It is always nice to get a thank you

When I got home yesterday my daughter was just finishing writing her thank you notes to everyone that gave her a birthday gift last week. My wife and I are big believers in sending personal thank you notes. I think it is a dying art. I was touched yesterday when I received two notes from our students. Samantha Santomauro mailed me a wonderful note and Angela Ribeiro, Kerri Barnett and Meghan McCabe hand delivered a note with a picture. All of the ladies were thanking me for not cancelling the Marching Band trip to Disney last month. The Board and I were happy to figure out a compromise and I incredibly impressed with the ladies thoughtfulness. I know you shouldn’t thank people for a thank you, but Thanks ladies- you made my week.

Expect a big drop in test scores…

I spent Sunday- Tuesday in Albany at my annual Statewide Superintendent conference. One of the Keynote speakers was Commissioner of Education John King. He repeated an interesting statistic that I also heard him mention last month- expect a 30% decrease in State wide scores on this years ELA and Math exams. I was waiting to blog it until something official came from the State. Below is an excerpt from a memo I received a few hours ago.

As described above, the first New York State tests to measure student progress on the Common Core will be administered in April 2013 for Grades 3-8 ELA and math. Because the new tests are designed to determine whether students are meeting a higher performance standard, we expect that fewer students will perform at or above grade-level Common Core expectations (i.e., proficiency) than was the case with prior year State tests. It is likely that the statewide percentage of students at or above grade level expectations on the new tests will generally be consistent with student performance on the aspirational graduation rate measures and NAEP scores described above. In other words, New York State, for the first time, will be reporting student grade-level expectations against a trajectory of college- and career-readiness as measured by tests fully reflective of the Common Core and, as a result, the number of students who score at or above grade level expectations will likely decrease. States that have already begun to implement Common Core tests (such as Kentucky) have seen this change in student performance. The change in the statewide number of students meeting or exceeding grade level Common Core expectations is necessary if we are to be transparent and honest about what our students know and can do as they progress towards college and career readiness. Student scores on the Common Core assessments will not be directly comparable to scores from prior-year tests because the assessments are based on different, more rigorous standards. As such, the number of students meeting or exceeding Common Core grade-level expectations should not necessarily be interpreted as a decline in student learning or as a decline in educator performance. Instead, the results from these new assessments will give educators, parents, policymakers, and the public a more realistic picture of where students are on their path to being well prepared for the world that awaits them after they graduate from high school.

Thank your Social Worker

This week is School Social Worker Week. I would like to take a moment and recognize our 4 wonderful social workers. Donna Beck, Zolia Castillo, Maria Emerson and Stacey Rosenblatt are invaluable members of our school community and deserve all of the accolades bestowed upon them. Please join me in thanking them for their hard work and dedication.

Mineola Meets Mineola

A group of second graders at Hampton Skyped yesterday with students at a school in Mineola, Texas. The groups exchanged basic information, such as what they do for fun and the type of areas they live in, in order to grasp the cultural differences between the two cities. For example, in Texas, kids go to the rodeo instead of to Broadway plays and live on ranches instead of in apartments or basic houses. Amazing and fun opportunity for our kids. Hampton librarian Diane Nodell hosted the exchange.

Should every student learn how to code?

“What most schools don’t teach”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIu9yen5nc&feature=youtu.be

Someone recently sent me this video link and asked my opinion to the question “Should every student learn how to code?” My quick answer is yes. Logically we all realize that the predominance of jobs in the future will require some knowledge of computers and learning to code is as valuable as learning to speak a world language. It also is a natural fit in our Middle School where every student has an ipad and participates in 21st century learning. The issue is how can we accomplish this during the school day? I think in order to answer that question we need to examine what the State requires us to teach. For example in our Middle School we still have the same curriculum as when I went to school. Home Economics changed its name to Family and Consumer Science but the curriculum hasn’t radically been altered. The same is true of Educational Technology (woodshop). I still use the skills I learned in middle school shop. While I see the value in both of those classes, are these topics essential knowledge for the next generation? I speak to many people that reminisce about his/her personal experiences in school and tell me “If it was good enough for me it’s good enough for my kids”. In some cases we need to ‘let go’ of content and subjects we enjoyed (or not) and make way for new topics and content that better prepare our youngsters for life after high school. The time is upon us to question some of our mandated State curriculum and question its relevance in preparing the next generation of students.

Now that’s a finale!

Imagine over 500 students standing in the aisles and on the stage all singing at once- that was last night finale! Several people approached me to say “That is the best concert we have ever seen!” kudos to all involved especially Meg Messina, Brian Goldman and Angela Napolitano. Excellent job!!