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

Your P-12 Education Committee held its scheduled meeting on November 16, 2015.  All members were present except for Regent Cashin, who was excused.

ACTION ITEMS

Exemption of Student with a Disability from CPR/AED Requirement [P-12 (A) 1]

Your Committee recommends that a new subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (11) of subdivision (c) of section 100.2 of the Regulations of the Commissioner be added as submitted, effective November 17, 2015, 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 ensure the timely implementation during the 2015-2016 school year, of the exemption option for students with disabilities from the requirement for instruction in hands-only CPR and the use of AEDs in senior high school.

Initial Applications and Charters Authorized by the Board of Regents [P-12 (A) 2]

Your Committee recommends that the Regents find that: (1) the proposed charter school 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 Article 56 of the Education Law; and (4) granting the application will have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the charter school, and the Board of Regents therefore approves and issues a charter and provisional charter to the School in the Square Public Charter School for a term of five years in accordance with §2851(2)(p) of the Education Law.

Your Committee recommends that the Regents find that: (1) the proposed charter school 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 Article 56 of the Education Law; and (4) granting the application will have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the charter school, and the Board of Regents therefore approves and issues a charter and provisional charter to the South Bronx Community Charter High School for a term of five years in accordance with §2851(2)(p) of the Education Law.

Your Committee recommends that the Regents find that: (1) the proposed charter school 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 Article 56 of the Education Law; and (4) granting the application will have a significant educational benefit to the students expected to attend the charter school, and the Board of Regents therefore approves and issues a charter and provisional charter to the Exploration Elementary Charter School for Science and Technology for a term of five years in accordance with §2851(2)(p) of the Education Law.

Regent Bendit recused himself from the vote.

Committee members requested that staff provide additional information on district capacity and saturation rate at a future meeting.

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 November 17, 2015, copies of which have been distributed to each Regent. 

MATTERS NOT REQUIRING BOARD ACTION

Opportunities Related to NYS Standards, Curriculum and Assessments – The Governor’s Common Core Task Force is organized into three work groups – Standards, Curriculum, and Assessments.  Commissioner Elia is a member of all three groups.  Today’s presentation focused on the Department’s work relating to standards, curriculum and assessments and anticipated recommendations that the Commissioner will provide to the Common Core Task Force.  The recommendations will be shared with the Regents prior to sharing with the Task Force.

Recommendations

Standards

• Continue and finish the review of the Common Core Learning Standards, including the AIMHighNY survey.
• Commit to conducting comprehensive reviews of the State’s learning standards every five years, including a robust public engagement strategy.

Curriculum

• Create a “Teacher Portal”.
• Work with the field to provide curricular resources for new generation science and social studies standards as they are adopted and implemented.
• Invest in engageNY to enhance resources made available to districts and teachers.
• The Governor and Legislature should commit to a five-year investment of new state resources for Teacher and Principal professional development and training.

Assessments

• Extend the current freeze on reporting grades 3-8 test results on official student transcripts or permanent through the 2018-19 school year.
• Convene a Next Generation Assessments Commissioner Advisory Council.
• Continue guidance to the field regarding the negative effects of “test prep” practices.
• Gather input from the field regarding whether to allow students who are meaningfully engaged in the task to continue working on the ELA and mathematics tests as long as they need beyond the standard administration window.
• Require educator candidates for certification to have embedded in their curriculum assessment literacy to ensure research-based and informed use of assessments in classrooms.
• Issue follow-up Teach More, Test Less Reports to districts to reduce local overtesting.
• The Governor and Legislature should fund the Regents budget request to establish a Native Language Arts assessment.
• The Governor and Legislature should fund the Regents budget request to improve the assessment of students with severe disabilities to allow students to more fully demonstrate their knowledge by adapting to their level of proficiency.

Additionally, the Commissioner will recommend that the Department increase and strengthen communication and engagement with parents, families and communities.

Race to the Top Budget Breakdown – the Committee was provided with a breakdown of the expenditure of the $696 million Race to the Top award.  Discussion focused on key activities such as engageNY, Strengthening Teacher and Leader Effectiveness and School Turnaround Efforts.  Over 1,000 grants were awarded from the LEA 50% share and state side projects.  New York spent 100% of the State’s allocation; LEAs spent their entire 50% share except for $70,186.  With the success of New York State’s Race to the Top efforts, Regents requested talking points that they can use when they are working with their constituents.

Placement of Students with Disabilities in the Least Restrictive Environment [P-12 (D) 2] – the Committee discussed information on the following topics:

• The research-based benefits to the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms and activities;
• The rights of students with disabilities under federal and State law and regulation relating to receipt of their special education programs and services in least restrictive environment (LRE);
• Board of Regents policies and goals on LRE;
• A historical review of Department initiatives to address LRE;
• Current status of New York State data results on LRE; and
• A proposed policy to increase the percentages of students with disabilities in LRE placements

Next steps include continuing engagement with the field and dissemination and discussion of the data.  The Regents will be provided with next steps at their December meeting.

Consent Agenda

The Board of Regents will take action on the following consent agenda item at their November 17, 2015 meeting.

• Annual Professional Performance Reviews of Classroom Teachers and Building Principals