Rockaway Beach, NY – On January 24, Public School 183 Dr. Richard R. Green held their monthly PTA meeting at 6pm located at 245 Beach 79th Street, Rockaway Beach in Far Rockaway. In attendance were the PTA board members, educators, parents and guest speakers from the NAACP chapter in Far Rockaway.
The purpose of tonight’s PTA (Parent/Teacher Association) meeting was to develop a program that would help assist the students with reading fundamentals along with writing. This is part of the core values that are necessary for the students when taking the standard ELA test to help achieve higher reading scores.
During the meeting, the NAACP representative, Mr. David Warden explained the winter reading program that would take place starting from January 2019 through April 2019 when the children return from Spring Break.
The program at present is geared to the students in the 8th grade to help prepare them for high school readiness and elevate their reading levels and essay writing. They must choose five books and write a one to a two-page report summarizing what they learned. Some of the suggested reading were books on Black History. One of the suggested topics was the history of the Black Wall Street, among other readings. The idea is to prepare and promote student’s ability for doing research on their history and culture.
When they have completed the program and submitted the packet, they will receive a gift card and a certificate for participating in this reading program. PS 183 was glad to incorporate this program into the school while partnering up with the NAACP to help with their students learning and reading abilities.
The NAACP will also share future projects that will involve the younger students only after successful completion of the 8th-grade winter program. Based on the success of the program will set the foundation to share future projects with the younger grades. Public School 183 teaches grades PreK thru 8th.
There is standardized testing known as the reading ELA (English Language Arts) test and the Math test. These tests are given to students in grades 3 thru 8th in order to prepare them for the next grade level in areas of reading and math.
PS 183 is just one of the schools within District 27 that is in need of education reform.
Below you will find an infographic that showcases all this information with a quicker overview.
Looking back at the percentage of low ELA test scores during the school year 2017-18, PS 183 scores only ranked 25% in comparison to the district and city which averages in the 45% overall proficiency ELA level 3 and 4. The 8th grade alone makes up for only 36% of scoring level 3 and 4; whereas the District is 50% and the State is 48%.
The Department of Education (DOE) is now implementing a new program called ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act), although it’s still in the trial stages. This program will eventually replace the standardized testing of the ELA and Math to a different type of test called ELLs, and MLLs along with adding in science and social studies testing.
The purpose of ESSA is to make sure every student is successful no matter their back background, where they live or where they come from. The program is also going to help the teachers so they can give their students a better educational learning experience; so, students from schools like PS 183 have the same learning opportunities as schools who are meeting the criteria for reading and math standardized testing.
In Her Own Words 