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

Your P-12 Education Committee held its scheduled meeting on October 16, 2017.  All members were present, except for Regent Finn, who was excused.

MATTERS NOT REQUIRING BOARD ACTION

Senior Deputy Commissioner’s Report – Senior Deputy Commissioner Jhone Ebert updated the Committee on two important initiatives.

• REL-NEI (Regional Educational Laboratory-Northeast and Islands) – the Department is collaborating with REL-NEI on a study that will examine whether Regents diploma attainment in New York State has increased after implementation of the 4+1 graduation pathway, particularly among groups of students with historically low graduation rates.  Additionally, the Department is partnering with REL-NEI to develop a research agenda to explore potential activities such as availability of CTE and teacher and principal preparation.
• Building Educator Capacity – the Department has formed a task force of educators and other stakeholders, including BOCES, district leaders, principals, teachers, and higher education representatives, to discuss strategies to help us improve the way we support all educators.  The first strategy includes a Professional Learning Team (PLT) made up of representatives from BOCES, RICs, S/CDN, higher education, Big 5, SAANYS, NYSUT, UFT, ESSAA and PSPB.  This fall, the group will meet to determine how various supports and tools support statewide priorities.

Charter School Performance Framework [P-12 (D) 1] – the Committee discussed key areas of the Charter School Performance Framework that guide the performance oversight of Board of Regents-authorized charter schools.  Discussions with the field have taken place across the state where board members and administrators of Regents-authorized charter schools were given the opportunity to provide feedback and suggested changes to the Performance Framework.  Discussion focused on the 10 benchmarks of charter school performance, specifically on benchmarks 1 – Student Performance, 3 – School Climate (which includes chronic absenteeism), 4 – Fiscal Dashboard, and 9 – Enrollment and Retention.  Staff will collect comments and concerns from Committee members for discussion at a future meeting.

Review of the New York State High School Diploma Requirements [P-12 (D) 2] – the Committee continued their discussion of opportunities leading to a Regents diploma and key goals for potential changes to the diploma requirements, which include: 

• Prepare students for 21^st century postsecondary options;
• Offer more flexibility in completing credit requirements related to pathway choice and student interest;
• Expand external certification assessment options; and
• Allow students to demonstrate proficiency in multiple ways.

Department staff will continue to seek input from various stakeholder groups and return to the Board for further discussion and recommendations.

The Committee also heard a presentation by Dr. Patrick Michel, District Superintendent from the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES and the PTECH program at that BOCES.  Students who enter this program are incoming ninth-graders who will simultaneously earn Regents high school diplomas and associate’s degrees at no cost to their families from Fulton Montgomery Community College in four to six years.  Students who participate are motivated to learn in new and exciting ways and thrive in non-traditional classroom settings. The BOCES is exploring ways to integrate this program into traditional high schools in its component districts due to the overwhelming number of students interested in participating.