PTA hosts education forum

On March 14, the Rockville Centre Council of PTAs sponsored a forum to give parents a chance to ask school administrators questions about the future of education in the district.

Led by Superintendent Dr. William Johnson, the panel, called “The State of Education in Rockville Centre,” was mainly a question-and-answer session, with parents asking questions of Johnson, other administrators and teachers about what the state of Common Core was and where things were going.

Johnson kicked off the evening by reminding people of a fact that many forget: when the Common Core was first announced in 2010, it was widely praised by educators. Even Johnson was pleased that the new curriculum was supposed to go deeper into topics and teach students more critical thinking skills.

“Part of the problem wasn’t that the standards were wrong, but the way New York State implemented them,” he said.

And one of the reasons the curriculum fell apart, Johnson said, was because it was rushed. Normally when implementing a curriculum change, he said, there’s about three to five years between the implementation of the curriculum and the first test. With Common Core, New York did it in two.

The new tests have caused a great deal of stress among the students and consternation among parents. The ELA and math tests in grades 3 through 8 are longer and don’t affect student placement. The tests are so long, Johnson said, because they’re trying to do two things: test kids and evaluate teachers.

One parent asked why, if the exams are pointless, that the state still administers them. Johnson explained that, much like how the district is forced by the State Education Department to administer the test, SED is under federal regulations to produce and administer the test.

“As a sworn official of the State of New York, we want you to take a test,” Johnson said. “It’s this test that’s the problem.”

Parents also asked why some students have to take two regents exams this year for the same subject: one Common Core regents, and one from the old testing model.

South Side High School Principal John Murphy explained that the older model regents its better for students, because the school has a track record with that exam and knows how to properly prepare students for it. But in order for students to take that exam, they have to take the Common Core regents as well.

“We have to give both exams because the state said we had to,” Murphy told parents.

The officials also addressed concerns about the upcoming changes to Common Core. Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently said that the curriculum would be changed, and put together a panel to do so. That panel is most likely going to present its recommendations for change in December — months into the 2016-17 school year.

District officials explained that they would have the rest of that school year and the summer to look at the changes and create a new curriculum before implementing it in the 2017-18 year.

Though the forum was not well attended — fewer than 100 people came — it was a chance for those in attendance to have their concerns about their children’s education addressed and assuaged.

“What we appreciate more than anything else is that you’re engaged with your children,” Johnson said.