Hoboken High School In Crisis - District and School Adminstration Questioned; Hoboken Reporter claims: "She also said she had told a school official in the past that she had had problems with the boys"

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The following is a post by the HUDSON COUNTY  CHRONICLES which is a local news site that attempts to distribute information and news of various things going on and taking place in Hudson County, New Jersey. This post asks the administration and district leadership of Hoboken High School and the Hoboken Board of Education for more information concerning the incident and asks for a public hearing. 

The most recent post centers on an alleged sexual assault/rape that occurred in Hoboken High School during the school day on November 30, 2017. This assault came a year after a previous assault in the school of a 12 year old female who was fondled in a supposedly secured elevator. Despite media coverage from WCBS, WNBC, WABC, and NEWS12-NJ, there has been little to no interaction between the district administration and the media although evidently a joint email was sent to some district parents sometime after news of this incident hit the Tri-State metropolitan area this past week by the Hoboken Superintendent, the Hoboken High School Principal, and the President of the Hoboken Board of Education. -Dr. Petrosino

The alleged sexual assault that took place on the Hoboken High School campus on November 30th caught most off guard.

The Hudson County Chronicles has been following this story for more than a few days, presently there are many unanswered questions concerning this case.

What we have learned is four male students are facing serious charges and one is being charged as an adult; the victim is also being vilified on social media. Lives will forever be affected by this incident regardless of the outcome.

This incident was first publicly revealed yesterday. How could the Administration not make the students' parents of Hoboken High School aware of these very serious allegations?

The Hoboken High School Administration led by Dr. Christine Johnson has failed the students and their families. Every parent should believe that their children's school is a protected safe haven for them.

Parents have the right to know immediately when anything has taken place which impacts the public safety of their children.


In the coming days, we must not pass judgment on the victim or the alleged perpetrators. The judicial system must be allowed to provide a fair and equitable investigation.

The parents, with the support of all residents of Hoboken, must demand answers from the Hoboken BOE, and the Administration. Public hearings must be conducted in which residents can seek answers on why the leadership of its educational system failed to notify the parents this incident in more timely manner.

 CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM THE HOBOKEN REPORTER

WCBS TV- Hoboken High School Victim Speaks Out About Alleged Sex Assault at Hoboken High School During School Hours

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

HOBOKEN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Four Hoboken High School students are facing sexual assault charges after being accused of attacking a classmate inside the school.

The victim, a 17-year-old junior, said four of her male classmates forced her into a storage closet at Hoboken High School on Nov. 30. She said she was leaving one class and about to head to another.

Hoboken police confirm the 18-year-old is one of the classmates and was charged with aggravated sexual assault.  The other three are juveniles so their names aren’t being released.

“He kind of got behind me and pushed me towards the room. I tried to stop him with my feet but that didn’t work,” the victim said in an exclusive interview with CBS2’s Lisa Rozner. “I repeatedly said to stop or I tried to scream but my mouth was covered. They pulled my shirt over my head and I tried to get it back off but my hands were being held so I couldn’t do that. My bra was pulled down, my pants were pulled down and I couldn’t do anything.”

The victim said she told a school employee that the boys had bothered her in the past.

Her mother is outraged.

“Protecting her from the streets and I would never think it would happen in school where there’s a lot of people… the police are there,” the victim’s mother  said.

Police said they have surveillance video from the school and one of the teens recorded the incident on a phone.

The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating.

The victim is being home schooled and hasn’t been back at the school since the alleged attack.

The principal has not returned CBS2’s calls.

The Superintendent has not yet made a statement 

News 12 New Jersey, NJ.COM, and WNBC-4 Report on Sexual Assault in Hoboken High School During School Hours

Screen shot from News 12 NJ- December 20, 2017

News12 NJ Reports that "On December 19, 2017 four male students are facing charges after a 17-year-old female student was allegedly raped at Hoboken High School, according to police."

They further explain, "Hoboken police say that a male student, age 18, was charged in the sexual assault of another student on Nov. 30. Three other teens are facing charges that they allegedly aided the 18 year old in the assault. Their names were not released because of their ages."

See Video from News 12 New Jersey: http://newjersey.news12.com/clip/13995293/police-4-face-charges-after-alleged-sex-assault-at-hoboken-hs

Screen shot from News 12 NJ- December 20, 2017

Police say that the four teens forced the victim into a room. The incident was reportedly captured on the school’s surveillance video. Police say that the victim was then forced to perform a sexual act on one of the students. 

The incident was also allegedly recorded on one of the teen’s cellphones, according to police.

Authorities did not say if the assault happened during school hours.

The school's principal declined to comment on the investigation. 

According to NJ.COM who also picked up the developing story:

Four Hoboken High School students have been charged with forcing a female student to perform a sex act inside the school during school hours, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office said.....Hoboken schools Superintendent Christine Johnson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Juan Melli, a spokesman for the administration of Mayor Dawn Zimmer, could not immediately comment on the incident. - Steve Strunsky, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

See News 12 Video Report: http://newjersey.news12.http://newjersey.news12.com/story/37104619/police-4-face-charges-after-alleged-rape-at-hoboken-high-school

See Story by New Jersey 101.5: CLICK HERE Who also report the following: 

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NBC 4 in New York not only is reporting the story but also made it the lead on their web page today: 

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WCBS TV has an exclusive interview with the victim and her mother: CLICK HERE

Hoboken Patch also is reporting on the Story: CLICK HERE

Not the First Time at the Hoboken High School  Building

18 months ago, in May of 2016 and at the same building, a 12 year old girl was fondled in a supposedly secured school elevator by a 16 year old student. NJ.COM reported at the time that the girl was "visibly shaken". 

Jersey Journal- May 25, 2016 (Front Page)

Similar to the recent sexual assault at Hoboken High School,  Superintendent of Schools Christine A. Johnson declined to comment further on the May 2016 incident. NJ.COM reported that then Hoboken Junior/Senior High School Principal Joseph Vespignani could not be reached for comment. 

According to NJ.COM- the seventh-grader's father said she's still not herself, and she she will not be returning to that school. "She is staying to herself more; she doesn't want to talk much. She just isn't who she was," said the father, whose name is not being used to protect the girl's identity. "She doesn't come into the living room and watch TV with us. She just goes straight to her room." The father said that at the beginning of the school year parents were told by a school official that the seventh- and eighth-graders "would be totally separated" from the older students. He said when he spoke to school officials on Friday, he was told they are 'semi-blocked off.' (Earlier in the school year) they said totally blocked off."

The father said his daughter told him that last week the boy kept popping up at her locker and other places. On Friday he asked to speak to her, and they took a walk and ended up on the elevator.

The father said the elevator is for students with medical issues, and a key is required to use it. He said school officials told him the boy did not have a medical condition, and they did not know how he got a key.

One father waiting to pick up his seventh-grade daughter at dismissal time today said the seventh- and eighth-graders are separated from the older students by security guards, but he worries about how effective that is and said the younger students should be somewhere else.

Jersey Journal- May 25, 2016

Hoboken Patch at the time also reported on the story offering a few more additional details as well as the Hoboken Reporter. 

Data Modeling for Pre Service Teachers and Everyone Else (Petrosino and Mann, 2018)

SantaCon in Hoboken, NJ 2017 (Read Story from WNBC News)

This is a final draft copy of a forthcoming article on data modeling with college students. The article will appear in The Journal of College Science Teaching. JCST is a peer reviewed journal on college teaching in STEM that is published multiple times a year by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). The work published here centers on data modeling activities by over 100 undergraduate students as they struggle to make sense of the use of data in their everyday activities as well as preparation for the possibility of teaching this subject matter to K-12 students in our nation's schools. My colleague and co-author Michele Mann was instrumental in overseeing major portions of this study and in helping out with the analysis of the data and editing of the final manuscript. 

  Data Modeling for Pre Service Teachers by Anthony Petrosino on Scribd

Using Computer Science to Model Inclusion and Diversity in STEM Content Area

Troy's Athletic Club- Little League Team (circa 1961)

Explaining segregation is more difficult than one might imagine due to the deeply rooted inequities based on historical policies and practices that have carved and shaped this city. The ability for all learners to understand the legal (“de jure”) and social (“de facto”)  process of segregation is imperative for uncovering misconceptions and addressing narratives about equitable participation in society. To address this need, Dr. Anthony Petrosino leads the Group-based Cloud Computing (GbCC) for STEM Education project, which works to develop curricula using cognitive tools to help all learners understand complex problems like segregation.

GbCC is a collaborative agent-based modeling program based on NetLogo (Wilensky, 1997). These agent-based models allow students to engage in simulations that explore how actions and interactions of autonomous agents have an effect on the system as a whole. This platform empowers students to take agency in their own learning by controlling variables, making changes to code, and sharing changes with classmates anonymously. GbCC addresses diversity and inclusion in the classroom by providing a platform that allows all students to participate in real-time modeling of scientific content.

Using the GbCC segregation model, students have investigated how small changes in simple variables, such as wanting neighbors similar to yourself, can result in emergent segregation of society. Dr. Sepehr Vakil and doctoral student Jason Harron have used this tool to discuss complex social challenges associated with the gentrification of East Austin with pre-service STEM teachers in the UTeach course, Classroom Interactions. Pre-service teachers were able to learn about redlining - the legal process of denying services based on geographic location - and modify the NetLogo code to alter the functioning of the model.

Since the environment is authorable, GbCC provides students with a low-threshold to begin exploring with little or no programming background knowledge. As students advance in their programming skills, the platform continues to provide room for growth (high-ceilings) allowing students to create more sophisticated models (Myers, 2000). During the Fall of 2017, models developed by undergraduate Computer Science student Mica Kohl and curricula developed by  graduate student Max Sherard were used to teach students about ecosystem species interactions in a week-long unit exploring how wolves shape rivers in Yellowstone National Park (“How Wolves Change Rivers [Remastered],” 2017). The models were used at two school sites with almost 400 students in fifth and sixth grade level science classrooms, with approximately two-thirds of students being economically disadvantaged. Continued partnership with these two teachers is planned for the Spring of 2018.

The GbCC for STEM Education is a National Science Foundation funded project that is the product of collaboration between four universities: Northwestern, Vanderbilt, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, and the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Anthony Petrosino coordinates the implementation, development, and demoing of GbCC Model-based curricula with (1) the UTeach program and pre-service teachers, (2) graduate students in STEM Education, (3) in-service teachers, and (4) learning science and education conference attendees around the country. This past summer, Dr. Petrosino and Dr. Walter Stroup of the University Massachusetts at Dartmouth presented progress on developing 12 open-source GbCC models lesson to attendees at the annual convention of the American Society of Engineering Education (Petrosino, Stroup, Harron, & Sherard, 2017). Most recently, Dr. Petrosino implemented segregation models in his graduate course Systemic Reform. Graduate students engaged with the segregation model to discuss how this tool could be used to inform systemic initiatives related to equity in school reform.

GbCC models are designed with the capacity to simulate complex problems; however, these models are only as sophisticated as the learning experiences in which are used. The work of Dr. Anthony Petrosino and his colleagues seeks to design meaningful learning experiences with individuals, contexts, and equitably access to learning in mind.

Project: Group-based Cloud Computing for STEM Education

Website: https://www.gbccstem.com/

Merging Literacy and Science Methods: A New Database Developed by Dr. Petrosino Helps Pre-Service Teachers

This is a recent article ---it discusses a database I designed and developed centering on children's science books. Its essentially a resource for teachers and parents wishing to introduce their students and children to scientificlly appropriate literature. -Dr. Petrosino

 Because of the foundational importance of literacy to education, teachers are increasingly expected to integrate reading across various subjects, including science. But choosing appropriate texts can be a challenge for teachers, who may not be well-versed in how to critically evaluate them. 

Associate Professor Anthony Petrosino of the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin’s STEM Education program and doctoral student Sarah Jenevien have developed a solution that addresses this challenge.

The two collaborated with the college’s Office of Instructional Innovation to develop an online Children’s Science Book Database, where pre-service elementary teachers post reviews of science-related children’s books. The database was created in 2014 and has become part of pre-service teachers’ coursework within their science methods class.

“The review template encourages pre-service teachers to engage critically with the texts in terms of their scientific content, fostering scientific process skills and identifying potential stereotyping or gender bias,” says Petrosino.

Pre-service teachers are asked research-based questions. They must critically assess the literature for processes, content, readability, engagement, and interest. Their reviews provide basic information, such as a summary of the book and the maximum and minimum grade levels it would be appropriate for.

For example, one student wrote of the book Volcanoes, “The book could be considered slightly gender-biased because only images of male geologists are included. However, considering the publishing date, it’s most likely that only men were given credit for the science discoveries at the time.”

Currently, over 130 children’s books have been reviewed for the database, including titles such as Pluto’s Secret, A Butterfly is Patient, What Makes Day and Night? and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which one reviewer noted has many positive aspects, but is not based on sound scientific principles, “as it is impossible for food to fly down from the sky three times a day.”

“By searching the database, pre-service teachers can easily find books that match their grade level and subject area, which decreases the difficulties associated with integrated lesson planning and increases the likelihood that they will use children’s books during their field teaching experiences,” says Petrosino. “This work helps teachers become critical consumers of children’s literature.”
The database is available for educators and the public to view reviews.

Kids First didn't want a dual language program in the district when they were presented the opportunity and Kids First-Forward Together members have tried to use the courts to put aside Hola's renewal and expansion ever since...while claiming threats of bankruptcy with a $5 million dollar surplus

Various members of the Kids First-Forward Together
Political Group from Hoboken, NJ responsible for the
current state of public education in the town

Below is a list of all the schools and learning centers in the City of Hoboken, NJ. I have placed an asterisk next to the schools that then Hoboken Board member and President Leon Gold determined is/was the reason for bankrupting the school district...even though the district enjoys a $5,400,000+ surplus this year according to its annual audit.

Dr. Leon Gold is also a member and supporter of the political group known as "Kids First"- a group  who voted against a dual language program in the Hoboken Public Schools in 2009 (Dr. Gold was not on the Board at the time) and then a few years later initiated a lawsuit to terminate the school and its efforts to renew its charter and expand.

The Hoboken Dual Language Charter School (HOLA) has been twice recognized by the State of New Jersey as an exemplary dual language school. It should be noted that all members of the Kids First-Forward Together group, when given the opportunity, have voted against a dual language program in the school district, voted in favor of initiating a lawsuit against the dual language school and initiated a repeal of the original decision by the State of New Jersey. Recently, the Hola Dual Language School field for first place in the very competitive PARCC NJ State assessments. The Hoboken Public Schools which these trustees oversee came in 346th. 

In short, Kids First/Forward Progress/"reform" (sic) did not want a dual language program in the district when they were presented the opportunity (using unfounded excuses that the program was not in compliance*) and Kids First and Forward Together members have tried to use the courts to put aside its charter renewal and expansion since. Even resorting to using ridiculous claims of bankruptcy while having consecutive million dollar surpluses.

As we now know-- all the claims by the Hoboken Board of Education against the segregation and economic impact of a single small charter school on the Hoboken school district were judged unfounded.

List of all the schools and learning centers in the City of Hoboken, NJ. 

All Saints Episcopal Day School
Apple Montessori School
Bright Horizons Early Education & Preschool
Dwight-Englewood School
Elysian Charter School
French American Academy
Hoboken Catholic Academy
Hoboken Charter School
Hoboken Children’s Academy
Hoboken Dual Language Charter School (HOLA) *
Hoboken Montessori School
Hoboken Public Schools: Early Childhood Education
Hoboken Public Schools: Elementary Schools
Hoboken Public Schools: Middle School
Hoboken Public Schools: Hoboken High School
HOPES Cap, Inc.
Kaplan Cooperative Preschool
Kiddie Academy of Hoboken
Mile Square Early Learning Center
Mustard Seed School
Park Prep Academy
Prime Time Early Learning Center
Smart Start Academy
Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County
Stevens Cooperative School
Tessa International School
The Elisabeth Morrow School
The Ethical Community Charter School
The Hudson School
The Scandinavian School
Viaquenti Preschool
Waterfront Montessori

* The only school  sued by the Hoboken Board of Education

"There is no lawsuit against Hola"....-

  Hola Compliance Report - Feb 2009 by Anthony Petrosino on Scribd

Project Lead the Way Students Score Lower in Math and Science Than Non- Project Lead the Way Students says Leading Engineering Education Researchers

There has been much talk and discussion about the incorporation of Project Lead the Way (PLTW) in schools around the country as well as in the Hoboken Public Schools. Certainly trying to incorporate engineering into the STEM curriculum is noteworthy and Project Lead the Way is a successful company which markets it curriculum to school districts around the country. There is certainly a great deal of enthusiasm for this program. Publicizing the purchase and incorporation of Project Lead the Way is an interesting way to give the impression that rigorous STEM education is taking place. But what does the research tell us about Project Lead the Way?

I thought it might be worthwhile sharing some actual peer reviewed research that was conducted on students in Project Lead the Way classrooms and a comparison group. This research was not conducted nor funded by Project Lead the Way - rather it was funded with a grant from the National Science Foundation (EEC-0648267) for the AWAKEN Project: Aligning Educational Experiences with Ways of Knowing Engineering. The NSF is very interested in quality K-16 engineering education.

Noteworthy also is that the work I am reporting was published by the leading journal in the field of engineering education in the world-- The Journal of Engineering Education or JEE. The article is titled Pre-College Engineering Studies: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Pre-college Engineering Studies and Student Achievement in Science and Mathematics and is authored by Tran and Nathan.


Summary of the Results: 

"Students enrolled in PLTW foundation courses showed significantly smaller math assessment gains than those in a matched group that did not enroll, and no measurable advantages on science assessments, when controlling for prior achievement and teacher experience." -Tran and Nathan (Journal of Research in Engineering Education)

For the Full Paper Click HERE

TITLE: Pre-College Engineering Studies: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Pre-college Engineering Studies and Student Achievement in Science and Mathematics

Abstract

Background
The U.S. has experienced a shift from a manufacturing-based economy to one that overwhelmingly provides services and information. This shift demands that technological skills be more fully integrated with one's academic knowledge of science and mathematics so that the next generation of engineers can reason adaptively, think critically, and be prepared to learn how to learn.

Purpose (Hypothesis)
Project Lead the Way (PLTW) provides a pre-college curriculum that focuses on the integration of engineering with science and mathematics. We documented the impact that enrollment in PLTW had on student science and math achievement. We consider the enriched integration hypothesis, which states that students taking PLTW courses will show achievement benefits, after controlling for prior achievement and other student and teacher characteristics. We contrast this with alternative hypotheses that propose little or no impact of the engineering coursework on students' math and science achievement (the insufficient integration hypothesis), or that PLTW enrollment might be negatively associated with student achievement (the adverse integration hypothesis).

Design/Method
Using multilevel statistical modeling with students (N = 140) nested within teachers, we report findings from a quantitative analysis of the relationship between PLTW enrollment and student achievement on state standardized tests of math and science.

Results
While students gained in math and science achievement overall from eighth to tenth grade, students enrolled in PLTW foundation courses showed significantly smaller math assessment gains than those in a matched group that did not enroll, and no measurable advantages on science assessments, when controlling for prior achievement and teacher experience. The findings do not support the enriched integration hypothesis.

2016 NJ PARCC Composite Mean Score for All "FG" School Districts

2016 NJPARCC COMPOSTITE MEAN SCORE- ALL “FG” School Districts

Data: New Jersey Department of Education

COUNTY NAME	DISTRICT NAME	DFG	MEAN SS
OCEAN	LONG BEACH ISLAND	FG	775
BERGEN	NORTHVALE BORO	FG	769
MONMOUTH	SPRING LAKE HEIGHTS BORO	FG	766
UNION	CLARK TWP	FG	762
PASSAIC	LITTLE FALLS TWP	FG	762
MONMOUTH	MATAWAN-ABERDEEN REGIONAL	FG	761
MIDDLESEX	MONROE TWP	FG	761
SUSSEX	SANDYSTON-WALPACK TWP	FG	760
PASSAIC	BLOOMINGDALE BORO	FG	759
WARREN	HOPE TWP	FG	759
HUNTERDON	HOLLAND TWP	FG	758
CAPE MAY	STONE HARBOR BORO	FG	758
BERGEN	DUMONT BORO	FG	757
BERGEN	FORT LEE BORO	FG	757
PASSAIC	NORTH HALEDON BORO	FG	757
BURLINGTON	BORDENTOWN REGIONAL	FG	756
OCEAN	POINT PLEASANT BEACH BORO	FG	756
OCEAN	POINT PLEASANT BORO	FG	756
GLOUCESTER	WOODBURY HEIGHTS BORO	FG	756
MONMOUTH	HOWELL TWP	FG	755
BERGEN	ROCHELLE PARK TWP	FG	755
MIDDLESEX	SOUTH PLAINFIELD BORO	FG	755
GLOUCESTER	MANTUA TWP	FG	754
CAMDEN	COLLINGSWOOD BORO	FG	753
MORRIS	LINCOLN PARK BORO	FG	753
MIDDLESEX	MIDDLESEX BORO	FG	753
BERGEN	NEW MILFORD BORO	FG	753
CAMDEN	GIBBSBORO BORO	FG	752
BERGEN	MAYWOOD BORO	FG	752
GLOUCESTER	SOUTH HARRISON TWP	FG	752
CAPE MAY	UPPER TWP	FG	752
BURLINGTON	HAINESPORT TWP	FG	751
SUSSEX	HARDYSTON TWP	FG	751
GLOUCESTER	LOGAN TWP	FG	751
MIDDLESEX	OLD BRIDGE TWP	FG	751
MORRIS	ROCKAWAY BORO	FG	751
SUSSEX	STILLWATER TWP	FG	751
BERGEN	BERGENFIELD BORO	FG	750
BERGEN	HASBROUCK HEIGHTS BORO	FG	750
ESSEX	NUTLEY TOWN	FG	750
ATLANTIC	PORT REPUBLIC CITY	FG	750
BURLINGTON	SPRINGFIELD TWP	FG	750
SALEM	WOODSTOWN-PILESGROVE REG	FG	750
GLOUCESTER	EAST GREENWICH TWP	FG	749
PASSAIC	WEST MILFORD TWP	FG	749
BERGEN	WOOD-RIDGE BORO	FG	749
BURLINGTON	CINNAMINSON TWP	FG	748
WARREN	KNOWLTON TWP	FG	748
MORRIS	RIVERDALE BORO	FG	748
MORRIS	BOONTON TOWN	FG	747
PASSAIC	POMPTON LAKES BORO	FG	747
SUSSEX	VERNON TWP	FG	747
WARREN	BLAIRSTOWN TWP	FG	746
SUSSEX	FRANKFORD TWP	FG	745
MIDDLESEX	MILLTOWN BORO	FG	745
MORRIS	MINE HILL TWP	FG	745
BURLINGTON	BURLINGTON TWP	FG	744
MIDDLESEX	DUNELLEN BORO	FG	744
MIDDLESEX	NORTH BRUNSWICK TWP	FG	744
MONMOUTH	EATONTOWN BORO	FG	743
CAMDEN	HADDON TWP	FG	743
MERCER	HAMILTON TWP	FG	743
GLOUCESTER	WASHINGTON TWP	FG	743
MONMOUTH	WEST LONG BRANCH BORO	FG	743
HUDSON	HOBOKEN CITY	FG	742
CAMDEN	BARRINGTON BORO	FG	741
BURLINGTON	LUMBERTON TWP	FG	739
HUNTERDON	KINGWOOD TWP	FG	738
MONMOUTH	OCEAN TWP	FG	737
BURLINGTON	DELRAN TWP	FG	736
BURLINGTON	EASTAMPTON TWP	FG	736
WARREN	MANSFIELD TWP	FG	736
GLOUCESTER	PITMAN BORO	FG	736
SUSSEX	HOPATCONG	FG	735
SOMERSET	SOMERVILLE BORO	FG	732
SUSSEX	OGDENSBURG BORO	FG	730
SUSSEX	ANDOVER REG	FG	728