The numbers tell the tale. Success Academy Bronx 2 was the top-performing nonselective school in the city and ranked third out of more than 3,500 schools across the state. Some 97 percent of its students passed math and 77 percent passed English, despite a poverty rate of 85 percent. The school did not have a single white or Asian student on exam day.
Overall, her Success network beat the kids in Scarsdale on the math tests by 14 percentage points.
Quite a statistical achievement for Success Academy.
I know somebody who has her son in one of Eva's charters (not Bronx 2.)
She tells me that the staff at the school are completely obsessed with test prep and test scores and they spend an inordinate amount of time on prepping for the state tests so that the students know they are the most important thing in their lives.
But is that kind of obsessive prepping around the tests enough to get Success Academy Bronx 2 to rank 3rd in the state out of 3,500 schools, to have the network beat Scarsdale by 14 percentage points on the math tests?
Goodwin says ordinarily these kinds of results would raise red flags but because Moskowitz's schools get them all the time, it's obvious they are not the results of cheating.
Okay, I'll take Goodwin at his word, and Moskowitz's scores at face value - she is the finest educator in the country and we need to study exactly what it is she does with her staff and students to get these test scores.
Let's start the study with Bronx 2 and see how they got scores so high that they ranked 3rd in the state, beating selective schools and g&t programs and the like.
Then that auditor can take a look at the network as a whole and see how they achieved such high scores for all their schools.
They did something extraordinary there to get those scores - it behooves us all to have an independent auditor study just what they did by taking a very close look at them.
We must learn how they have achieved these miracles at their miracle schools
Unfortunately, Moskowitz is suing to keep the state controller from auditing her books.
It is doubtful she will allow anybody to study her schools closely to see how they achieved these miraculous test scores without a court order.
Moskowitz loves to garner propaganda pieces in the Post and elsewhere, especially when she can control the message, but she isn't so big on actual scrutiny from somebody with power over her.
So I don't think we'll ever learn how Success Academy got these numbers, especially how Bronx Success Academy 2 got to be the 3rd ranked school in the state.
Which is a shame - it's important to learn how these miracle schools got their miracle scores.
It amazes me how people are so comfortable with under performing schools. When a school like success academy does great things it must be a miracle instead of hard work and a curriculum and organization that actually works.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, the scores can be chalked up to hard work and curriculum and organization. If that's so, there's no reason to be scared about scrutiny for the 97% proficiency rate at Bronx Success 2. Why not show us all how it's done?
DeleteHow sad... to not know these children and to have never set foot inside this school - but to feel so comfortable publicly undermining their achievements. If the idea that children from the South Bronx can work hard and demonstrate such high levels of success is so unbelievable to you - come and visit the school and see our students in action for yourselves. We constantly have visitors and we welcome non-believers. Our children deserve the chance to prove your comments untrue.
DeleteLet me repeat what I wrote above:
Delete"As you say, the scores can be chalked up to hard work and curriculum and organization. If that's so, there's no reason to be scared about scrutiny for the 97% proficiency rate at Bronx Success 2. Why not show us all how it's done?"
That's not knocking anybody down. That's asking for you to show the rest of us how you achieve your miracles.
You also posted this comment below:
DeleteKinda like A-Rod. The stats are no longer "juiced" if you're "juiced" all the time...
Anyway, my point is that visitors are welcome and we are more than happy to share what we're doing. I think a lot of critics would be surprised because our school is nothing like the nasty comments people make about us. That's why we wish people would actually come and check us out before making assumptions.
Sorry, most schools work hard and have a curriculum and organization. I think very, very little scores but there is something wrong with this picture. Something doesn't add up. Something smells very bad. Imagine I was a gym teacher and I had a group of 35 kids who all ran the mile in 8 minutes in their last school but I now claim run the mile in 5 & 1/2 under me. Would you not know something is terribly wrong ? There are only two scenarios here. 1) Eva has come across an evolutionary new teaching method she is selfishly hoarding or 2) there is widespread cheating of some kind.
ReplyDeletePatrick, you really crystallize the whole thing for me. It just seems odd that the kids who were running 8 minute miles are now running 5.5 minute miles. Can the vaunted Moskowitz hard work, superb curriculum and highly efficient organization get those kids running 5.5 minute miles? Eva's shills say yes. Fair enough - but they ought to show the rest of us mere mortals how it is done.
DeleteBy definition, a "miracle" is an outlier event that cannot be replicated.
ReplyDeleteCheating, however, can...
Kinda like A-Rod. The stats are no longer "juiced" if you're "juiced" all the time...
DeleteAll this banter
DeleteHow sad... to not know these children and to have never set foot inside this school - but to feel so comfortable publicly undermining their achievements. If the idea that children from the South Bronx can work hard and demonstrate such high levels of success is so unbelievable to you - come and visit the school and see our students in action for yourselves. We constantly have visitors and we welcome non-believers. Our children deserve the chance to prove your comments untrue.
ReplyDeleteDear How sad -- tell you what. Why not let an independent testing service come in and test the kids again - without notice --next week or whenever you go back to school. Or maybe how about getting them together with some kids from Scarsdale since they aer 14% smarter and hold a little knowledge contest? Bet you won't.
ReplyDeleteYou see, Reality-Based Educator is not named that for nothing. We all taught in the real world and know exactly the amount of progress kids can make in a certain amount of time. We all saw some kids make enormous progress but never all of them.
These comments are truly shocking to me. You discuss these results, and the people who achieved them (children from the South Bronx) as if they are nameless machines. The ignorance of these comments, citing cheating and being juiced without any substantial evidence, is disgusting and highlights everything wrong with our education system. Since when do we expect so little from our young people? Since when do we believe that we should lower expectations in order to resolve poor results instead of elevate our practices to improve results? Your proposition to bring in Scarsdale students and hold a "little knowledge contest" epitomizes the polarization of communities across New York City. All students, no matter where they are from, should receive the same quality of education and are capable of achieving incredible levels of learning. I am certain that no one posting these comments has seen the hard work, dedication and improvement demonstrated by the students in these schools. I am certain that no one posting these negative comments has witnessed these students writing, taking feedback from a teacher and then rewriting responses to literature because they are so invested in their own improvement and learning. I am certain that no one posting these negative comments has witnessed dance party celebrations after every single student in a class improves reading comprehension from just the week before. I do not understand how an educator can have the mindset that there is an exact "amount of progress kids can make in a certain amount of time." How do you put a limit on the amount of learning possible for a kid? Why would you want to? The entire mindset of these schools, and the reason they succeed, is because there is no limit put on progress. The sky is the limit and that bar is being continuously raised and as these results prove, and as you would see if you ever walked into a Success Academy classroom, kids will shock you with what they can accomplish. It is up to the adults to set the bar high so the kids can reach it. These comments just prove how detrimental adults can be in kids' learning.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
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