Q+A with Chancellor Joel Klein

Q. What would you say the theme is for the 2008-09 school year?

A. Building on our success to achieve sustainability in the school system. What I mean by that is in the last two years we've gone through the most powerful and most significant restructuring of public education in the country. We've really refocused our energy and our resources on schools as the individual units that matter. We've empowered our principals and our teachers and we've created what I believe is the most robust set of accountability instruments in the country—ones that focus on a wide variety of important considerations and that allow our parents, our educators, and everyone else to make meaningful apples-to-apples comparisons and to be able to learn from each other where schools are succeeding and where they need improvements. This year, we want to make sure that we build on those successes. Our students made real progress last year in reading and math and we want to continue to embed in our schools a really strong culture of using data and information to tailor instruction to each individual student. Our inquiry teams are achieving enormous success and this year I hope that they spread deeper and further into the school system than ever before so that all of our teachers understand that they are empowered to work with colleagues on a collective mission to change the lives of kids.

The second focus of this year is to make sure we engage our parents in the work I just described. This information is about their kids and how their kids are doing. And now in New York City, we have more of it than we've ever had before. That's why we're creating a parent portal, that’s why we’re asking our schools and our parent coordinators in particular to engage parents to understand what this information is and how they can best use it to help their kids succeed.

Let me give you a specific example. We now know that we have a variety of different skills that a competent fourth grade or fifth grade or sixth grade reader must master. In the past, we would know that they were reading on grade level or not. Now we know more. Let’s say there are a dozen skills. We know that a student has mastered nine of the twelve and needs work on three. We have materials now that will help focus our teachers and parents on how to address those needs. In other words, we’ll be able to review areas that are still challenging for students and not waste time going over areas that students have already mastered.

Q. There’s a lot of information about school and student performance out there. How do people get it?

A. Parents can get a lot of information about their children’s schools on our Web site (www.nyc.gov/schools). We’re also working with our schools and our parent coordinators to get hard copies of this information to parents. This school year, we’re also creating a parent portal so parents will have access to information about their own children’s performance and progress. For our teachers, we've created a Web site that is just chock-full of information. We have a similar site for our principals. What we're finding is that by organizing the information online so that people can go to one place and get what they need, we’re becoming much more effective in our communications with our parents, teachers, and principals. This is always an area for improvement in a school system of 1.1 million children, 135,000 or so employees, and about a million parents, grandparents, and others, but I think the system is becoming much more coherent and effective for our parents and employees.

Q. Many years ago, you were a math teacher. Do you have any advice for the 4,500 new teachers entering New York City classrooms this week?

A. I do actually. I was a math teacher for a brief time. The one thing I think is most important to focus on is to connect with your kids. You know, our kids in New York City, they want to know if you’re real. They want to know if you're engaged. They want to know that you care about them. And you can only make a fist impression one time. I know for a new teacher, there are a million things to work on—lesson plans, curriculums—but my advice is, early on, spend your time focusing on your kids, getting a sense from them about their lives and their worlds and giving them a sense of your commitment to them. Let them know that you really believe in high standards. A lot of our kids don’t think that people expect much from them—that there’s a kind of go-along-to-get-along attitude. Let them know that you're going to be strict when it comes to discipline, that there are rules in your classroom. And let them know that you are there for them, to educate them, to support them, and to make sure that during this school year they acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to prepare them for what’s ahead. That’s easier said than done—I’d be the first to admit—but I ask students all the time what they think about the quality of their teachers, what they think about their teachers' commitment to them, how engaged their teachers are in their classrooms, and believe you me, our students are very discerning when it comes to these issues. When my daughter was young, my favorite book to read to her was The Velveteen Rabbit. The reason I loved that book was that the overriding question was, “Is the rabbit real?” And I think our kids want to know whether the adults in their lives are real.

Q. Do you have any advice for students who are entering new schools today for the first time?

A. As someone who was a student for a great deal of my young life, being a new student is an experience I’ve had many times. My advice is obviously getting off to a good start matters. Trying to play catch up—not doing your homework, not doing your class work, is a very, very bad strategy. I know there’s a lot of excitement at the beginning of school. You haven’t seen your friends. There are new friends to meet. If you’re in a new school, typically you’re in the youngest grade, so you have to figure out sort of the social organization of the school. All of that affects us. We’re all there in a social and an educational environment. I understand all of that. But in that excitement you can sometimes lose track of what I think is most important, which is getting off to a solid educational start.

The thing that’s so hard for people to understand fully is that education is constantly cumulative. And so, if you're not building the foundation all the time, it's hard to build at the second or the third level. One of my favorite examples of this is a lot of people say, well the tests aren’t as rigorous as they should be—and I agree we should constantly work to make our tests more rigorous and more demanding. And people say in the 21st century, people will need higher order thinking skills. I guarantee that there’s nobody who's acquiring higher order thinking skills who hasn't learned basic algebra, which is in my view a key foundation to higher order thinking skills. I think we often delude ourselves by thinking that mastering the basics of mathematics and learning to be effective readers isn’t critical. Those skills are indispensable. They may not be everything that you want—there’s a lot more to education. But without those skills, our kids won’t be prepared for the kind of higher order thinking and other challenges that they will encounter.

Q. Are there any big challenges we face this year as a school system?

A. We face challenges every year. It's the largest, most complex, most diverse school system in the country. We went through a tight budget time, which always creates challenges. Fortunately, the Mayor and the City Council came together to restore our monies. So although this is not a year when we have a large influx of money, we’ll be able to make ends meet. I'd always like to see more resources in the school system. But the challenges are the challenges of educating a highly complex population of students. Many of our students come from poor families. We have large numbers of immigrants, and many children with special needs.

But in those challenges, there are opportunities, as our teachers, principals, assistant principals, and others continue to demonstrate. When you look around and see that last year our reading scores went up, grades three through eight, by almost seven points, our math scores more than nine points, that’s a tribute to the work of our educators in New York City, indicating that indeed they are meeting these challenges. Now, we have a long way to go, and that’s what makes this year a very important one. It’s our duty to build on the success of last year, and to find new and better ways to improve the results of our students and our schools.

First Day of School

After a long summer, New York City’s 1.1 million public school students returned to class on Tuesday ready to tackle the rigors and thrills of a new school year.

“I’m not happy summer is over, but I’m excited to start school,” said Stanley D’Costa, a brand new seventh-grader at IS 61 in Queens. “I’m glad I won’t be one of the little kids anymore.”

IS 61 was one of five schools Chancellor Joel Klein visited on Tuesday—one school in each borough. The day began as the first bell rang at PS 62 in the Bronx, where the Chancellor, Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, and Council of School Supervisors and Administrators President Ernie Logan rallied to welcome back students, teachers, and principals.

“It’s the start of a new school year for some 1.1 million students who are the future of New York City,” Mayor Bloomberg told assembled reporters, parents, and school staff. “Because this is a fundamentally different school system than it was in 2002, that future is brighter than ever.”

Some of the most probing questions of the morning press conference came from Nikki Drakeford and Jessica Rodriguez, two fourth graders at PS 62 who didn’t hesitate to drill the Mayor on the issues most important to their school.

“PS 62 is trying to go green,” Jessica said. “We’re planting flowers and trees, and we have a recycling program. What can you do to help us?”

The Mayor vowed to help the school go green—and quipped that the professional reporters in the audience could take a few pointers from this enterprising ten year-old.

After starting the day in the Bronx, the Mayor and Chancellor visited the Gregorio Luperon High School for Science and Mathematics in Washington Heights, which welcomed its students to a brand new school building. Next, the Chancellor sat in on a gifted and talented class at IS 61 in Queens, where students shared their plans to attend Stuyvesant High School and Bronx Science before heading to colleges like MIT and Harvard. For stop number four, Chancellor Klein trekked to the Excellence Charter School of Bedford-Stuyvesant, and then finally arrived at PS 58 in Staten Island just in time for the final school bell.

“I’m truly proud of the work you’re doing here,” the Chancellor said to a group of students at Excellence, an all-boys elementary school and one of the City’s highest performing charter schools. “Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t get the very best of what this City and this country have to offer.”

The Chancellor predicted that City schools would build on last year's success during the 2008-09 school year. Last year, New York City’s public schools had a record high graduation rate, and saw a steep decrease in school crime. As students and teachers prepare for another year of hard work, the DOE is working to keep the progress going. This year:

• It has hired 4,500 first-year teachers.
• It has added over 11,000 new seats across all five boroughs.
• It has constructed 18 state-of-the-art new school buildings.
• It has opened 71 new schools, including 18 new charter schools. (This September, 10% of the City’s 1.1 million public school students are attending schools that did not exist when the Mayor took office in 2002.)
• It has created new materials to help parents navigate the school system and take an active role in their children’s studies. The Great Expectations guide describes what students learn in each school year from Kindergarten through eighth grade. The Family Guide provides families with key information about the City’s schools, as well as contact information for where parents can go to have their questions or concerns answered. These guides will be sent home in students’ backpacks, and parents can always get new copies by asking their principal or parent coordinator.

Welcome, New Teachers!

Hundreds of new  public school teachers took a break from preparations for their first school year last week to enjoy performances by some of the City’s most talented students at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. The teachers are members of the City’s most select group of newly hired teachers to date—only one in seven applicants were hired to teach in our schools this year.

More than 1,100 of the City’s 1,500 public schools hired at least one of the 4,500 new teachers, who came to New York from 44 states. Fifty-four percent of the new teachers are filling vacancies in historically hard-to-staff subject areas like math, science, special education, and English as a second language.

“I’m counting on you to become education warriors,” said Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, who applauded the work of New York City’s teachers over the last six years, which has resulted in improved student performance and a shrinking achievement gap between black and Hispanic students and their white and Asian peers. Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, Deputy Chancellor for Teaching and Learning Marcia Lyles, DOE Director of Human Resources Lawrence Becker, and United Federation of Teachers Secretary Michael Mendel also offered their congratulations and thanks to the teachers.

Gregg Breinberg, a music teacher and chorus director at PS 22 on Staten Island, cautioned his new colleagues against setting expectations too low.  

“As a teacher, I am constantly blown away by the talent, the dedication, and the hard work these students put in,” he said after his chorus performed an impeccable rendition of “Hey Now” by Crowded House.

Students from the American Double Dutch League World Invitational Champions, “Stan’s Steppers,” and Dancing Classrooms, a ballroom dancing program sponsored by the American Ballroom Theater Youth Dance Company, also performed for the new teachers.

Additionally, the first-ever recipients of the Gotham Graduates Give Back Award were announced at last week’s event. The award honors exemplary graduates of New York City public high schools who come back to teach. The thirty-three winners this year each received a $1,000 grant.

Families Enjoyed the DOE’s First-Ever Back to School Kickoff

Student performers and Department of Education experts flooded the East Meadow on Saturday, August 16 to help almost 7,000 parents and children get ready for the 2008-09 school year. 

The event, the Department of Education’s first-ever Family Back to School Kickoff, featured an African dance group from PS/IS 116 in Queens that attracted a crowd with the rhythmic beat of drums and intricate footwork. The Soul Tigers, a community band of teens from Brooklyn and Queens, blared their horns and beat drums in perfect synchronization. Korean fan dancers from PS 189 in Queens added a quiet elegance to the festivities.

Children gravitated to the activity booths, tents with popcorn and cotton candy, and the stage that had live entertainment provided by community groups and schools.

“I liked the facing painting the best,” said Ayanna Campbells, a first-grader at PS 35 in Queens.  Ayanna, who had painted swirls of blue and white around her eyes, said, “This is a nice day, and I am looking forward to school. I love math and I want to be a math teacher.”

In addition to entertainment and activities, there were booths chock-full of information about the coming year, including information about charter schools, school food, special education, and English language learners.

Tiffany Otero, a seventh grader at IS77 in Queens, visited one of the high school booths and learned about career and technical education. “There is plenty of information here,” said Tiffany, whose favorite subject is art.

“It is good to see so many friends here,” Chancellor Joel I. Klein said when he addressed the crowd. “This is the time for getting your head ready for school, and I pledge to you to educate every kid. I am grateful for the thousands here today.”

“It is great to see so many parents with children spending time with us and getting ready for the school year,” Chief Family Engagement Officer Martine Guerrier told the crowd on the stage located in the center of the venue.

Renee Smith came to the event with her daughter, Emily, a second-grader, and her son, Earl, a fifth-grader both at PS 153 in Manhattan. Renee said she was happy she came to the event. “There’s everything here,” she said.