The Journey for a New PS 48: Benefits of PreK-8 Education

PTA of PS48
1055 Targee Street
Staten Island, NY 10304
718-447-8323
ps48pta@yahoo.com

January 5th, 2011

Mr. Fridman,

It has been brought to our attention that Citizen Magazine might be interested in running an article featuring P.S. 48, the expansion of the school to a new facility in September 2013 and the school's overwhelming desire for that new school site to be designated as a K-8 facility.

The reason that we are fighting so hard for this vision to come to fruition is because we believe that this is a onetime chance to ensure the optimum benefits from this project. There is no more viable land on this section of Staten Island to build any future schools. This community also has never been afforded the luxury of having an Intermediate School within its own neighborhood.  Our children have been forced to be dispersed all over the Island during the Middle School years. This is the one and only opportunity that we will be given to finally right that wrong.
 

K-8 benefits are substantial and have been recorded and documented many times over; most recently in the Columbia University study: Students do better academically in k-8 schools than they do in middle schools, by Maureen Downey, September 1, 2010 and Stuck in the Middle: How and why middle schools harm student achievement, by Jonah E. Rockoff and Benjamin B. Lockwood, Fall 2010/Vol. 10, No. 4. Add to that the fact that many of the Intermediate Schools, especially the four which encompass PS 48, are not performing at the same high standards as the rest of the Intermediate Schools on the Island.  PS 48 was the top ranking school on Staten Island last year. We have been invited to apply as a Blue Ribbon School this year.

P.S. 48’s current enrollment is 471 children (not including the 36 enrolled in Pre-K).  The new site’s occupancy is 844 seats. We would like for the remaining seats to be used for our students to continue their exceptional education here through grades 6-8, rather than enrolling additional elementary school students from other overcrowded schools. There are approximately 4,179 students enrolled in the four closest Intermediate Schools, we would estimate that 300 of the 844 seats being assigned to the new school site would be needed for grades 6-8. We guarantee that the high standards in which we operate will carry over to the students in grades 6-8 if we were afforded this opportunity. Based on the fact that all of our 5^th grade students meet State standards, we are certain the number of Middle Schools students passing the State exams, in this area of Staten Island, will increase by over 7% if P.S. 48 was allowed to expand through the 8^th grade. It is our unwavering belief that the students in this community are entitled to finally have a quality middle school education, located in their own neighbor; for the first and only time, we have that opportunity at this new location.

Much to our good fortune and deepest appreciation, Councilmember James Oddo has lead the fight for this expansion and is continuing to actively support the K-8 designation of the new site. Along with Councilman Oddo, Borough President Molinaro, Senator Lanza and the local civic associations also support a K-8 facility.

We understand that some letters and articles have already been forwarded to you. If you should require any additional information, please feel free to us.

We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,
Lori Aiello and Lori Fine
PTA Co-Presidents
Public School 48

New study finds advantage of K-8 schools

by Rhonda Rosenberg | published September 30, 2010
uft.org

New York City public school students who attend middle schools scored lower on math and reading tests than they would have had they attended a K-8 school, according to a new study released by two Columbia University researchers. The same study found that middle school students also miss almost two additional days of school per year than K-8 students.

The latest study will no doubt fuel further debate about grade configuration for middle schools.  Two equally rigorous, earlier studies in Philadelphia found no differences attributable to school structure.

Columbia University’s Jonah Rockoff and Benjamin Lockwood examined the records of 193,000 New York City public school students, of which 8 percent attended a K-8 school. All of the students entered 3rd grade between the fall of 1998 and the fall of 2002 and remained in the city school system until the 8th grade. The data by grade revealed that students who enter middle schools go from scoring better than their K-8 peers in 5th grade to scoring below these students during the middle school years.

The middle schoolers’ scores decline in the year that they transition to middle school and continue downward through the 8th grade. These findings held up even after accounting for differences in poverty, English language learner status, special education needs and socioeconomic characteristics.

Rockoff and Lockwood attribute the drop in test scores to the more diverse student body and more students per grade in middle schools. New middle schoolers also become the youngest children in school after having been the oldest, making for a difficult transition.

Prior research on Philadelphia schools produced contrary results. Christopher Weiss and Lindsay Kipnes, also of Columbia University, found that school structure did not make a difference when they compared the final report card marks of 8th-grade students.

Vaughan Byrnes and  Allen Ruby of Johns Hopkins University found that it’s the larger grade size and higher student/teacher ratio at middle schools that accounted for differences in student achievement. When these factors and teacher experience were controlled for, the difference between middle and K-8 performance on standardized tests declined to almost zero.

Instead of a K-8 conversion policy, Byrnes and Ruby suggest reducing grade size and the student/teacher ratio.  The two researchers also noted that neighborhoods may play a role in the K-8 advantage, a factor that Rockoff and Lockwood neglected to examine in their study of New York City schools. Eight of the city’s 31 school districts have either none or only one K-8 school and were therefore not adequately represented in the K-8 analysis.

Benefits of PreK-8 Education

The following information was compiled to assist you in making the best choice for your student and family.

In dissertation research regarding K-8 education, Keith Look, a researcher for the Philadelphia Education Fund, concluded that middle grades students in a K-8 school behave differently than in a middle school. They take on the role of protector and role model as opposed to having to establish new reputations upon entering middle school.  Look also found that K-8 schools enhance students’ social capital and create greater opportunities for success by building relationships with staff and peers over a course of nine years.
 

♦ In K-8 schools, the early grade teachers know almost everyone in the building, and the middle grade teachers speak with them regarding a student’s history, learning style, and family dynamic. These connections mean that each September, teachers and their families do not start from square one. Students know that all teachers care about them and are invested in their success. Teachers are able to see their influence as the students grow from small children into young adults. Teacher collaboration and articulation within and across grades increases.

♦ Look’s research noted an improvement in parental involvement because parents are more likely to stay involved in the children’s school lives longer. They are already comfortable with the school and its staff. Parents are also more likely to have more than one student enrolled in the same school. Students become accustomed to seeing parents as a part of the school environment and, as middle school students, do not object to parental involvement.

♦ In a review of 20 years of educational research, the Rand Corporation – a nonprofit research group in Santa Monica, CA – concluded that separate middle school has become the norm more because of societal and demographic pressures than because of scientific evidence supporting the need for a separate school for young teens.

♦ "Research suggests that the onset of puberty is an especially poor reason for beginning a new phase of schooling." Jaana Juvonen, the UCLA psychologist who spent more than 18 months crunching data for the Rand report, believes that 11- and 12-year-olds are already dealing with so many changes that it makes little sense to pile on a change in schools. "Right around the time that most kids are transferring to middle school, everything starts to happen," she says. "There's physical development: you're starting to look different. And because of that, people's expectations of you are changing. In addition, there's cognitive development and new reasoning abilities. It is a very fragile period."

♦ Research done by Cheri Pierson Yeckefor the Thomas B. Fordham Institute discussed results from separate studies in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Baltimore concerning academic achievements in different school models.  All three studies demonstrated quantifiable positive results when comparing the outcomes of students who attended K-8 schools versus the traditional K-5 then 6-8 environment.  Students showed higher academic achievement and significantly higher scores on standardized tests.  They also had higher levels of participation in extracurricular activities, demonstrated greater leadership skills, and were less likely to be victimized than those in the elementary/middle school setting.  They were more likely to be enrolled in selective high school programs and demonstrated a higher GPA in 9^th grade.

OPINIONS:

Debra Derrico, the Community Board 2 district manager, said she would like to see the new building to serve students K-8.

“I’m happy to see Staten Island making important strides to overcome school overcrowding issues. I applaud James Oddo, the Department of Education, School Construction Authority, and everyone involved in the process to expand and create the new facility,” said Ms. Derrico.

My own kids went to a PK-8th Catholic school. When my oldest kids were young, the middle school students would do service hours by helping in the young classrooms. They would put on a science experiment Halloween activity each year. The fact that the older kids were role models for the younger kids was one of the things that I loved about the school. Later, when my kids would have gotten to be the older ones, a new principal decided that these activities were a waste of instructional time. Recently they incorporated some mixed age level activities into the religion program, and my youngest daughter really enjoyed being kind of a big sister to little kids. So, I guess it depends on what the school does with it.
BK

Hi I work in a PreK-8th grade school and there are several advantages. You can see your students grow and mature all the way through 8th grade graduation.

I teach 2nd so I always seek out an 8th grade class to "mentor" my class. They come down to help with all sorts of tasks such as helping to get our weekly sight word tests done, help my students navigate their way around the internet and learn basic computer skills, they serve as our reading buddies, and we even invite them down for our Reader's Theater and Poetry shows. At the end of the year we have a huge celebration and invite our buddies and we all have ice cream sundaes. You could also set up a pen pal exchange or a journal exchange that would foster writing skills!
AN