Hoboken Board of Education States on February 19: "Up to This Point the Hoboken Public School District....Did Not Score Above an 80 in (QSAC) Instruction and Program" Ruling: FALSE

February 2019 Hoboken Board of Education Meeting

Growing up in Hoboken there was an old saying I remember the old people telling us-- often half in jest but also somewhat wise and prophetic. It was a simple saying and I remember it to this day with a little sense of humor and also a kernel of wisdom that I have also told to people from time to time..."don't lie if you don't have to." Well, other people have also weighed in on the topic including Hoboken's favorite existential philosopher--

I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you." -Fredrich Nietzsche

At the February 19, 2019 Hoboken Board of Education meeting, the head of schools addressed the general public and stated on the record that the Hoboken School district had never achieved a score of 80 or above (passing) in the QSAC DPR known as "Instruction and Program." 

In fact, the Board's exact words are as follow:

"from 2008 through the 2014-2015 school year the district was able to point the ship in the right direction and the Hoboken public school district passed and has maintained passing scores in four out of five categories:1) operations, 2) personnel, 3) fiscal management and 4) operations. Unfortunately, the thorn in our side and the target of criticism has been in the Instruction and Program category. Up to this point the Hoboken public school district had not been able to achieve high performing district status because we did not score above an 80 in Instruction and Program (as indicated earlier the district's instruction and program score). In 2008 it was 34 and in 2014 the district score in this category rose to 45." 

What was left out was that between the initial score of 34 in 2008 and the 45 score in 2014, the Hoboken School District- under my leadership and the hard work of dozens of teachers, administrators, and staff, achieved scores of 54% in August 2009, 77% in December of 2009, and finally a passing score of 87% in April of 2010!!! This has been a well known fact in the district and indisputable (see NJDOE communication's below). 

To be clear, less than two years of curriculum writing and the addition of numerous instructional interventions and refinement, the Hoboken School District did achieve a score well above an 80 after the first comprehensive review of the new curriculum, test scores, instructional materials and professional development. The district I inherited did receive an initial QSAC score in INSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM of 34% but in less then 2 short years, the score rocketed from 34% to 77% and peaked at 87% after a final QSAC review by the New Jersey Department of Education in spring 2010 (see Figure 1). 

Unfortunately, once Mr. Raslowsky, Dr. Cella, and I left the district and the Kids First/"reform"/"Reach Higher, Hoboken" regime  Board of Education took full control of the district, QSAC scores in INSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM had plummeted to 45% in June of 2014 (see Figure 2). In fact, after receiving the 87% the district under the Kids First majority Board and the "leadership" of Superintendent Toback, Carter, and a host of others failed the QSAC DPR for the next 8 years. 

“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”
― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov 

The Hoboken Board of Education stated on February 19th that: "Up to this point the Hoboken public school district had not been able to achieve high performing district status because we did not score above an 80 in instruction and program as indicated earlier the district's instruction and program score."

The Hoboken Board of Education's statement is rated as: FALSE/PANTS ON FIRE! 

We will examine the "new" QSAC that was instituted this year and how passing the current QSAC INSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM is not necessarily the same rigorous instrument the district passed with an 87% 9 years ago or the one it current received a score above 80% currently.

FIGURE 1: 2009-10 QSAC DPR INSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM 87%

FIGURE 2: 2013-14 QSAC DPR INSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM 45%

Spring-Summer 2019 Research Tour- Toronto, Tampa, and France

Spring and Summer 2019 will be busy with the presentation of some National Science Foundation research projects that have been underway for the past months. Here is a quick summary of the conferences, the official reference, and an abstract of what will be presented. 

American Educational Research Association- AERA

Petrosino, A. J., Sherard, M. K., Harron, J. R., Brady, C. E., Stroup, W. M., & Wilensky, U. J. (April, 2019). Developing preservice teachers’ conceptualization of models and simulations through group-based cloud computing. Poster presented at the American Education Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada.


ABSTRACT:
In this study, preservice teachers use Group-based Cloud Computing (GbCC) to engage in simulations about the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone. Participants developed concept maps and defined models and simulations before and after using GbCC. Findings include that through the intervention, participants moved from linear representations of concept maps towards more complex system-based representations. Although participants were able to articulate changes that they would like to make to the agent-based model, their limited programming knowledge was a barrier that prevented participants from implementing changes. In addition, misconceptions were uncovered regarding participants' definitions and uses for models and simulations. This research better informs how authorable agent-based models can help preservice teachers develop a deeper conceptual understanding of non-linear complex systems.

American Society for Engineering Education- ASEE

Petrosino, A. J., Sherard, M. K., & Harron, J. R. (June, 2019). Examining pre-service teacher conceptions about vaccination using participatory and authorable computer models. Poster presented at the annual convention of the American Society for Engineering Education, Tampa, FL.

ABSTRACT:
This work in progress is part of a larger design-based research project to implement computational modeling of complex phenomena in STEM education. In this single implementation case study, the authors sought to use computational simulations to engage preservice teachers in dialogue about the locally relevant issue of vaccination in K-12 schooling. The researchers built and used simulations of disease transmission and engaged teachers in a 3-hour lesson to determine: (a) what beliefs pre-service teachers hold about requiring vaccinations in schools before and after engaging with the simulations; and (b) how these beliefs emerge when pre-service teachers attempt to re-design a computational model to represent three schools with unique social and economic conditions.

Computer Support for Collaborative Learning- CSCL

Petrosino, A. J., Sherard, M. K., & Brady, C. E. (June, 2019). Using Collaborative Agent-based Modeling to Explore Complex Phenomena with Preservice Teachers. Poster presented at the International Conference of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, Lyon, France.


ABSTRACT:
This poster investigates preservice teachers’ abilities to use, evaluate, and revise participatory agent-based models deployed with the Group-based Cloud Computing (GbCC) platform. This poster discusses two cases within a larger design-based implementation research study with preservice elementary science teachers. By implementing models with preservice teachers, we hope to (a) make adjustments to the GbCC learning technologies, and (b) develop more informed and and aligned pedagogies for teaching in socially-mediated and generative learning environments

The Uncomfortable Truth About the Hoboken Public Schools: State Scores and District Rankings are at Historically Low Levels

Parcc 2018 Flyer by on Scribd

These scores and rankings do not indicate that the Hoboken School District is anywhere close to being a "model of excellence" for anything- let alone for diverse communities. Such statements are a mockery and are insulting to anyone paying attention to the Hoboken Public Schools. Thankfully for people overseeing education in the Hoboken district, there is no active news coverage of the district other than the public relation releases the district sends to the local newspapers. Issues related to the new QSAC scores will be addressed in an upcoming post.

Furthermore, the 2018 New Jersey Monthly Magazine ranking of NJ school districts finds the Hoboken School District dropping 48 spots and is now ranked 260th out of 300 school districts in NJ. Only in Hoboken is dropping 48 slots on a statewide independent ranking considered "making improvement" or warrants assurances that students are "college ready" or gets a superintendent an extension on a contract.

                                                       2018  2016            City                               County

2018 New Jersey Monthly Magazine- Best High Schools in NJ Issue

First Kindergarten in the United States: Hoboken NJ- February, 11, 1861