Committee Report | May 2011

Report of the


P-12 EDUCATION COMMITTEE AND THE


REGENTS
COLLEGE
AND CAREER READINESS WORKING GROUP


to


The Board of Regents


May 17, 2011

Your P-12 Education Committee and College and Career Readiness Working Group held a joint meeting on May 16, 2011.  All members were present. 

ACTION ITEMS

Options for Funding the Regents Examination System

Your Committees recommends that the Board of Regents direct staff to take the action steps listed in Chart A and Chart B in the Regents Item.  The Committee endorsed the long-term action steps proposed by staff which include the securing of exams after they are given so that the questions can be reused, looking at other cost-effective options other than printing and shipping the tests, and piloting online testing to gauge the capacity of the Department and the field to administer tests electronically.  Regent Roger Tilles voted in opposition on these proposed action steps. [P-12/CCR (A) 1]

MOTION FOR ACTION BY FULL BOARD

           

Madam Chancellor and Colleagues: Your P-12 Education Committee and College and Career Readiness Working Group recommend, and I ove, that the Board of Regents act affirmatively upon the recommendation in the written report of the Committees’ deliberations at their meeting on May 17, 2011, copies of which have been distributed to each Regent. 

MATTERS NOT REQUIRING BOARD ACTION

Common Core Transition Strategy – The Committees discussed strategies to revise the State’s assessment programs to ensure that they measure the knowledge and skills that are required for students to stay on track to college and career readiness from elementary school through graduation.  The strategies discussed include:

• Possible revisions to the existing state standards in Science and Social Studies/History to ensure that they reflect rigorous expectations in each grade level and that they reflect a learning trajectory that ensures students graduate college and career ready.
• Creation of four domain-specific advisory panels and an implementation panel to advise on each step in the assessment design and validation process.
• Assessment design activities including conducting an analysis of the gap between the knowledge and skills currently measured by each of our exams and the knowledge and skills our exams need to make sure students are on track for college and career readiness.
• Creation of an ongoing empirical validation strategy to collect a variety of evidence regarding our assessments to be used to evaluate the quality and improve the rigor of our assessments.
• Changing the score scale to one which is consistent with the 3–8 testing program scale and reports student performance as a performance category.

Staff will begin the research and work necessary to build on this comprehensive assessment transition strategy and will return at a later date with a proposal for a coherent sequenced system that is aligned with the Common Core standards.   [P-12/CCR (D) 1]

Earning Additional Course Credit through Integrated CTE Courses – The Committees discussed staff recommendations to provide additional integrated options in grades 9-10, where currently most BOCES districts offer CTE courses in middle-level and grades 11-12.  Specific career pathways available in grades 11-12 in approved CTE programs could be expanded downward to reflect specific academic and technical skill sets necessary to provide the foundational content knowledge needed for success in college and careers.  The Committee discussed a multi-year phase-in approach with the option for some districts to begin as early as the 2011-12 school year, by identifying existing CTE courses at the high school level that have the potential for integrated academic enhancement.  Staff will begin to further develop the implementation plan and come back to a future meeting to update the Regents.  [P-12/CCR (D) 2]

CTE Program Approval Process – the Committees discussed the Regents approved CTE policy permitting students to earn up to one unit each of required credit in English, science, and mathematics, and the combined unit of economics and government through integrated CTE courses in approved CTE programs. This allows students to pursue career and technical education through coursework that also offers credit for commencement-level academic skills and content.  Department staff will review the existing Regents CTE policy to identify ways to expand access to high-quality CTE programs.  Staff will return to the Regents at a future date with considerations for policy decisions.   [P-12/CCR (D) 3]

CTE Panel Presentation - Academic Integration in Approved CTE Programs

Panel Members

• David Arntsen, Career and Technical Education Director, Madison-Oneida BOCES
• Ms. Gene Silverman, Executive Director, Department of Career and Technical Education Nassau BOCES
• James Weimer, Principal, Emerson High School of Hospitality, Buffalo City Schools
• Shirley Ware, Career and Technical Education Teacher, North Syracuse Central School District

The panel presented overviews of their programs and answered questions relating to how academic integration is operationalized in their CTE approved programs.  Discussion focused on current options for students to earn academic credit through integrated CTE coursework and how integrated CTE coursework improves student learning and achievement.  [P-12/CCR (D) 4]

Graduation Rate Reporting – the Committees discussed several approaches to developing valid and rigorous aspirational performance standards that are aligned with college- and career-readiness.  Among the approaches discussed were the Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation, the ELA/Math Aspirational Performance Measure and using additional course and achievement differentiation for Math.  Since fewer students pursue advanced math courses, the latter approach will need further development.   In the next few weeks, the Department will release the graduation rate for students who entered grade 9 in the 2006-07 school year.  This release will make clear the percentage of students in the cohort – by school and district – that met the following aspirational performance standards discussed in the meeting (which can be viewed as possible indicators of potential postsecondary success): Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation and the ELA/Math Aspirational Performance Measure.  [P-12/CCR (D) 5]