Columbia Spotlight

There have been many national articles on the impact of the pandemic on student achievement as measured by state testing taken last year. According to the NYT, "Math Scores Fell in Nearly Every State, and Reading Dipped on National Exam," called the NAEP. Unfortunately, New Jersey didn't even make it to the top 10.  You can learn more about NJ numbers from this Star-Ledger article . In addition, you can find the 2022 NJSLA Columbia High School results for 2022 at this website . (If you recall, only 9th graders took the NJSLA in English and math. (Juniors took a new test called the NJGPA.) You can ask your supervisor for your students' specific data points too.  We will be scheduling the NJ-GPA again this year for March 13 - 17. We will then be holding the NJSLA testing later in May after AP testing. 

The holiday break always provides some time to catch up on interesting topics and reads. Here are a few articles I have meant to read about the impact of artificial intelligence on education -- the pros and the cons!  1. WSJ's " ChatGPT, Explained: What to Know About OpenAI's Chatbot " (7-minute introductory video) 2.   WaPo's " Why I’m not worried about my students using ChatGPT " 3. USA Today's " 'This shouldn’t be a surprise' The education community shares mixed reactions to ChatGPT " 4. NYT's " Alarmed by A.I. Chatbots, Universities Start Revamping How They Teach " 5.  WaPo's " Teachers are on alert for inevitable cheating after release of ChatGPT " 6. NYT's " Is A.I. the Future of Test Prep? " 7. EDsource's " Don’t throw out standardized student testing – make it better " 8. EDsurge's " Educators Are Taking Action in AI Education to Make Future-Ready Communities &

We shared this great NYT article with our teachers today. I hope it sparks discussion on public speaking opportunities here at school.  This is the season for final exams, but maybe we should drop the pencils, paper and keyboards and start talking instead. The thought is scary at first. If Chidera Onyeoziri had known that her introductory sociology course required oral exams, “I’m not sure I would have taken the class,” she told me. She was a sophomore at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.; she had never taken an oral exam before. “I remember putting in a lot of work, spending a lot more time on the course than I otherwise would have,” she said. During the first exam of the semester, she coped with her nerves by getting out of her chair and pacing. Her professor, normally so friendly, stared impassively and interrupted her with questions. Looking back on the class after a few years, “I can definitely say that’s the course that I remember the most of, and that may be a function of the o