Standardized Testing Survey

New York State principals developed the survey below to gather information about parents’ views of state assessments.  The State Ed. Department needs to hear from as many parents as possible so they understand the impact of the tests on our students.

Survey for Parents of Students in Grades 3-8
This year, New York State has substantially increased the amount of time devoted to standardized testing in grades 3 through 8.  For example, third graders last year spent a total of 150 minutes over three days on standardized tests in ELA and 100 minutes over two days in math, for a total of 250 minutes or four hours and ten minutes of testing spread over a three week period.  This year, third graders will spend 90 minutes a day for three consecutive days in each subject  - for a total of nine hours of testing in less than two weeks – more than DOUBLE the testing time in a shortened window.


The New York Principals are seeking to gather information on the effects that this increase has had or is having upon the students in our schools. To that end, we are asking you to take a few minutes of your time to answer some simple questions about what you have observed regarding your child.


This survey is for parents of students in grades three through eight in any public school in New York State.  If you have children in multiple grades, and feel that the experience varies from grade to grade, feel free to fill it out once for each grade in which you have a child.

Please:
· Complete the survey based upon your experience this year. Respond no later than Tuesday, May 1, 2012
· Forward the survey to any parent who has children in grades 3 through 8.
 
Access the survey by following this link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2L55CQQ

On behalf of the children that we serve, we thank you for your time.

Below is some additional information regarding this matter, and also since I know many of our parents are teachers themselves, I have included the teacher survey at then end of this post. 

Information from New York State Principals

Please take a moment to read the New York State Principals' Open Letter Regarding the NYS APPR Legislation (http://www.newyorkprincipals.org/). and add your signature if you would like to support this. 

The Numbers

As of today, over 1,432 principals in New York State signed our letter. This amounts to over 31% of the principals in New York State. Additionally, over 4,860  friends have voiced their support for our positions. Thank you to all who have taken this stand.

We have designed two separate surveys to gather information. One survey is for teachers of students in grades 3 through 8 in any public school in New York State. (If you have students in multiple grades, and feel that the experience varies from grade to grade, feel free to fill it out once for each grade that you teach.) Another survey is for parents of students in grades 3 through 8. If you fit into both of these categories, please complete each survey.

You can access the surveys through the following links:

* Survey for teachers:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/H6DLQY2

* Survey for parents: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2L55CQQ

 Thank you for your courage to stand up for our students and schools.

ELA Test Week

The ELA test week is finally here! This must be the most talked about and most anticipated test EVER. The ELA test scores this year will become a part of the APPR (Annual Professional Peformance Review) for teachers and principals. The anxiety levels of NYS teachers must be at an all time high right now... Many of their fates lie in the hands of our sick with fear, almost nauseous with nerves, little children, who will have to sit for an extraordinary lengthy test. So what I our children get from these tests you ask... well, I do not really know. Here are some interesting links regarding ELA, common core etc...
ELA from a 10 yr old 's point of view http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/10-year-old-i-want-to-know-why-after-vacation-i-have-to-take-test-after-test-after-test/2012/04/10/gIQA1sOz8S_blog.html
PTA helpful resources http://www.pta.org/4446.htm
Common Core Standards http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/common_core_standards/
Opt Out? http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2012/04/16/with-test-week-here-parents-consider-the-option-of-opting-out/
Opt Out Petition http://signon.org/sign/give-new-york-state-parents.fb1?source=s.fb&r_by=322644
Flawed Test:  http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2012/04/nys-educators-agree-flawed-confusing.html?m=1

Internet Safety Presentation

Internet Safety Presentation

Lynbrook's Council of PTAs hosted an Internet Safety Presentation recently, our guest presenter was Paul Lynch, Ph.D, Lynbrook District's Director of Communications.  

We are in the Technology age... our kids are born into this age, and are extremely tech savvy... this unfortunately can get them into trouble, if not used correctly.  

Legally a child should be 13 years old to have a Facebook account.  We are finding that many many 5th and 6th grade children have Facebook.   Facebook has a "check in" feature, which posts your whereabouts whenever you "check in".  Online predators are very aware of this feature and can use it to track your child down.  Please take a moment to read these links...  Perhaps the most important message to come out of the presentation, is Talk to your kids,  don't be afraid to check their phone, check their Facebook, and make sure the settings don't show location,  and check their Text messages and email messages.  Please click on these helpful links to read some very helpful parents guides!  

 

A Parents Guide to Facebook: 
http://www.connectsafely.org/Safety-Advice-Articles/facebook-for-parents.html

A Parents Guide to Google Plus: 
http://www.connectsafely.org/pdfs/plusparents.pdf

Common Core and OUR kids

The State Education department has announced that Common Core Inc., a Washington based company, will produce math curriculum materials for preK through 5th grade. The Core Knowledge Foundation of Charlottesville, Va., will develop English guides for PreK through 2nd grade and Expeditionary Learning of Manhattan will do this for grades 3 to 5. contractors are still being sought to write curriculum for the upper grades... State Education Department John B. King said the planned guides will provide "a carefully sequenced road map" of topics to help students master high quality text and prep for new state tests. My thoughts are that whenever I embark on a journey, I usually like to take a look at the "road map" first, not when I am in the middle of the trip and not sure if I am going in the right direction... But this must be how educators throughout the state of New York feel. They are going to be held accountable through APPR for their students' test results, for a test which they haven't been given the proper tools by the State to prepare for. I read the following article in Newsday and was disturbed to see them refer to New York Schools "test driving" common core... Does this make our kids the "crash test dummies?". My hope is that the State will get their stuff together, give the teachers the tools and the training they need to do this so Our kids are not th ones to suffer! Julie "If education accountability were an evolutionary chart, the Common Core curriculum, a set of uniform educational plans in English and math adopted by 45 states, would be Homo erectus. It's a lot smarter than what came before, most notably the No Child Left Behind Act, but there's still plenty of space to improve and develop. Last year President Barack Obama offered waivers from No Child Left Behind to states willing to adopt the Common Core curriculum and participate in Race to the Top, a federal grant program that encourages student achievement and teacher evaluations. Most states, New York included, jumped at it because No Child Left Behind is a badly flawed law, and because Washington money is hard to refuse. New York schools are starting to test-drive the Common Core, and the State Education Department announced Tuesday it has awarded several contracts to develop the classroom materials for it. But this creation of a quasi-federal curriculum is happening quietly and with little debate, considering how big a change it represents. The Common Core curriculum was created by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. The federal government cannot officially run this process, but it has engineered the scenario from behind the scenes. The goal is a rigorous, national K-12 curriculum in English language arts and math that will prepare students for college or a decent job upon graduation, something employers and institutions of higher learning say isn't happening now. Making sure our students can compete in a global and technological economy is a wise goal. Common Core, with its emphasis on real-world problem-solving and reading comprehension, could well help. The clearest improvement Common Core delivers is in assessment, not achievement. The system will be fairer than No Child Left Behind because it acknowledges the challenges of educating handicapped and non-English-speaking students, and makes it easier to compare achievement across state lines. We have no national proficiency standards: If we're going to fund education via Washington, we need a common baseline. And in general, there's nothing wrong with the focus or teaching methods Common Core uses, and there's much good. But education doesn't happen in general. It happens between individual students and teachers, and this one-size-fits-all curriculum doesn't leave much room for innovation. It erodes the idea that each state is a center of innovation that others can learn from, and seems to limit the flexibility of individual teachers to adjust to each class and student. Common Core does not yet include standards in science, technology and history, and it should. It reads, in places, as if teaching to the test is the highest priority, which it's not. It sets standards, in math in particular, lower than those in the most educationally advanced nations, a mistake. And its specificity in what is taught and how, too zealously applied, could stifle the best teachers, a tragedy. Common Core's creators say it is designed to be constantly strengthened; making that so will be the key to success. The program is an improvement, but it's a long way from fully evolved." Newsday 4/3/2012

Second Step Program

Lynbrook Elementary Schools are using the Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum to help us think about, develop, and practice positive social skills.  Second Step is a program that is based on social emotional learning which has been proven to have a direct impact on bully awareness and prevention.  Incorporating photographs and videos of children in everyday situations, Second Step lessons introduce and teach these skills. All students are given the chance to practice the skills they’re learning through role-playing, an important part of Second Step lessons.

Families play a crucial role in the success of the Second Step program!

The Second Step program is divided into three units:

Unit I:  Empathy

 Empathy means identifying and understanding your own and others’ feelings in order to get along better.

 Click here to review our Empathy Summary Letter

  

Unit II:  Impulse Control

 This unit focused on impulse control and problem solving.  Impulse control means slowing down and thinking rather than doing the first thing that pops into your head.  Problem solving is a strategy for dealing with problems we face with other people and as individuals.  Calming-down techniques were introduced to give your child the skills to compose him- or herself so that a given problem can be solved more effectively.

 

Click here to review our Impulse Control Summary Letter for Parents

 

Click here to review our Problem Solving Poster for Family Members and Students

  

Unit III:  Anger Management

 This unit focused on anger management.  The lessons did not teach that feeling angry is bad. However, they did teach that how one acts when angry is critical.  The anger-management steps and the calming-down techniques the children learned and practiced were designed to help them recognize, understand, and manage their anger.

 

Click here to review our Anger Management Summary Letter for Parents

 

Click here to review our Anger Management Poster for Family Members and Students

"Committee For Children" is the company that has created this program...

A nonprofit working globally
to prevent bullying,

violence, and child abuseSecond Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum

Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum is a research-based curriculum that teaches social and emotional skills for violence prevention. The program is user-friendly and contains parent education components. It aims to reduce impulsive and aggressive behaviors and increase protective factors and social competence in children from preschool through junior high. Children learn how to respond empathically to others and practice skill steps for calming down, reducing anger, and solving problems. The classroom-based curriculum, organized by grade level, teaches children to practice empathy, problem-solving skills, risk assessment, decision-making, and goal-setting.

Evaluation Results: 

A number of evaluations of the Second Step program have been conducted. A one-year evaluation of grades 2–3 in twelve schools examined the impact of Second Step on aggression and positive social behavior. Randomly assigned pairs were matched on socioeconomic and ethnic makeup, one to a control group and the other to Second Step. Behavioral observations indicated that physical aggression and hostile and aggressive comments decreased from autumn to spring among students who were in the Second Step classrooms and increased among students in the control classrooms. Friendly behavior (including pro-social and neutral interactions) increased from autumn to spring in Second Step classrooms, but did not change in control classrooms. At a six-month follow-up, it was found that students in the Second Step classes maintained the higher levels of positive interaction and lower levels of aggression.

An evaluation of the middle school/junior high curriculum that compared students receiving the curriculum with those not receiving the intervention, on pre- and post-measures found less approval of aggression and exclusion among students receiving the intervention than for those not receiving the intervention.

The following is a summary of Second Step evaluation outcomes by grade level:

Elementary school level:

• Decreased aggression on the playground and in conflict situations
• Decreased need for adult intervention
• More pro-social goal-setting
• Increased social competence and positive social behavior
• Higher levels of empathic behavior in conflict situations (girls)

Middle and junior high school level:

• Less approval for physical, verbal and relational aggression
• Increased confidence in their ability to regulate emotions and problem-solve
• Improved ability to perform social-emotional skills