Dinowitz raises implementation concerns and key questions for DOE
Dinowitz notes teachers and administrators are unsure how to apply or circumvent the new limits, and asks what evidence DOE can produce for blanket screen use, what teacher training is offered, how stakeholders are engaged, and whether DOE will lobby for handwritten state assessments.
As a parent, as a teacher, we know, we feel it, like we know that there's a difference between a child alone
scrolling for the next video on YouTube or alone on a screen waiting for the next dopamine hit on that gamified learning, and a teacher in front of the room showing a short clip of a documentary and having a class discussion about it.
Regarding the updated policy itself, for the start of school last week, many teachers and administrators were left wondering how to apply these new limits in their classrooms or in other cases, how to circumvent the new limits.
Superintendents are left to figure out specific guidance for their individual school districts.
For the success and health of our children, for the future of our city, we must get this right.
What evidence can the DOE produce to demonstrate that blanket screen use is beneficial to our children?
What training is being offered to our teachers on products and methods that do meet a standard of efficacy?
How is the DOE continuing to engage stakeholders, and who are those stakeholders?
How will the DOE continually evaluate the policies affecting this throughout the year and at the end of the year, or as we say, formative and summative assessments?
And will the DOE join us to lobby New York State to return to handwritten statewide assessments?
So name a tool, name the study behind the tool, identify the professional development the teacher receives before deploying the tools to their classes.
We all want the same thing.
A world-class education system for our children.
The hard part is how to get there.
I look forward to today's hearing to move us all forward in the right direction for our children.