Archives for category: Harlem Success Academy
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Gary Rubinstein Solves the Mystery of the Missing Regents’ Exam Scores for Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy Students

By dianeravitch
December 14, 2016 //
15

Gary Rubinstein was curious about  how students in the Success Academy high school fared on the mandatory state Regents examinations. He called and called to state offices, but he got a run-around. Two days after he blogged about it, he learned the answer to his question: Success Academy, which is celebrated for producing high test scores, has an exemption from the state so its high school students do not have to take the Regents exams required of all others. (The only exception to the mandate is a group of small, project-based schools called The Consortium schools, who offer portfolio assessments instead of state tests; they received an exemption about 20 years ago.)

 

Eva Moskowitz, the CEO of the SA charter chain, receives millions of dollars from benefactors every year in recognition of the high test scores of her charters.

 

Success Academy has gotten so much attention (and money) for their high 3-8 test scores that it is only natural to wonder how the few older students they have in their schools have fared after 8th grade. One thing we know is that Success Academy eighth graders have not done well on the specialized high school entrance exam to gain admissions to one of the eight specialized high schools. They have had three cohorts of students take the entrance exam and the first two cohorts had no students gain admission and the third cohort had six students out of two hundred eligible gain admission to one of the eight specialized high schools.

 

Rubinstein found this very puzzling: Why would a school that prided itself on turning students into “little test-taking machines” avoid the Regents exams? He has a few theories about that. Read his post to find out what he believes explains this special case of avoiding the required tests.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Harlem Success Academy, New York, New York City, Privatization, Testing

Gary Rubinstein: The Mystery of the Missing Success Academy Regents’ Scores

By dianeravitch
December 12, 2016 //
13

Gary Rubinstein wondered: Where are the High School Regents’ exam scores for Success Academy students? 

He writes:

“About a year ago I found myself in a snafu of red tape as I attempted to track down the high school test results for the famed Success Academy Charter School Network. Though Success Academy is known for its stellar 3-8 Math and ELA test scores in New York State, much less is known about how students perform after 8th grade.

“One reason for this is that most of the Success Academy schools only have younger students. Of the schools that do have the upper grades, the number of students in each grade is very small because of attrition and Success Academy’s refusal to ‘backfill’ student who leave with other eager students from their mythical waiting list.

“The oldest Success Academy students began the school known as Success Academy Harlem I in 2006 as first graders. At that time there were 73 students in the class of 2018. By 2015 those 73 first graders had dwindled to just 20 tenth graders, down from 26 ninth graders the year before. How many of those 20 students are currently 11th graders in Success Academy is unknown to the public, though that data does get released sometime next year. It’s a safe bet to say that the number of eleventh graders right now is somewhere in the teens.

“High School students in New York State take standardized final exams known as ‘The Regents.’ Students must take these Regents exams to graduate. The ‘college ready’ statistic is based on these Regents exams, and schools are judged on how well their students do on these tests.

“Last year I noticed that unlike the other charter schools, there was no data for the Regents scores at Success Academy on the New York State public data site. I emailed the data department of the state and they said they did not have the data, that Success Academy did not report any data, and that if I want to know those scores my best bet would be to simply call Success Academy and ask them for the scores — something I did not try, though it would have made for an amusing telephone conversation.”

Follow Gary as he searches for the missing test scores. He encounters one blind alley after another. Where are the scores? Is the highest scoring charter school in the state avoiding the tests?

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Harlem Success Academy, Testing

Astonishing Glass-Door Reviews of Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy Charter Chain

By dianeravitch
November 4, 2016 //
19

There is a website called Glass Door,where employees rate their employers.

The most startling reviews have been posted by teachers (former and current) at Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy charter chain in New York City.

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Success-Academy-Charter-Schools-Reviews-E381408_P2.htm

The last one, posted October 18, is titled “Flee, everyone else is.”

As you read other reviews, they are similar.

The last time this happened, Glass Door was suddenly flooded with rave reviews.

Take a look as soon as you can, before the trolls and sock puppets arrive.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Harlem Success Academy, NYC, Privatization, Teachers and Teaching

Missouri: Rightwing Think Tank Invites Eva Moskowitz to Share the Secrets of Success Academy’s Success

By dianeravitch
November 1, 2016 //
13

The Show Me Institute, a free-market think tank in Missouri, has invited Eva Moskowitz to share the story of her ability to produce high test scores at her Success Academy charter schools on November 3.

Will she tell them about excluding students with disabilities and students who can’t read English? Will she tell them about booting out students who are behavior problems? Will she explain what it means when a school doesn’t “backfill”? Will she explain how her policy of not backfilling produces a steadily shrinking cohort? Will she talk about the high teacher turnover? Or the harsh disciplinary methods that produce compliant students? Will she ridicule public schools, which accept the students she excludes or kicks out? Will she tell them that her schools receive tens of millions of dollars of subsidies from hedge fund managers and other financiers?

Of course, Missouri has Rex Sinquefeld, the billionaire who hates public schools, so maybe Missouri charters will get the extra money they need to set up no-excuses charters that employ Eva’s secrets. Sinquefeld manages more than $300 billion in funds and is a co-founder of the Show Me Institute. He wants the state to abolish the income tax and replace it with a regressive sales tax.

Note that Eva’s bio in the announcement says that she “has returned to her roots in teaching,” but the only time she ever taught was in higher education, not exactly a model for no-excuses charters.

Categories Charter Schools, Discipline and Suspensions, Harlem Success Academy

Alan Singer: Why Is Eva Moskowitz Allowed to Close Her Schools for Political Rallies?

By dianeravitch
October 4, 2016 //
36

On September 28, Eva Moskowitz closed her Success Academy charter schools for the day so her students, teachers, and families could attend a political rally. Alan Singer wonders why this is permitted? The students, the staff, and families are used as pawns to advance Moskowitz’s political goals. Certainly, the children don’t need more charters. They already attend one. They can’t attend two or three. Eva is using them for her own benefit.

Who pays the bills? Families for Excellent schools. They are not the families of the students. They are billionaires and hedge fund managers whose excellent schools are private and have a tuition of $50,000 or more. You surely won’t see them hanging out with the children at these political rallies.

Face it: the kids are pawns being cynically used to advance adult interests.

Why is it legal?

Categories Accountability, Billionaires, Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Democrats for Education Reform, Education Industry, Harlem Success Academy, Politics, Privatization

Success Academy Fires PR Firm–Again

By dianeravitch
September 23, 2016 //
26

Politico reports that Eva Moskowitz fired Mercury, the PR firm that also represented Michigan Gov Rick Snyder during the Flint water crisis. 

http://politi.co/2dhCRIq

This the third PR firm hired and fired by Success Academy. 

How many public schools have the funds to hire a top-shelf PR firm? 

Categories Charter Schools, Funding, Harlem Success Academy

Nancy Carlsson-Paige Reviews the Success Academy Video on Teaching Reading

By dianeravitch
September 11, 2016 //
28

Nancy Carlsson-Paige was able to view the Success Academy video of a teacher teaching reading to a small group of very young children, probably five- or six-year-olds. It is called “Circle Time Reading.” Gary Rubinstein posted the video a few days ago, before it was taken down by Success Academy. I saw the video before it was removed. The teacher speaks in a very loud voice and constantly interrupts the reading to correct children’s posture or their failure to “track” her with their eyes. Maybe it will be reposted. If it is, I will let you know.

Carlsson-Paige, an expert on early childhood education, wrote the following critique of the video:


Review of the Success Academy Video: Teacher Reading to Young Children

This is a very poor example of a literacy experience for young children. Caps for Sale is a classic story loved by young chldren. This teacher interrupts the story constantly to reinforce a behaviorist method of classroom management. She repeats how the children should sit; she praises, corrects, and warns them. The children are distracted from the flow of the story and their own ability to make meaning of it.

Meaning is the driving force in learning to read. Sometimes a skilled teacher will interrupt a story once or twice in order to make sure children understand it, but never to distract children from the story. This teacher’s interruptions take children out of the story, preventing them from experiencing a deep interest in it and the great joy that can be found in reading good literature. The kinds of interruptions the teacher makes also distance her emotionally from the children. For young kids, learning and relationships are intertwined; they thrive and learn best when their relationships with teachers are based in trust and caring. There is no evidence in the video of a caring connection between this teacher and the children.

This teacher seems to lack knowledge about how children learn, how they make meaning of print and learn to read. Her apparent goal is behavioral control and compliance. Her lesson is teacher-centered and has little to do with what concepts might be building in the minds of the children.

Reading books to children is one important component of an early literacy program. The repetition in the story helps build a foundation for reading. The flow of language contributes to the capacity to predict print. But this teacher undermines the potential value of this as a literacy experience by constantly interrupting the story, focusing children on irrelevant behaviors such as folding their hands, and preventing them from getting the full benefit of a read-out-loud story experience.

Nancy Carlsson-Paige
Professor Emerita, Early Childhood Education
Lesley University
Defending the Early Years (www.deyproject.org)

Categories Discipline, Harlem Success Academy

The Saga Continues: One of Success Academy Videos Is Back Up on the Internet

By dianeravitch
September 8, 2016 //
75

Please take this opportunity to learn from the best practices of Success Academy.

As you know, it posted nearly 500 videos. Then it took some of them down after Gary Rubinstein posted one of them. Then they were restored. Then they were all removed.

A reader informed me that one of the videos is back up. It is about teaching middle school math.

Please watch and tell us what you learned.

Categories Harlem Success Academy

Gary Rubinstein: The Strange Case of the Disappearing Success Academy Videos

By dianeravitch
September 8, 2016 //
14

Gary Rubinstein explains here what happened when he posted about the nearly 500 videos that Success Academy put up on the Internet.

They were there. Some disappeared. They reappeared. They all disappeared.

What’s next?

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Harlem Success Academy

Gary Rubinstein: Circle Time at Success Academy

By dianeravitch
September 7, 2016 //
4

Gary Rubinstein discovered that Success Academy charter chain had posted about 500 short videos to show what they do in the classroom. Success Academy is celebrated for its phenomenal test scores, far higher than other “no excuses” charter schools. Gary watched several of the videos.

In this post, he discusses a reading lesson for very young children called “Circle Time.” The video is linked. Gary discusses the video and invites readers to comment. The comments by early childhood teachers are interesting.

Gary writes:

“She reminds them how to sit to make this “the most enjoyable story yet” which includes having a really straight back and hands clasped together while tracking the speaker.

There is a lot of “behavior narration” going on, where the teacher constantly points out to the class students who are following directions well. (“Yolanni’s tracking up here.” “Davin brought it right back”) I find it very annoying and I feel like if I were a child it would detract from the story.

The teacher is in complete control. She allows the kids to make some gestures from time to time, but then quickly gets them to return their hands to their laps. I’m kind of scared of this teacher, whoever she is.”

After Gary posted this, almost all the videos were taken down. Then they were restored. Then they were removed again. Curious.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Discipline, Education Industry, Harlem Success Academy, Privatization
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