By: Tahmina Alam and Rahima Nayeem
A Brooklyn School Saved Lives, and Some Now Try to Return the Favor
Bushwick Community High School has opened its doors to unprivileged students and offered them a last chance. It has become a haven for struggling 17-18 year old students. The teachers and staff there strive to turn these wayward students into graduates and full-fledged adults. Iran Rosario, a former student and now teacher at Bushwick Community High School fondly recalls his experience there as an 18-year-old, “Where would I be without this school family? I would be in jail. I would be dead.”
Recently, this high school has come under scrutiny by the Education Department and is now facing the threat of closing due to its low graduation rates. The Education Department has its system firmly ingrained in the “scientism of metrics.” It simply evaluates schools based on test scores and graduation rates, and often turns a blind eye to everything else the school teaches.
The article brings up the issue of whether a school should be evaluated solely on its performance on tests. Though the Education Dept sees that its overall performance is poor and the graduation rate is low, it fails to consider the fact that the high school takes in 18 year olds with “five credits to his name, the odds are strikingly good that he will not graduate within six years of his freshman year.” The Department’s focus on data often hampers the ability of teachers to ‘nurture’ young and troubled students.
They tend to overlook the fact that the school serves to do more than just teach academics, it teaches the students values, life lessons–things they need to become adults. “Bushwick Community High School is “effective,” teachers demonstrate genuine “expertise” and the “pedagogy is aligned to schoolwide goals.”
Is it okay for a school to continue even if its test scores and graduating rate is low? Is teaching for the sake of testing more effective than teaching for a wider scope?
#1 by Anna Liang on April 25, 2012 - 3:29 pm
The news of potentially shutting down schools that revive faith in students, such as Bushwick Community High School, is upsetting. Incidents such as this are ones that really make us question our values and methods. As a society, we are very much grounded in data – from standardized testings to GPAs and graduation rates – in determining what someone or something has to offer. The fact that there is such an outcry from the students and faculty at Bushwick Community points straight to the fact that there is something wrong with the system.
In my opinion, doing away with the entire ranking system is not the best option. To a degree, the numbers do reflect the students’ performances. Perhaps where we have gone astray is not in judging a school’s worth based on statistics, but in gathering the proper data. As a suggestion, the Board of Education can consider compiling data on whether graduates or drop-outs go on to pursue higher education or join the workforce (either way they are being productive), and schools that encourage such determination should be merited for their efforts. Since such a process in tracking down the students is labor intensive and time costly, it can be reserved as a final evaluation for schools that face imminent closure. Yes, it is a slow process, but when you plan to take away such an integral part of a community, it is worth the wait.
#2 by Joseph Langer on April 25, 2012 - 11:19 pm
Well said Anna. The only thing I would add is, perhaps we can have both the conventional and a new system for grading schools. I say this because Bushwick Community High School is not a conventional high school. It therefore should be judged using different criteria than a regular high school. This would allow for the most accurate “grades” for both categories.
#3 by shdienstag on April 26, 2012 - 10:56 am
When I was nine-years-old, I won swimmer of the summer in my local summer camp. My sister, two years my junior and a considerably better swimmer, was very upset. The award belonged to her, not me. What she failed to understand was the award was meant for the camper who had made the most improvement in swimming not the best swimmer overall. I had gone from a non-swimmer to a deep-water swimmer in two months; a deep-water swimmer from the beginning of the summer, her growth paled in comparison to my leaps and bounds.
While testing and rankings are important in order to set a standard for schools, an appreciation of where the student body is coming from is vital for an accurate evaluation. In the same way colleges and universities take into account socio-ethnic backgrounds when accepting prospective students, the Board of Education cannot oversimplify by looking at test scores alone. Not only should they evaluate academic success based on student starting point, but also the benefits provided outside the classroom. Beyond academic advancement, a school in such a neighborhood can be a safe-zone from the allure of the streets and create a lasting effect for years to come, regardless of whether the student graduates or not.
#4 by Farnia Naeem on April 26, 2012 - 1:02 pm
The Bushwick Community High School provides students with second chances. IT is incredibly unfair to hold the school to the same “metric” standards as another school because other schools do not deal with the same types of students. In fact, since every school is different and caters to different types of students, the quality of the school should be based on how well that school serves the needs of its students. In the case of Bushwick Community, which serves 17 and 18-year olds who have only 10 out of 44 credits needed to graduate high schools, officials should take into consideration that these students cannot be expected to change their bad scholastic habits overnight.
Most students begin high school at the age of 14 and take several one-credit classes over the course of four years until they obtain 44 credits needed to graduate, usually by age 18. However, students with only 10 credits have only managed to pass 10 classes over the course of four year. Clearly, they cannot be expected to change their study habits immediately and need time to learn. Thus, Bushwick Community HS should be rewarded, not punished, for taking on the challenge of taking in such students and try to help them reach their goals.
#5 by Brian Ghezelaiagh on April 26, 2012 - 1:35 pm
The Education Department is majorly in the wrong here. Judging a school by its graduation rate is logical, because that is the only way to quantify academic success and thus a school’s usefulness. However, in cases like these, the rules need to be bent. Students in underprivileged neighborhoods must be judged by a different standard than students in middle and upper-class neighborhoods. Though this can’t sound good ostensibly, it may be the only way for such institutions as the Education Department to realize that, for students on tracts like these, becoming doctors or lawyers may not be the goal. Instead, the goal might be to get by just enough to get a decent paying job and, most importantly, to keep off the streets, where the worst influence lurks.
#6 by Vanessa Rene on April 26, 2012 - 2:19 pm
This article definitely illustrates a lot of what is wrong with the education system…
I agree with Anna, we’re definitely too obsessed with the ‘numbers,’ test scores, rankings, etc…We really consider the fact that schools should not be factories that pump students in and out… A lot of our socialization is done in school, we build relationships and social skills there as well, but unfortunately, these are not as valued as test scores.
#7 by Helen Yee on April 26, 2012 - 2:26 pm
I agree with Farnia that “it is incredibly unfair to hold the school to the same ‘metric’ standards as another school because other schools do not deal with the same types of students.” It’s obvious that this school, Bushwick Community High School, would have a lower graduation rate and lower performance on tests than other schools because the students that attended this school started out with drastically different education background than students attending other schools. Thus, I think that the evaluation system for schools need to be revise, in that maybe we should look at improvements of the students in different subject areas rather directly at raw stats such as their test scores and the graduation rate of the school. Also, if this school close down where would these students go, other schools might not accept them because they don’t meet the necessary requirements. Therefore, these students might end up on the street and be prone to bad behaviors. So, this school is very valuable to them as it provides them with a second chance to have an education which can open many more doors of opportunities. I think that a good education not only provides students with knowledge in various areas, but also skills and values that can be utilize in their future. However, due to the emphasis placed on test scores by the Education Department, teachers are more likely teaching to the tests, which can be a detrimental thing since students will probably not learn things that are not directly tested and can also result in a lack of love for learning.
#8 by Tova Medetsky on April 26, 2012 - 6:38 pm
Tests, and numbers in general, should not be the sole indicators of whether or not a student is “smart”. Our society has become one that regards students based on a number, and nothing more. Whether or not one does well on his SAT’s determines which college he gets into. How high a student scores on his LSAT’s determines whether or not he can become a lawyer from a good law school. What about other factors? To quote my economics professor, “the effects that we’re studying are only what would happen in a vacuum, with no outside determinants. That simply never happens”. No two students are exactly alike, therefore no two students should be held to the exact same testing standards. My dad who teaches elementary school science and history always tells his students, “I am required to give you a test, but I will never grade you based on your score. I grade you based on the effort that you put in.” What sort of message do standardized tests, and number in general, send to our children? If you will not score 100, don’t bother trying at all? That doesn’t seem very productive. Other factors must be taken into account, because without them you simply are not getting the complete picture.
#9 by Oleksandr Dudnyk on April 27, 2012 - 9:19 am
Test scores aren’t everything, and not many tests can measure the values and people skills that schools such as this teach youths. Everyone deserves an education because everyone deserves a chance to do something with their life. Our educational system must take into account not only test scores, but opportunity for personal growth that schools provide to students.