Committee Report | October 2011

Report of the


REGENTS P-12 EDUCATION COMMITTEE


to


The Board of Regents


October 18, 2011

Your P-12 Education Committee held its scheduled meeting on October 17, 2011.  All members were present. 

ACTION ITEMS

Charter
 School
 Actions

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents approves and issues  the charter of the Canarsie Ascend Charter School  as proposed by the Trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY) and issues a  provisional charter to it for a term as prescribed by §2851(2)(p) of the  Education Law.   [P-12  (A) 1]

New York State’s Next Generation Accountability System

On September 23rd, President Obama announced an ESEA regulatory flexibility initiative allowing states to apply for regulatory flexibility in certain areas for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years and, if certain conditions are met, flexibility may be extended to the 2014-15 school year.  Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents directs the Commissioner of Education and State Education Department staff to prepare the ESEA Flexibility Request for submission by mid-February 2012.  Staff will come back to the Committee with monthly updates including a January 2012 discussion of the draft application.  Your Committee further recommends that the Board of Regents designate the following members to lead the work of the Think Tank:  Chancellor Emeritus Robert Bennett, Regent James Dawson, Regent Betty Rosa, Regent James Jackson, and Regent Harry Phillips [P-12 (A) 2]

Pre-Kindergarten Standards

Your Committee recommends  that the Board of Regents approves and  directs staff to release to the field the newly revised Prekindergarten Foundation for  the Common Core, with rollout occurring in academic year 2011-12.    [P-12 (A) 3]

Preliminary 2012-13 Budget Request for Assessments

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents adopt the 2012-13 preliminary budget request for $10 million for Assessments and Regents Exams.  [P-12 (A) 4]

Proposals to Improve Integrity of the State’s Exams

As a follow-up to the September Regents meeting where staff were directed to further develop proposals to improve the integrity of the State’s exams, the Committee discussed specific proposals on proctoring, scanning and scoring and recommends that the following actions be taken:

For school year 2011-12:

• Request funding of $1.0 million in the 2012-13 State Budget to perform scanning/erasure analysis on 10% of 3-8 assessments and Regents exams post administration for multiple choice;
• Request funding of $0.7 million in the 2012-13 State Budget to support additional inter-rater reliability analysis of open response scoring on 3-8 assessments and Regents exams;
• Request funding of $0.2 million to plan and begin a computer based testing (CBT) pilot.
• Request funding of $0.2 million to support additional data forensics, in consultation with the Technical Advisory Group, and in partnership with academic partners.
• Create a small working group to make recommendations for local monitoring protocol requirements;
• Request Independent Reviewer make recommendations on appropriate retention time of answer sheets and assessment booklets.

For school year 2012-13:

• Prohibit teachers from scoring their own student’s exams. Districts must develop the capacity to implement alternative scoring processes, such as, external, regional, or distributed technology for the scoring of open responses on State assessments.  Outreach to districts will be conducted on how this will be accomplished.  [P-12 (A) 5]

Determination of Kindergarten Readiness

            Your Committee recommends that contingent on New York State winning an Early Learning Challenge Grant, the Board of Regents directs staff to develop a comprehensive proposal for implementing a common readiness tool for implementation in the 2014-15 school year, and create a Kindergarten Readiness Advisory Council made up of expert stakeholders from around the State to inform this process.

[P-12 (D) 1]

MOTION FOR ACTION BY FULL BOARD

           

Madam Chancellor and Colleagues: Your P-12 Education Committee recommends, and I move, that the Board of Regents act affirmatively upon each recommendation in the written report of the Committee's deliberations at its meeting on October 18, 2011, copies of which have been distributed to each Regent.

MATTERS NOT REQUIRING BOARD ACTION

Making Up Incomplete or Failed Course Credit – The Committee discussed the Making Up Incomplete or Failed Course Credit regulation adopted in April 2010 which is intended to ensure appropriate levels of rigor and quality for make-up (credit recovery) programs implemented by local schools.  Since then, anecdotal evidence and staff observation of current practices suggest that in certain programs of credit recovery, students may be given credit without completion of appropriate work or without receiving adequate instruction.  The Committee’s discussion focused on the importance of ensuring that students are being given rigorous opportunities and that they are earning meaningful credits.  To this end, the Regents direct staff to enlist the assistance of the Office of the State Comptroller in auditing the practice of awarding credit under the Making Up Incomplete or Failed Course Credit regulation.  The audit would focus specifically on adherence to and documentation of the procedures required under Section 100.5(d)(8) of Commissioner’s Regulations.    [P-12 (D) 1]

Proposed Regents State and Federal Legislative Priorities – The Committee discussed proposed legislative priorities for Commissioner’s Intervention in Chronically Underperforming Schools; Mandate Relief and Flexibility; BOCES as Regional Leaders; NCLB/ESEA Reauthorization; and Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM Act).  Final legislative priorities will be presented to the Board of Regents for approval at their November meeting.  [P-12 (A) 6]

Consent Agenda Items – Staff presented the following items scheduled for approval on the full Board consent agenda:

• New Public School Registration
• Appeals Process for Local Diploma