A veteran Brooklyn teacher is on top of the world after scoring sky-high marks for her classroom skills — in both math and reading.
Janice Porter, who teaches fourth grade at PS 5 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, fared better than 99 percent of her colleagues in the 2009-2010 report released yesterday by the Department of Education.
“In 10 years, I’ve never had any of my students fail, so I better be damn good, right?” joked Porter, 55, after seeing the results.
“My heart is pounding right now, it’s so exciting,” she told The Post.
“Some of my students have perfect scores across the board on their exams, and I am so proud of them.”
Porter was one of just 32 of the fourth- through eighth-grade city teachers who scored a 99 percent multiyear ranking with a zero variable — meaning there was no margin of error in the figures.
Those teachers were also in the 99th percentile for the single year 2009-2010.
“It’s so surreal,” Porter said.
“It’s sinking in just now. I was just telling my husband, ‘They better recognize me!’ I’ve worked so hard to make sure my kids succeed.”
Porter said she’s thrilled to have some good news to share with fellow teachers.
“There have been so many stories about bad teachers and all their scandals with those poor kids,” she said. “It’s just wrong what they’ve done. People like that bring us all down and lower our standing.
“There are so many wonderful teachers out here not getting recognition, so I figure, ‘Hey, we must deserve a trophy or something!’ ”
Porter was one of only two teachers to score the highest ranking, with a zero margin of error, in two subjects for 2009-2010, according to the DOE data.
The other was Maggie Catacora, who teaches fourth-grade English and math at PS 153 Adam Clayton Powell in Harlem.
Joining them among the cream of the crop were Anna Chan, a fourth-grade math teacher at PS 48 in Queens, and Noreen Oliver, a fifth-grade math teacher at PS 244 in Brooklyn.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Oliver, whose students were recently lauded for their work in an essay contest about Martin Luther King Jr.
But Oliver said she believes there is more to her job than rankings can show.
“I don’t think this is a fair evaluation,’’ Oliver said.
“It only reflects one aspect of what we do in the classroom.”
Porter — who is also a published author — agreed.
“It’s not always the teacher’s fault when there are low test scores,” she said.
“There are lots of challenges for students in and outside of the classroom. All kids are different and learn differently,” said Porter.
“Some of them have very special needs, and I do the best I can with each student to bring out their potential. Our kids really are our future, so we have to make their early academic experience the best that it can be.”
Porter has been teaching fourth grade for a decade and will begin teaching fifth grade in the fall.
“I am excited to see my students transition from one year to the next,” she said.
“Being able to see my kids succeed and evolve academically is incredibly rewarding.”
Additional reporting by Aaron Feis and Yoav Gonen
