April 7, 2010
New Jersey’s Schools: The Rewards of Success, The Costs of Failure
James Deneen
Retired Educator, Carmen Catanese,
Former Executive VP, Sarnoff Corporation
Minutes of the 27th Meeting of the 68th Year
President George Hansen called the meeting to order at 10:15; Don Edwards led the Invocation; John Edwards read the Minutes of the March 31st meeting on Peter Dougherty’s talk, “Both Sides Now: Book Publishing in a Hybrid Print and Digital Market. The day’s speakers Jim Deneen and Carmen Catanese introduced the guests, their wives, Thalia Deneen and Kathy Cantanese.
Guy Dean announced that coasters, scarves and ties are available for sale. The sale of coasters has been less than overwhelming.
The topic of the talk of the day was New Jersey’s Schools: The Rewards of Success, the Costs of Failure. Claire Jacobs introduced the speakers, Jim Deneen and Carmen Cantanese.
TALK OVERVIEW
Carmen Cantanese and Jim Deneen are the co-founders of Citizens for Successful Schools. The Organization is made up of a group of Mercer County residents who are concerned about consequences of inadequate high school education not only on the students, but also on the social and economic fabric of the State of N.J.
Carmen retired from the Sarnoff Corporation, where he held the position of Executive Vice President for Research and Development. He earned his Ph.D. in physics from Yale University.
Jim retired from Educational Testing Service where he served in the capacity of program Director for the Advanced Placement Examinations. He holds a Ph. D. in educational administration from Indiana University.
Citizens for Successful Schools has embarked on a three-step program:
THE CURRENT N.J. URBAN SCHOOL SITUATION (THE BAD NEWS)
At Trenton Central High School 60% of the students drop out of school during the four-year period. Of the students that remain, 55% test below the State proficiency standard for reading, and 78% fail the standard in math. Only 30% of the seniors pass the High School Proficiently Assessment (HSPA) requirements for graduation. This performance was compared with that of the Montgomery school system, in which the dropout rate is essentially zero, and the student proficiency dramatically better.
Despite the poor performance of the TCHS students, Trenton expends approximately $25,000 per student each year. The Montgomery Township School spends $13,000 per student. Note that the expenditure in Trenton is approximately the same as tuition in highly regarded private schools such as the Princeton Day School.
N.J. has the highest school spending in the nation. The total State spending in 2008 was $33.6 million. Of this 32% goes to education. Related to this, N.J. has the highest property taxes in the nation.
The unusually poor urban student proficiency has a ripple effect on our society. Urban youth with poor skills are forced to take low-paying jobs and suffer a low standard of living. Companies that require high skill levels have difficulty finding properly trained workers and are reluctant to locate in N.J.
SOME SCHOOLS ARE EFFECTIVE IN TRAINING URBAN YOUTH (THE GOOD NEWS)
It is wrong to assume that Trenton students cannot learn or that the schools cannot improve. There are a number of schools with student social conditions similar to TCHS that are successfully training severely at-risk students.
Several inner-city schools in Newark have outstanding records. At The North Star School, a charter school, 90% of the students receive free lunch, which is a key indicator of the poverty level. No student at North Star tested below the standard proficiency on the HSPA test. Thirteen percent fell in the advance category. Ninety five percent of the graduates went to college. By comparison, at the Barringer public school in Newark, 65% tested below the proficiency level, and none were in the advanced category.
There are a number of schools in other parts of the country that have demonstrated effectiveness in educating at-risk urban students.
Other than charter schools, another successful approach has been to “reconstruct” schools to meet the specific needs of the inner city youth. Focus is put on the failing students, with high levels of tutoring, many additional classroom hours, and industrial internships. These approaches are proving to be effective
HOW DO THE GOOD SCHOOLS SUCCEED?
There are many key factors to be considered carrying out efforts to improve urban schools, including leadership, safety, teacher support, parent involvement and teacher training.
On the issue of teacher training it was pointed out that teachers are not specifically trained to teach in urban schools. A new style of teaching and classroom management is necessary.
The curriculum must match the needs of the students, both with respect to their ability to learn (i.e. language problems), and with respect to the preparedness for jobs available to them when they graduate.
The charter schools spend as much as 40% more hours per year in the classroom. This is an important contributor to their success.
A portion of the film The Cartel was shown in which the students are being chosen by the lottery system. It is an emotional episode, showing joy of being selected, and the disappointment when rejected. All residents of N.J. are urged to view the film. The film will be shown on April 29, 7:30 PM, in the auditorium of the N.J. State Museum in Trenton.
During the question period the focus was mainly on parent involvement, vouchers and leadership. Carmen pointed out that, contrary to popular wisdom, parents at charter schools are not required to participate in school activities. Many students at North Star have non-participating parents.
Respectfully submitted,
Glenn Cullen
Guy Dean announced that coasters, scarves and ties are available for sale. The sale of coasters has been less than overwhelming.
The topic of the talk of the day was New Jersey’s Schools: The Rewards of Success, the Costs of Failure. Claire Jacobs introduced the speakers, Jim Deneen and Carmen Cantanese.
TALK OVERVIEW
Carmen Cantanese and Jim Deneen are the co-founders of Citizens for Successful Schools. The Organization is made up of a group of Mercer County residents who are concerned about consequences of inadequate high school education not only on the students, but also on the social and economic fabric of the State of N.J.
Carmen retired from the Sarnoff Corporation, where he held the position of Executive Vice President for Research and Development. He earned his Ph.D. in physics from Yale University.
Jim retired from Educational Testing Service where he served in the capacity of program Director for the Advanced Placement Examinations. He holds a Ph. D. in educational administration from Indiana University.
Citizens for Successful Schools has embarked on a three-step program:
- Develop an accurate snap-shot of the performance of the urban N.J. schools.
- Make N.J. residents aware of the unacceptably poor performance of the urban N.J. schools, and point out the consequences.
- Interact with local community organizations to participate in identifying and implementing approaches to dramatically improve the effectiveness of the failing schools
THE CURRENT N.J. URBAN SCHOOL SITUATION (THE BAD NEWS)
At Trenton Central High School 60% of the students drop out of school during the four-year period. Of the students that remain, 55% test below the State proficiency standard for reading, and 78% fail the standard in math. Only 30% of the seniors pass the High School Proficiently Assessment (HSPA) requirements for graduation. This performance was compared with that of the Montgomery school system, in which the dropout rate is essentially zero, and the student proficiency dramatically better.
Despite the poor performance of the TCHS students, Trenton expends approximately $25,000 per student each year. The Montgomery Township School spends $13,000 per student. Note that the expenditure in Trenton is approximately the same as tuition in highly regarded private schools such as the Princeton Day School.
N.J. has the highest school spending in the nation. The total State spending in 2008 was $33.6 million. Of this 32% goes to education. Related to this, N.J. has the highest property taxes in the nation.
The unusually poor urban student proficiency has a ripple effect on our society. Urban youth with poor skills are forced to take low-paying jobs and suffer a low standard of living. Companies that require high skill levels have difficulty finding properly trained workers and are reluctant to locate in N.J.
SOME SCHOOLS ARE EFFECTIVE IN TRAINING URBAN YOUTH (THE GOOD NEWS)
It is wrong to assume that Trenton students cannot learn or that the schools cannot improve. There are a number of schools with student social conditions similar to TCHS that are successfully training severely at-risk students.
Several inner-city schools in Newark have outstanding records. At The North Star School, a charter school, 90% of the students receive free lunch, which is a key indicator of the poverty level. No student at North Star tested below the standard proficiency on the HSPA test. Thirteen percent fell in the advance category. Ninety five percent of the graduates went to college. By comparison, at the Barringer public school in Newark, 65% tested below the proficiency level, and none were in the advanced category.
There are a number of schools in other parts of the country that have demonstrated effectiveness in educating at-risk urban students.
Other than charter schools, another successful approach has been to “reconstruct” schools to meet the specific needs of the inner city youth. Focus is put on the failing students, with high levels of tutoring, many additional classroom hours, and industrial internships. These approaches are proving to be effective
HOW DO THE GOOD SCHOOLS SUCCEED?
There are many key factors to be considered carrying out efforts to improve urban schools, including leadership, safety, teacher support, parent involvement and teacher training.
On the issue of teacher training it was pointed out that teachers are not specifically trained to teach in urban schools. A new style of teaching and classroom management is necessary.
The curriculum must match the needs of the students, both with respect to their ability to learn (i.e. language problems), and with respect to the preparedness for jobs available to them when they graduate.
The charter schools spend as much as 40% more hours per year in the classroom. This is an important contributor to their success.
A portion of the film The Cartel was shown in which the students are being chosen by the lottery system. It is an emotional episode, showing joy of being selected, and the disappointment when rejected. All residents of N.J. are urged to view the film. The film will be shown on April 29, 7:30 PM, in the auditorium of the N.J. State Museum in Trenton.
During the question period the focus was mainly on parent involvement, vouchers and leadership. Carmen pointed out that, contrary to popular wisdom, parents at charter schools are not required to participate in school activities. Many students at North Star have non-participating parents.
Respectfully submitted,
Glenn Cullen