Meeting of the Board of Regents | December 2009

Report of the

REGENTS EMSC/HIGHER EDUCATION JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING

to

The Board of Regents

December 15, 2009

              Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees held a joint meeting on December 14, 2009.  All Committee members were present except for Regents Cohen and Norwood, who were excused.

ACTION ITEMS

 

Common Core Standards Review and Adoption Process

              Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents direct staff to implement the review and adoption process for the Common Core State Standards and support the development of college- and career-readiness standards for ELA and mathematics learning standards and grade by grade performance expectations.   [EMSC (A) 1]

 

Assessment Policy

Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents approve recommendations to redesign the New York State Assessment Program.  The recommendations include the development of formative, interim and summative assessments in ELA and mathematics; making the grades 3-8 test more comprehensive and integrating computer-based assessments with the Science testing program; and making changes to the Regents Testing Program by adding English and Social Studies exams, and including curriculum frameworks and matched assessments in the Arts, Economics and Multi-media/computer technology.  The Committee asked that revisions in the Regents testing program for Mathematics and Science also be considered.   [EMSC (A) 2]

 

P-20 Longitudinal Data System and Growth Model

              Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents approve a new accountability model that includes growth measures as part of the overall accountability measurements.  The U.S. Education Department has signaled its intention to encourage the use of growth models by states when Congress takes up the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as early as next year.  If the growth model concept is approved, staff will begin work on a proposal to be presented to the Regents in the spring.  The Committee also discussed the work being done to create the P-20 longitudinal data system.  [EMSC (A) 3]

 

 

Establishing a Graduation Rate Goal and Annual Targets for Accountability

              The Committees considered four policy recommendations:

1.           Set for NCLB accountability purposes a graduation goal that 80% of an accountability group graduates from high school within the specified number of years.

2.           Establish a progress target for the 2009-10 and 2010-2011 school years that schools and district below the graduation rate goal achieve a 20% gap reduction for the "all students" group.

 3.          Not establish a minimum graduation rate (floor) for accountability purposes until New York begins with 2011-12 school year results to use a five year extended year graduation rate.

 

• Set an aspirational graduate goal that 95% of each school's and district's "all students group" graduate within five years and publicize on school and district report cards whether this goal has been achieved.

 

Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents adopt these policy recommendations establishing a graduation rate goal and annual targets for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years for submission to the United States Department of Education for approval.  Staff will prepare the submission to USED based on these policy recommendations.   [EMSC (D) 11]

 

Charter Schools

 

Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents approves and issues the charter of the Lefferts Gardens Charter School as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York and issues a provisional charter to it for a term of five years, up through and including December 14, 2014.  [EMSC (A) 4]

Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents approves the renewal application of the Bronx Charter School for the Arts, that a second renewal charter be issued, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including August 31, 2015.   [EMSC (A) 5]

Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents approves and issues the charter of the Renaissance Charter High School for Innovation as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and issues a provisional charter to it for a term of five years, up through and including December 14, 2014.  [EMSC (A) 6]

Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents approves and issues the charter of the Rochdale Early Advantage Charter School as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and issues a provisional charter to it for a term of five years, up through and including December 14, 2014.   [EMSC (A) 7]

Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents approves the renewal application of the Urban Choice Charter School to the extent that it provides for instruction in grades kindergarten though eight only, and directs the school to modify its application accordingly.  [EMSC (A) 8]

Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents approves the renewal application of the Niagara Charter School, that a first renewal charter be used, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including June 30, 2013.  [EMSC (A) 9]

Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents approves the renewal application of the Genesee Community Charter School, that a second renewal charter be issued, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including June 30, 2015.  [EMSC (A) 10]

Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents approves and issues the charter of the Inwood Academy for Leadership Charter School as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and issues a provisional charter to it for a term of five years, up through and including December 14, 2014.   [EMSC (A) 12]

Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents approves and issues the charter of the Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health and Science Charter School as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York and issues a provisional charter to it for a term of five years, up through and including December 14, 2014.  [EMSC (A) 13]        

Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend that the Board of Regents approves and issues the charter of the Staten Island Community Charter School as proposed by the Chancellor of the city school district of the City of New York, and issues a provisional charter to it for a term of five years, up through and including December 14, 2014.  [EMSC (A) 14]

MOTION FOR ACTION BY FULL BOARD

             

              Madam Chancellor and Colleagues:  Your EMSC and Higher Education Committees recommend, and we move, that the Board of Regents act affirmatively upon each recommendation in the written report of the Committee's deliberations at its meeting on December 15, 2009, copies of which have been distributed to each Regent.

 

MATTERS NOT REQUIRING BOARD ACTION

Making Up Course Credit – The Committees discussed a proposed amendment to regulations relating to making up course credit that establishes standards for make-up credit programs for school districts, registered nonpublic schools, and charter schools that choose to offer such programs.   It is anticipated that the proposed amendment will be submitted to the Regents for approval in the spring.  [EMSC (D) 1]

Proposed Methodology for Identification of Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools – The Committees endorsed a proposed methodology for identifying the lowest-achieving schools that would be targeted for turnaround intervention and recommendations for how the process can be used to strengthen the Schools Under Registration Review process (SURR).  Staff will incorporate these concepts into New York’s Race to the Top application and develop regulations for submission to the Regents to implement these recommendations beginning with the 2010-2011 school year.  [EMSC (D) 2]

Update on School Turnaround/Restart/Closure/Transformation Strategies – The Committees discussed a proposed plan for strategies that school districts can use to transform or close and replace those schools identified for turnaround intervention.  The Committees endorsed recommendations to raise student achievement and close achievement gaps by turning around the State’s persistently lowest achieving schools.

Those recommendations include:

 

• Pursuing a framework for dramatic school intervention, which includes direct management of schools by external lead partners and possible creation of  Partnership Zones
• Using Federal funds to create a statewide Technical Assistance Center for Innovation and Turnaround  and use of federal funds to support LEAs that opt-in to use of the four intervention models before schools are identified as persistently lowest-achieving
• Creating a State Education Department Office of Innovative School Models
• Establishing legislative priorities to: authorize educational management organizations to directly manage schools; raise the charter school cap; authorize the Commissioner to order an LEA to convert a struggling school into a charter school; authorize charter schools access to BOCES services; expand the authority of the Board of Regents to intervene in LEAs that have been declared chronically under performing and give the Regents the authority to designate a three-member team to assume the responsibilities of an Education Oversight Board with all the powers of the School Board.
• Amending Commissioner’s regulations to: allow newly created schools to seek operational waivers; align the SURR identification process and persistently lowest achieving schools process; ensure that LEAs’ annual professional performance review plan requires timely and constructive feedback and that the evaluation include performance data for that teacher’s students; and, expand the means by which students can earn high school credit based on completion of competencies.
• Creating innovative secondary schools, including developing a Virtual High School [EMSC (D) 3]

 

That concludes our report.

 

 

 

                                                                                    Anthony Bottar and Merryl Tisch       

                                                                                    Co-Chairs, EMSC Committee

 

 

 

                                                                                    Milton Cofield and Harry Phillips

                                                                                    Co-Chairs, Higher Education Committee