We have a large system. We have to accommodate all students. Much like their counterparts in Chicago, small schools in New York are under increasing pressure to raise test scores. Yet as progressive educators, many small-school leaders shun tests as a measure of student progress. Our goal is to look at as broad a picture of the child as we can.
Tests only gauge a narrow range of abilities.
Student involvement and ability to solve problems is more important to Kanze. But Kanze is also realistic. In March, the New York Times reported that the reading scores at Central Park East II are among the lowest of the city's small schools. In 1997, fewer than 35 percent of CPE II students were reading at or above national norms. Kanze knows such news could scare off parents.