Report of Regents P-12 Education Committee to The Board of Regents

Your P-12 Education Committee held its scheduled meeting on May 16, 2016.  All members were present, except for Regent Finn, who was excused.

ACTION ITEMS

APPR Transition Regulations [P-12 (A) 1]

Your Committee recommends that sections 30-2.3, 30-3.3, 30-3.4, 30-3.5, 30-3.11, and 30-3.13 of the Rules of the Board of Regents be amended, effective June 14, 2016, as an emergency action upon a finding by the Board of Regents that such action is necessary for the preservation of the general welfare in order to immediately adopt revisions to the proposed amendment to provide districts with additional flexibility when negotiating their annual professional performance review plans for the 2016-17 school year.  Regents Johnson and Collins abstained.

Revisions to Charters Authorized by the Board of Regents [P-12 (A) 2]

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents finds that: (1) the charter school meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations; (2) the charter school can demonstrate the ability to operate in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; (3) granting the request to amend the charter is likely to improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes set out in subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty of Article 56 of the Education Law; and (4) granting the request to amend the charter will have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the charter school, and the Board of Regents therefore approves the charter revision for Young Women’s Collegiate Preparatory Charter School of Rochester and amends the provisional charter accordingly. Regent Mead opposed.

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents finds that: (1) the charter school meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations; (2) the charter school can demonstrate the ability to operate in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; (3) granting the request to revise the charter is likely to improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes set out in subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty of Article 56 of the Education Law; and (4) granting the request to revise the charter would have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the charter school, and the Board of Regents therefore approves the charter revision for the Newburgh Preparatory Charter High School and amends the provisional charter accordingly.  Regent Mead opposed.

Renewal Decisions for Charter School Authorized by the Board of Regents [P-12 (A) 3]

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents finds that, the Global Concepts Charter School: (1) meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations; (2) the applicant can demonstrate the ability to operate the school in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; (3) granting the application is likely to improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes set out in subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty of this article; and (4) granting the application would have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the charter school, and the Board of Regents therefore approves the renewal application of the Global Concepts Charter School and that a renewal charter be issued, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including June 30, 2021.  Regent Mead opposed.

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents finds that, the Harriet Tubman Charter School: (1) meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations; (2) the applicant can demonstrate the ability to operate the school in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; (3) granting the application is likely to improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes set out in subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty of this article; and (4) granting the application would have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the charter school, and the Board of Regents therefore approves the renewal application of the Harriet Tubman Charter School and that a renewal charter be issued, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including June 30, 2021.  Regent Mead opposed.  

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents finds that, the La Cima Charter School: (1) meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations; (2) the applicant can demonstrate the ability to operate the school in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; (3) granting the application is likely to improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes set out in subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty of this article; and (4) granting the application would have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the charter school, and the Board of Regents therefore approves the renewal application of the La Cima Charter School and that a renewal charter be issued, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including June 30, 2021.  Regent Mead opposed.

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents finds that, the Bronx Charter School for Children: (1) meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations; (2) the applicant can demonstrate the ability to operate the school in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; (3) granting the application is likely to improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes set out in subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty of this article; and (4) granting the application would have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the charter school, and the Board of Regents therefore approves the renewal application of the Bronx Charter School for Children and that a renewal charter be issued, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including June 30, 2019.  Regent Mead opposed.

Your Committee recommends that the Board of Regents finds that, the New York City Montessori Charter School: (1) meets the requirements set out in Article 56 of the Education Law, and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations; (2) the applicant can demonstrate the ability to operate the school in an educationally and fiscally sound manner; (3) granting the application is likely to improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes set out in subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty of this article; and (4) granting the application would have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the charter school, and the Board of Regents therefore approves the renewal application of the New York City Montessori Charter School and that a renewal charter be issued, and that its provisional charter be extended for a term up through and including June 30, 2019.   Regents Mead and Reyes opposed.

MOTION FOR ACTION BY FULL BOARD

Madam Chancellor and Colleagues: Your P-12 Education Committee recommends, 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 May 17, 2016, copies of which have been distributed to each Regent. 

MATTERS NOT REQUIRING BOARD ACTION

Update from the Senior Deputy Commissioner – Jhone Ebert provided an update on the Department’s activities related to the Gates funding, including work with Education Resource Strategies (ERS), whose work supports the Commissioner and senior leadership in their work to facilitate strategic resources for LEAs.  Stan Hansen provided an update on the status of funding opportunities related to Improving Outcomes for Boys and Young Men of Color.

Violent and Disruptive Incident Reporting and Calculating the School Violence Index [P-12 (D) 1] – School incident counts for certain incident categories are included in the calculation of a School Violence Index (SVI) that is used to identify Persistently Dangerous schools each year. The SVI is a ratio of violent incidents to school enrollment and is determined by the number of incidents, the seriousness of the incidents, and the school’s enrollment. Together, with Department staff, members of the New York State Safe Schools Task Force developed a revised structure for collecting incident data that incorporates both VADIR and DASA into one reporting structure.  Staff will come back to the Committee at a future meeting with proposed amendments to Commissioner’s Regulations to revise the current twenty categories used to collect VADIR incident counts, in accordance with the New York State Safe Schools Task Force recommendations; to revise the electronic application used to collect VADIR and DASA data from schools to reflect the amended regulations; work with the New York State Center for School Safety to expand the availability of technical assistance and professional development to support this work, and conduct monitoring and site visits to ensure accuracy of reporting; and pilot the school climate index in approximately 12 districts in 2016-17 and make changes and improvements, as necessary.

Update on Computer Based Testing [P-12 (D) 4] – In May of 2012, the Department announced a plan to transition to computer based testing (CBT) in grades 3-8 as part of its commitment to improving test delivery, reducing test length, and shortening the turn-around time on testing results.  The Committee was provided with an update on New York State’s transition to computer based testing starting in the 2015-16 academic year. Department staff provided an update on the grades 3-8 ELA and Math Computer-Based Field Tests for public schools, charter schools and non-public schools, specifically focusing on readiness and preparation. A field panel, listed below, discussed what is needed to be prepared for computer-based testing in schools and districts.

• Dale Berault – Northeast Regional Information Center Director
• Glen Huot – Stamford School Superintendent
• Rachel Mucurio and Shannon Rowley-Teachers at Central Valley School District
• David Weinberger – Executive Director for Student Information, Reporting and Assessment for Yonkers Public Schools

Staff discussed the strategy for implementing this year’s computer-based stand-alone field tests, including training and support for readiness and recovery.  Readiness for schools to participate in computer based testing includes both technology readiness and student and staff readiness.

Consent Agenda

The Board of Regents will take action on the following consent agenda items at their May 17, 2016 meeting.

• Regulations relating to APPR Transition
• Regulations relating to School Receivership