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Showing posts from October, 2018

Hoboken High School Scores a 22.7 out of 100 on New Jersey Department of Education Rating System- 17th percentile in the State of New Jersey

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Hoboken High School, Hoboken NJ  In January of 2018 , a new rating system devised by the New Jersey Department of Education and in compliance with federal laws, assigned a score to all 2000 of New Jersey's public schools with a score of 1 to 100 with 100 being highest. Unfortunately, the scores are not part of the summary reports and are instead embedded in the more detailed school report of each school . This overall 1-100 score combines standardized test results , graduation rates , and chronic absenteeism .  The New Jersey Department of Education said it designed the new ratings to comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act , the new federal education law that replaced No Child Left Behind .  The law requires states to "meaningfully differentiate" schools' performance based on a variety of metrics and publish that information on school report cards, said Julie Woods , a policy analyst for the Education Commission of the States, which tracks state policy.  How

NJDOE Proficiency Disparities Between Black and White Students and Economically Advantaged and Non-advantaged Students at Hoboken High School

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The New Jersey Performance Report is released yearly and contains data of every  from the New Jersey Department of Education on the latest data from Hoboken High School. Notice the disparity between black and white students and between economically distressed and non-distressed students.  Click to Enlarge Specifically, there were 24 students classified as "White", 108 students classified as "Hispanic" and 31 students classified as "Black" according to data by the NJ Department of Education on the NJ Performance Report. Only 36% of ALL students Met or Exceeded Expectations for the entire school. When we look at the subgroups, 62.5 percent (15 students) of the White students  Met or Exceeded Expectations, 37.1% (or 40 students) of the Hispanic students  Met or Exceeded Expectations, and 12.9% (or 4 students) of the Black students  Met or Exceeded Expectations.  Most telling, while the percentage of White and Hispanic students Meeting or Exceeding Expectation

Norman Atkins, Education Reformer, Founder of Relay Graduate School of Education, Uncommon Schools, and One of the Winners of the 23rd Heinz Awards Honorees

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Add caption One of the trappings that our administrators at the Hola Dual Language School in Hoboken, NJ have been receiving over the past few years has been this program by the Relay Graduate School of Education. Both the program and its founder have received national recognition recently. Here is a story many might find interesting concerning Norman Atkins and his recognition as a recipient of the 2018 Heinz Award. -Dr. Petrosino  Established by Teresa Heinz to honor the memory of her late husband, U.S. Senator John Heinz , the Heinz Awards celebrates his accomplishments and spirit by recognizing the extraordinary achievements of individuals in the areas of greatest importance to him .  Of special note is an award given to an educational reformer:  Norman Atkins, education reformer ,  is recognized for pioneering new education and teacher training models that are affecting dramatic, positive change in educational achievement among low-income student populations, and for co-founding

Concerns About the Civil Rights of Hoboken Children from March 2016

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Investigations and claims of  civil rights violations and racial segregation in the Hoboken School District have been going on for a number of years. In addition to investigations being conducted by the State of New Jersey's Attorney General's Office , l itigation initiated by organizations interested in the civil rights of African American students , and concerned and interested parents and community members , there were concerns articulated at Board meetings in March of 2016. Here is an interesting video taken from the March 8, 2016 Board of Education meeting where a concerned citizen speaks about the civil rights of the students of Hoboken and the role of the Board of Education and Superintendent Johnson. At the time, the district was involved in a lawsuit the district initiated against the New Jersey Department of Education and a charter school in Hoboken . Its an interesting video to watch. I have also included a transcript of the address to the Board for closer examinatio

October 9, 2018 Hoboken Board of Education Agenda

The following is the full detailed Agenda for the October 9, 2018 Hoboken Board of Education Meeting. Excerpts from various speakers are also included. The full video of the meeting can be accessed by clicking HERE .    HBOE October Board of Education Agenda by Anthony Petrosino on Scribd Public portion of the October 9, 2018 meeting where concerns about the district are presented by a citizen.

Official Release: Hoboken Mayor Bhalla Announces $4.5 million in Community Givebacks from Hotel Developer

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Mayor Ravi Bhalla and Hoboken Public Education Foundation members October 9, 2018  From Hobokennj.gov: Hoboken Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla announced on Tuesday an agreement with the City of Hoboken and KMS Development Partners regarding plans to develop a hotel in Hoboken. As part of the agreement, KMS Development Partners will make $4.5 million investments into the Hoboken community and have committed to various pro-Hoboken staffing and operational priorities. “These community give-backs are real progress for our City,” said Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla. “It is my intention that this agreement shall serve as a model for all future deals. I am putting developers on notice: if you want the opportunity to do business in our City, we expect union labor and we expect generous community give-backs.” Community givebacks include $1 million in road and infrastructure upgrades, a $1 million endowment for the Hoboken Public Education Foundation to support the public school system, $100,000 to each of Hoboken’

Official Press Release: City Council Responds to 50% Increase To Community Giveback From Hoboken Hilton Project

City Council Responds to 50% Increase To Community Giveback From Hoboken Hilton Project October 9, 2018, 12:57 pm | in  October 9, 2018 “We are happy to see that collaboration with the mayor and the developer has resulted in a 50% increase in the community give back to $4.5 million and that the scope has been expanded to include critical infrastructure, affordable housing, and charter schools.  Additionally, KMS also committed today to fund immediately the much needed feasibility study to officially launch the restoration project for the former YMCA so that it can be shovel-ready when the remainder of the give back is paid after the hotel opens.  This is what is possible when our city works together.” Contact: Councilman Peter Cunningham                  201-562-7071 Councilman Mike DeFusco                         646-372-4341 Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher                    201-208-1674 Council Vice-President Jen Giattino           201-780-6779 Council President Ruben Ramos            

Official Press Release: Hoboken City Council Subcommittee Responds to Mayor’s Proposed Changes to Hoboken Hilton Project

Hoboken, NJ (October 8, 2018) –  The Hoboken City Council subcommittee, tasked with evaluating the proposed Hilton Hotel project, was briefed for the first time recently with the revised plans for the hotel that have tentatively been agreed by Mayor Bhalla and KMS, the developer.  The modifications include changing the overall architectural feel of the project by adding three more stories to the plan that the mayor announced in April and 20% more bulk and square footage than what was previously approved in 2017 by the City Council which the mayor (then councilman) opposed.  In exchange for this increase, KMS will provide $3 million in cash to Hoboken for community benefits which currently have been earmarked by the mayor to two, private non-profits.  The mayor is expected to ask the City Council to approve these changes at the October 17th meeting.  Although the members of the subcommittee each individually support the efforts of the selected non-profits, they are issuing this joint st

While a Possible Million Dollar Addition to an Educational Fund for Public Education in Hoboken is Announced, a Community Debates Whether Charter Schools Should be Included or Excluded

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Columbus Park- Hoboken, NJ Every good deed or intention seems to have unintended consequences. How should development money targeted for educational improvement best be utilized? That is the question quickly developing in Hoboken, NJ as city leaders and developers work together to figure out how to best help the children of this mile square city.  Hoboken Main Post Office- 1933 As part of a major hotel and business construction project near the NY/NJ PATH subway station , there is going to be a community giveback of almost $3 million dollars.  These givebacks are not uncommon and is one way that large development projects work with city leaders to improve the community beyond the immediate impact of the specific proposed project.  It was recently announced that approximately $1 million of this giveback will be directed toward an endowment managed by the Hoboken Public Education Fund , a non-profit organization for the Hoboken district public school system (see picture below).  As curre

Petrosino and UTeach Institute Receive $1 Million NSF Grant to Expand and Improve Computer Science Education for Underrepresented Urban Youth

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The UTeach Institute has been awarded a $1 million National Science Foundation grant (#1837687) to improve, in partnership with up to six New York City area school districts (New York and New Jersey), underrepresented urban students’ learning, participation, and engagement in computer science through teacher professional development and classroom implementation of the UTeach CS Principles course . This project directly addresses the full participation of historically underrepresented minorities in CS. "This generous grant by the National Science Foundation will allow researchers to better understand the organizational conditions, pedagogical strategies, and non-cognitive approaches associated with improved engagement and success by Black and Latino/a high school students in computer science specifically and in STEM more generally,” says Dr. Anthony Petrosino, University of Texas  at Austin College of Education professor and Principal Investigator for the grant.  The

New Hoboken Video