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

Your P-12 Education Committee held its scheduled meeting on November 14, 2016.  All members were present, except for Regent Tallon who was excused. 

ACTION ITEMS

Initial Applications and Charters Authorized by the Board of Regents [P-12 (A) 1]
Your Committee recommends that the Regents find that: (1) the proposed charter schools meet 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 Hebrew Language Academy Charter School 2, 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 schools 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 Classical Charter School IV, 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 schools 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 Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship Charter School for a term of five years in accordance with §2851(2)(p) of the Education Law.

The motion to approve all three schools was passed.  Regents Collins and Mead abstained.

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 15, 2016, copies of which have been distributed to each Regent. 

MATTERS NOT REQUIRING BOARD ACTION

Update on the Regents Exam Workgroup [P-12 (D) 1] – the Committee was provided with an update on the Regents Exam Workgroup. The Workgroup has met multiple times since its creation, engaged in thoughtful discussions covering many different aspects of the Regents Exams, and drafted a set of recommendations that will be shared with the Board of Regents. The recommendations fall into five categories: graduation requirements, college readiness, reporting of Regents Exam scores, appeals for Regents Exam results, and multiple curriculum pathways in mathematics.  Jack Bierwirth, the Chair for the Workgroup, presented the recommendations and added that experts from Special Education, English language learners, and multi-language learners should be brought together to provide input into the draft package before final determinations are made.

Update on the Standards and Assessment Workgroup – the Committee was updated on the work of the Standards and Assessment Workgroup. 

Based on consistent recommendations from educators throughout the state substantive changes were made to the Grades 3-8 ELA and Math tests for this last year:

• The lengths of the tests were reduced such that they contained fewer test questions.
• The tests were made untimed to provide students further opportunity to demonstrate what they know and can do by allowing them to work at their own pace.
• The department released more test questions (75%) than ever before and earlier than ever before.
• And the parent score reports are more user-friendly and useful to parents

By maintaining the current testing system it allows the Department to measure student development over time. 

2017-2018 State Budget and Legislative Initiatives [P-12 (D) 2 and 3] – the Committee discussed State budget proposals to be advanced during the 2017-2018 budget cycle and draft legislative initiatives to be advanced during the 2017 legislative session.  Committee members commented positively on the addition of prior history for each item.  They also requested that an increase to the District Superintendent salary cap be put back on the list and that we enhance our communication strategy when presenting our priorities to the Executive to provide a clear vision as to why they should support the Department in serving its mission to support schools.

Consent Agenda

The Board of Regents will take action on the following consent agenda items at their November 15, 2016 meeting.

• Regulations relating to the Establishment of Criteria for the Approval of Work Readiness Assessments for Earning the NYS Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS) Commencement Credential.
• Petition of the City School District of the City of Olean for Consent to Exceed the Constitutional Debt Limit.
• Petition of the City School District of the City of Gloversville for Consent to Exceed the Constitutional Debt Limit.