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Good Food Buffalo Policy Brief

Jessica Gilbert — Jun 26, 2018

This policy brief provides a snapshot of the current status of school food at Buffalo Public Schools and several ongoing school food improvement initiatives.

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Performance-Based Assessment for ELLs

Bridget Murphy — Nov 29, 2017

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Erie County as a Metro-Wide School District

Gabriella Agostinelli — Dec 9, 2013

Studies show that the quality of a child’s education is largely dependent on her family’s wealth, race, and residence.  When a child living in deep poverty is educated in a poor school district, she has little exposure to the opportunities and experiences enjoyed by children in wealthier districts.  Metro-wide school districts attempt to equalize educational opportunities for all students, raise regional academic achievement levels, and generate better relations across …

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Should Buffalo Move Back to Neighborhood Public Schools?

Nicholas Fischer — Dec 9, 2013

It is a school where the majority of its students come from the neighborhood surrounding it.  Aside from private or magnet schools, students must attend the school assigned to their neighborhood.  This is no longer the model in Buffalo or in many cities.  For the past forty years schools have bussed students across the district.  Today there is a debate as to whether Buffalo Public Schools should return to the neighborhood school model.

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Teacher Residency Requirements in Buffalo: Reconciling Community Benefits with Marketplace Realities

Lee Bender — Dec 9, 2013

In 2011 Buffalo Public Schools repealed a requirement that its teachers live in the district — a “residency rule”.  Because the city’s urban population accounts for only one quarter of the metro population, this rule severely restricted the teacher applicant pools.  However, the residency requirement had some benefits to the community — such as providing neighborhood role models and making teachers more aware of the students’ life situations and …

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The Downside of Standardized Testing

Nicole Intschert — Dec 9, 2013

Children in the United States are tested “to an extent that is unprecedented in our history and unparalleled anywhere else in the world.” The federal No Child Left behind Act has triggered a standardized testing “explosion,” the repercussions of which have been felt throughout the nation.  Standardized tests are those where “all students answer the same questions under similar conditions and their responses are scored in the same way, and may include …

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Title I Funds in Buffalo Public Schools: Educating Children in Poverty

Amanda Dermady — Dec 9, 2013

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides federal financial assistance to public and private schools with high percentages of children from low-income families with the aim of helping children meet state academic standards.  The Act was originally enacted in April 1965 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty” and is currently authorized under President George W. Bush’s No Child Left behind Act.  Title I funds are allocated …

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