of Education. Hey Bloomtard...this is helping the middle class how??? Don't worry, he will coronated for a turd term because, in his words, he is not running against anyone. Start practicing your sig heils folks!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm sure in the next 10 years they will drop the SAT test for college because the "minorities" don't score well on the test. You know, the usual dumbing down of America. Why don't they stop all the racial comparisons and treat all students the same. Anyone can learn if they have good teachers and if the mayor is not fudging the numbers.

Queens Crapper said...

You know what, I just remembered that SAT scores were not accepted by CUNY for that very reason - because it was considered discriminatory. Has this changed?

Bloomberg said...

It isn't my fault that your peasants of color were born stupid? I never make any errors, I am King

Taxpayer said...

The other night, the 1979 movie Norma Rae was shown for the trillionth time on TV.

I've seen it so often, I no longer really pay attention. For those who never watched, the short summary is that Norma Rae (Sally Fields) is an employee in a southern, nonunion textile mill. Conditions are miserable. Nobody believes things will ever improve.

A northern, New York union organizer arrives, meets Norma Rae, persuades her to fight for a union.

Management is a holy horror, in the movie portrayed more gently than the management of those kinds of places ever actually were (most were KKK members when they weren't harassing the female workers).

Eventually the employees win.

Half consciously watching, I saw: Teachers, NYC and the UFT.

Throughout the US, through the years, teachers have been abused and disrespected by all their users: kids, parents, politicians. All the users were once the kids being taught, and now, as adults, maintain their resentments about homework, discipline, tests, failing, etc.

The union, the UFT, is really no better than the parents and the politicians. The union officials - from top to bottom - are all products of teachers they grew to resent. The teachers, really simple people who have special talents to convey information to young savages, have no talent for organizing in defense of their antagonists.

So, those with entirely different agendas (the UFT), and a talent for organizing, enter the picture and persuade the teachers to permit the union to negotiate on their behalf.

Trouble is, neither the UFT, nor the city, in this case NYC, have the interests of the teachers or the customers in mind.

The UFT is an INDUSTRIAL union. It should be a PROFESSIONAL union. But the city administration is delighted with the error. It can "negotiate" as though teachers were factory workers, performing line work, piece by piece.

In the end, teachers might get a raise, but the talent of teaching is squashed down to machine operators.

So, there are rules for every breath taken. How the bulletin board must look. How to use the chalkboard, or the whatever, how open the windows can get, etc.

But, no permission to use a God-given talent to teach complicated matters to young savages, and produce civilized, civil, educated teens, ready to prosper in the world.

Why on earth, is someone like the Commissar is allowed anywhere near the education of youngsters, when his life's experience is that of issuing commands to intimidated underlings. This is a man with the mind of a dictator who tolerates no questions, no opposition, no independent thought or action.

There is no negotiating with this predator. Negotiation would imply some amount of equality between negotiation partners. There is simply no such equality. He is Commissar, all others are invisible, obedient serfs.

The SAT scores are the proof.

The Commissar cannot buy the SAT testing process. It IS INDEPENDENT of his control.

That SAT testing process is the evidence of the Commissar's deliberate, moronic, arrogant destruction of the NYC school system.

He must be removed. He must have no power over the children in NY. His defiant and imbecilic rant that race is the cause of the poor SAT scores is no better than the rant of Paterson, blaming his own failures on the racist electorate.

Use of the race card has been the leftists' way out of explaining their dismal policy failures.

Use of the race card is an open and loud confession of failure.

Let's dump all the failures! All of them!

Queens Crapper said...

Hey - my bad - the kids are actually doing great!

Anonymous said...

Good point - a growing gap between what we are told (the War is being won) and the body bags we see.

Keep at it Crappy.

How about some letters to the editors on this disconnect between news they are reporting and reality we are seeing?

-Joe said...

Italian Girl is correct the new teachers are dummys. I tried to get you the name of the book so I emailed

Question:
Hi A__ what was the name of the book you were being graded on for teacher certification. "Skills For A Multicultural Society" ----Well something like that.
(White book with a mixed urban looking gang of playground kids on the cover)
Thanks
-Joe Today at 11:38am

Response:
Huh?
for what?

Anonymous said...

Don't forget, the teachers can't do it all by themselves either. Support greater access to libraries and museums, if the teachers can't teach you, educate yourself!

Many great men and women have.

Anonymous said...

i wonder what the test scores for the D.O.E. and Dept.
of Parks idiots were, who planted 19 trees on the ball diamond with 20 benches? 15 of the trees were removed after two months in the asphalt. sources tell
me that the trees died. now another 15 NEW TREES WILL BE PLANTED AT P.S.159 Q.,in Bayside.the 205 street/32nd avenue "PLAYGROUND" for teens will be
destroyed forever.the space is going to be a party ground for the dog walkers and derelicts. HEIL TO THE BLOOMTURD BUNGLERS!!!!!

Anonymous said...

if the teachers can't teach you, educate yourself!


Fine! Then refund my taxes...asswipe!

Anonymous said...

Joe, I never said new teachers were dummies. And it doesn't matter whether or not you take a course on Multicultural Studies. It will never prepare you for the hell that is now teaching in NYC, especially in tough neighborhoods.

I guess in a sense you could say new teachers are targets because the DOE wants to bring down the number of tenured teachers so they harass many new teachers as well as the veterans. Many new teachers are being given U ratings on surprise observations and ultimately are "discontinued". That means you won't be able to find another teaching job in the city.
Anyway I don't need a book on how to deal with rough kids. I did quite fine when I taught in one of the worst neighborhoods of the city. Schools demographic: 90% Black, 10% Hispanic.

HS Diploma in Glendale said...

GtheA made an interesting point about sentence diagramming. Makes you think. Now, about slide rules....I learned a lot using them.

-Joe said...

Italian Girl
Furture teachers are now graded on the below books:
My friend read the covers for me:
"The multicultural classroom" (richard-amato/snow)
and
"Cultural Diversity and Education" (Banks)

Apparently The Dept Of Edu is going to dump all those old school tests and good teachers making 100K.... Dont need them

A dumb society of sheep is an easily controlled "do as I say" society

Anonymous said...

Banks (1995) defines multicultural education:

"Multicultural education is a field of study and an emerging discipline whose major aim is to create equal educational opportunities for students from diverse racial, ethnic, social-class, and cultural groups. One of its important goals is to help all students to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to function effectively in a pluralistic democrat society and to create a civic and moral community that works for the common good." (p. xi)

Queens Crapper said...

Looks like Banks was wrong.

Anonymous said...

"A dumb society of sheep is an easily controlled "do as I say" society"

You got that right. They want them young, stupid and cheap.

Those Multicultural classes are ridiculous and teach nothing you don't already know. I took one of those classes in college. Worthless.

Anonymous said...

The asswipe comment was obviously made by a well-educated person. What I am saying is that you cannot always get what you want. If you cannot learn one way, you may learn another. But learning requires will and discipline, not cheap easy comments by ill-mannered guttersnipes.

PS, libraries and museums also cost money, but then, I doubt you've ever darkened the door of either.

Anonymous said...

Museums and libraries are generally funded via generous donations and/or collection of admission fees. Schools are paid for with 100% tax money.

Anonymous said...

Both schools and cultural institutions can receive a mix of funds. Nonetheless, sometimes people may be stuck with bad teachers and bad times.

I went to school in the 1970s when children were sitting on the floor. I received an excellent education thanks to the dedication of my own parents and their excellent example. I also haunted the public library and the museums of science and art.

Should the school system be filled with incompetents and time-servers? Of course not. I am pointing out however, that the libraries and other sources of learning are under simultaneous attack.

In fact, the entire ability of our body politic to reason seems to be under attack since the rise of talk radio and sensationalism has replaced civilized discourse. In the words of a wise supervisor, "Who ever yells loudest is wrong."

Queens Crapper said...

"I received an excellent education thanks to the dedication of my own parents and their excellent example. I also haunted the public library and the museums of science and art."

And inner city kids tend not to have this guidance. And wouldn't get caught dead in a library or museum.

Anonymous said...

Yes that's why we promoted Rap and Hip hop music to separate those people from the mainstream

By giving them their own language, there was no need for racial hatred, or burning crosses they had an equal opportunity to become a Ni**er and millions chose to be one.

We have achieved MLK dream of being judged by the content of your character. Thats why we keep building so many jails for those "N" people.

-----------------------
One of its important goals is to help all students to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to function effectively in a pluralistic democrat society

Anonymous said...

The asswipe comment was obviously made by a well-educated person. What I am saying is that you cannot always get what you want. If you cannot learn one way, you may learn another. But learning requires will and discipline, not cheap easy comments by ill-mannered guttersnipes.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

What kind of fools do you take us for? I do not have children in a public school system but part of my taxes are spent to pay for public education. Therefore, if the education system is not doing its job of educating, why should I be financially supporting a failed system?

As far as will and discipline, let's face it, most children would rather not attend classes but it is a fact of life. One of the biggest problems that I observe is the lack of motivation for a good education. Race and economic status should not play a role in a well planned curriculum taught by competent, well trained, and altruistic educators. If you accept anything less and enjoy seeing our collective tax money be flushed down the drain, then you are one sick puppy for suggesting that we pay into a (failing) system and then say "educate yourself!". You're still an asswipe.

Anonymous said...

As long as you just bitch among yourselves as the media lies to everyone that education is better - you know what - education is better as far as everyone else is concerned - your babble is hardly heard.

You got to challenge them in their face or your protests are sound and fury that signifies nothing.

Write letters. Go to meetings and actup like those health care nuts.

you have 2 weeks people! wake up people!

Anonymous said...

"Isn't school supposed to prepare you to be able to take these tests? What is the point of going through high school passing tests and having Bloomberg brag about it if you can't do well on the test that will get you into college?"

you obviosuly never been inside a doe classroom ..... haha

it surely does not prepare you for the sat's in any shape way or form .....u want preperation ? thats what prep schools are for lol

Anonymous said...

No school isn't to prepare you for those damn tests. It's to prepare you to make a decent living and participate effectively in the governing of our society.

America is going to hell on a sled because we are putting all of our eggs in one basket. We need cultural resources, apprenticeships, tutors, literacy volunteers the whole shebang!

I am old-school enough to consider education to be a corporal mercy, not a for-profit business.

The days we started turning schools and medicine 100% to the professionals were the days when we wrecked ourselves.

We, the adults, owe a debt to the rising generation and so far we are a bunch of deadbeats.

Build schools on poisoned grounds, close libraries before the children can study, stick them in front of a TV or entertain them until their brains fall out. A disgrace.

Anonymous said...

Poor SAT scores have less to do with race and more to do with the fact that six years ago was the last time you could graduate a NYC HS without getting a regents diploma. The regents program of NYS is ridiculous and does a real diservice to its students. Class cirriculums do not prepare students for college, real life or even something as 'simple' in the scale of education as the SAT. Instead, they prepare only and directly for the SAT. I'll never forget the day where I asked my chemistry teacher a question about kinetic energy in physics and the question flipped a page or two in his teaching book, looked up and went "You don't need that for the regent."

Kian said...

Bunch of racists who hate the mayor helping us new peoples