New Standards

New York State and New York City have joined a large number of states and school districts in requiring new standards across New York State. The object of new standards is to provide a higher level of education with more school accountability. However, implementation can be problematic without proper resources, and appropriate services for certain groups of children such as those who are English Language Learners or who are using special education services.

What exactly are New Standards? If you'd like an informative overview, New Visions has a Parent's Guide to New Standards on their site.

The New York State Education Department recently published a research paper, Will Raising Standards Improve Student Acheivement?, which concludes that while standards are an important aspect of improving student acheivement, they must be accompanied by additional resources and reforms in testing and teaching. One New York City high school student comments on new standards, explaining that they are not as beneficial without the necessary teaching and academic resources.

The New York City Board of Education's website published What's New About New Standards, as well as Chancellor Crew's New Standards Update from the Fall of 1998, which talks about raising the standard of teaching in New York City schools.

In addition, New York City has drafted new regulations to determine when a child should be held back if s/he is not meeting the standards developed by the Board of Education. An analysis of these changes can be found in the Promotions and Holdovers section of this site. In September 1999 the Board of Education decided that children who do not meet the new standards set out in these regulations will be held back. AFC's report on the educational effectiveness of retaining children can be found in either html or Word format.

back to Information and Resources