Following Area Public Schools’ Latest Quality Reviews
District 24 schools are currently undergoing an independent review by the city. The Times Newsweekly will present an ongoing series chronicling school performance in our area. This week: P.S. 88 in Ridgewood.
P.S. 88 creates a good learning environment for students but needs to work on academic rigor and teacher developement, a Department of Education (DOE) quality review found.
The 1087-student school, which is located at 6085 Catalpa Ave., was rated as “developing (two on a fourpoint scale). Average attendance for 2011-2012 was 93 percent, it was noted.
According to the DOE, the Pre- K-5 school got good marks for its use of resources-including personnel.
The quality review found that, “based on changes in teacher assignments this school year, results in school assessments have shown that upper grade students with disabilities are starting to show some improvements in their reading comprehension and math fluency in comparison to their State tests last year.”
Student assessments are aligned to curriculum and are effectively used to guide planning and instruction, the report stated.
Additionally, the school was found to promote a safe environment that supported collaboration, good attendance and appropriate behavior.
“Although there are over one thousand students attending this school, the overall tone of the building is one of a close-knit family boasting a helpful, kind and genuinely friendly atmosphere,” according to the report.
On the flip side, the DOE found that the school is not engaging students with rigorous tasks that require higher-order thinking skills.
“Students have difficulty making connections to real life situations in alignment with lesson rationales as evidenced in discussion and assigned tasks,” the report stated.
The DOE also found that the school is still developing a means to improve teacher performance through observation and feedback.
“Although assistance has been arranged for some targeted staff members, concrete feedback, individualized support, measurable expectations and impact of the professional supports are inconsistent,” the report stated.
