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THE STATE
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY
OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234 |
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TO: |
EMSC-VESID Committee |
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FROM: |
James A. Kadamus |
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SUBJECT: |
New York High School Initiative |
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DATE: |
January 4, 2006 |
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STRATEGIC
GOAL: |
Goals 1 and 2 |
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AUTHORIZATION(S): |
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SUMMARY
Issue for Discussion
Is the information provided by the 12 identified school districts in the New York High School Initiative on activities they are implementing to improve high school graduation rates sufficient for the Board of Regents to monitor the progress being made in those districts and high schools?
Reason(s) for Consideration
Implementation of policy.
Proposed Handling
This question will come before the Regents EMSC-VESID Committee on January 9, 2006.
Procedural
History
The New York High School Initiative includes
several strategies focused on identifying students in academic difficulty and
ensuring they get adequate help.
The high school completion strategy is focused on the urgency of
improving high school performance and brings together schools that have the
lowest graduation rates and the highest proportions of students taking three or
fewer Regents exams in four years.
Through a series of “Destination Diploma” forums, SED’s goal is to create
a community of professional practice among school district teams, along with
State and regional technical assistance providers and professional
organizations, that have been struggling with these issues. In May, the Regents received a report on
the first Destination Diploma forums held in March in Albany and in May in New
York City. A third Destination
Diploma forum was held on December 12-13, 2005 in Albany.
Background
Information
In December 2004, the Committee received an analysis of the Regents exam performance and educational outcomes of students who first entered grade 9 in the 2000-01 school year. It showed a disturbing picture of many students who entered high school unprepared to do high school-level work, do not pass their courses and earn fewer than the 22 local high school credits they need for graduation in four years. Further, the data showed that these students were concentrated originally in 135 high schools in 12 school districts and represented about 22 percent of the State’s high school enrollment. Several of those high schools were closed during this year so we now have 127 schools from 12 school districts that we are tracking. We will monitor the progress of these schools using a number of performance indicators.
The attached report presents information on 2005 implementation activities undertaken by the 12 school districts and planned activities for 2006. The districts provided this information at the Destination Diploma III forum. In January, we will provide the Regents with statewide graduation rate data for the 2001 student cohort and for the 127 high schools in the initiative. In February, we will provide even more detailed data on the performance of the 2001 student cohort in the 127 high schools, including performance on Regents exams.
We have established ongoing capacity building activities with teams from those schools and districts and will create a greater sense of urgency to improve student performance. The Call to Action in follow-up to the New York Education Summit includes high school policy and practice as a priority, and the Commissioner’s Report to the Board of Regents in January will provide additional information on building urgency in areas such as the following:
1. Set targets for high school graduation and measure results.
2. Make local school boards accountable for high school performance.
3. Check teacher qualifications and order changes where necessary to ensure qualified staff.
4. Strengthen teaching through professional developed focused on proven curricula and lesson plans.
5. Update school safety plans.
6. Engage the public and students.
7. Improve
achievement among the highest performing students.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Regents review the
information provided by the 12 school districts on the activities they have
implemented or plan to implement to improve student
performance.
Timetable for
Implementation
Staff will provide the Committee with
reports on the progress of the 12 districts in improving high school student
performance.
Attachment
New York State High School Initiative
During 2004-05, the New York High School
Initiative was launched to increase the percentage of students who graduate from
high school in four years ready for work, higher education and citizenship. The need and urgency for this initiative
was demonstrated through the identification of high schools located in 12 school
districts that had high school completion rates under 70 percent.
In January and February 2005, the Board of Regents received a plan of action for helping high school students in academic difficulty. The proposed approach was intended to help students in academic difficulty, to help educators in schools with low graduation rates who work with these students, and to provide an appeal process for a small number of students who may be close to passing the Regents exams and who pass their courses but may not do as well on a particular test.
Since that time, the New York High School Initiative has been merged with other SED strategic initiatives in place with the identified 12 school districts. SED regional personnel have met with the Big Four Superintendents and New York City Department of Education representatives on a monthly basis. The Partnership Agreements in place between the Department and each of the Big Four school districts have been revised to include a stronger focus on high school completion; in New York City, adjustments were made to Comprehensive Education Plans; and Performance Plans for the Hempstead and Wyandanch School Districts as well as the Performance Expectations set for the Roosevelt School District Superintendent, now address high school completion. In other identified school districts, SED personnel periodically contacted school administrators to receive information and discuss local initiatives and activities to improve school completion.
SED has hosted three statewide two-day conferences focusing on districts with high schools that have the lowest four-year completion rate. The first forum in the Destination Diploma series was held in March 2005 and focused on “rigor, relevance, and relationships,” three themes highlighted in the National Association of Secondary School Principals Report called Breaking Ranks.
The New York City Department of Education
and SED co-hosted Destination Diploma II in May 2005 around five themes:
career and technical education, English language learners, under
credited/over-aged students, small learning communities, and balanced
literacy. This forum was
distinguished by site visits to 19 high schools or programs in four boroughs.
In December 2005, SED co-hosted with the
University at Albany Destination Diploma III, A Journey to Adolescent
Literacy. This forum was open to 23 school districts and included over 450
participants. Each school district added literacy
strategies to their action plans and they shared steps they proposed to
take in 2006.
At the December
forum, Dean Phillips of the University at Albany’s School of Education
noted a developmental sequence
among the districts starting with raising educational and public community
awareness about the magnitude of the literacy challenge. School and district teams spoke of the
need to restructure to serve the most needy students by providing coaches to
assist teachers, revising school-developed assessment systems, increasing the
relevance of what is taught, and reaching out across the curriculum and content
areas to ensure reading and writing skills are taught and assessed
consistently. These commitments have common threads and are
directly related to the 15 elements of effective adolescent literacy programs
embedded in Reading Next: A Vision
for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy, a 2004 report to the Carnegie
Commission.
The December forum was unique also in its
requirement that partners from higher education join the district teams. One
session was held for higher education
partners to think about and begin to share "partnership practices" and to
explore an agenda around which higher education partners could work together in
the coming year. The purposes and
the duration of school district—higher education partnerships varied greatly
among those represented at this session. One key to successful partnerships is
having designated persons from the school district and the college each
responsible for following up on commitments made.
Statewide and
national partners separately developed action plans during Destination Diploma III. They will provide communication tools, such as
web sites, conferences, newsletters, meetings and seminars; implement
professional development initiatives; conduct research and disseminate best
practices; and disseminate information on research studies and
findings.
2005 and 2006 Implementation
Activity
The 12 school districts, regional network
technical assistance providers, statewide organizations and staff from across
SED participated in the first two forums. At each event, each school district developed an action
plan to improve its high school completion rate. At the third forum in December,
the school districts were asked to submit information to SED regarding
the actions/activities which were implemented following participation in the
conferences.
Attachment A presents a report provided by the New York City school district on actions/activities undertaken in its identified high schools to improve the graduation rate. Attachment B provides in matrix format a summary of actions by 10 of the 11 rest-of-State school districts. Attachment C contains a Matrix Summary of Commitments identified by the 12 original districts during the Destination Diploma III forum.
Attachment A
New York City Destination
Diploma I and II Report:
Which of the actions charted
at the forums were implemented?
I.
Transition from Middle School to High School
·
initiated transition
activities in the high schools and feeder middle schools involved in the small
learning communities (SLC) initiative.
Restructuring large middle and high schools into SLCs is a major
component of the Chancellor’s educational reform. By establishing these small,
safe, nurturing and academically rigorous learning environments, improved
student academic performance is expected.
The early data on increased graduation rates of small schools serving
high need populations in New York City as well as nationally are
promising.
·
developed a common language,
relevant professional development, and a series of scheduled collaborations
(selected high schools with feeder middle school staff) during the school year
and in the summer to constantly update information on students and their
respective levels of preparedness for entering high school.
·
designed a program in which
students from feeder middle schools attend sessions taught by high school
teachers after-school or on Saturdays to prepare them for entry into high
school.
·
provided for inclusion of
career “themes/orientation” at the middle school level where students will be
introduced to Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs available in high
schools.
II. Targeted
Intervention Programs for Students “At Risk”
- piloted ninth grade academic interventions
with first cohort of SLC high schools.
- provided for necessary targeted
intervention programs such as Wilson
Reading, ninth grade 90-minute literacy block, and tutoring designed for those students identified as
“at risk.”
III. Student
Engagement, Recognition and Support
·
created not just rigorous environments for students, but
also created an atmosphere where each child is well known by an adult through
the Department of Education (DOE) small school and SLC movement.
·
expanded implementation of
advisory programs/Friday morning meetings with students (mini-town hall
meetings). South Brooklyn Community High School—a high school designed to foster
such an atmosphere—is often used as a model for others.
·
continued the student
advisory committees who meet with the Chancellor and Regional Superintendents to
inform policy decisions in New York City schools.
IV. Academic Programs
and Services
- developed high school units
of study in science and in social studies that incorporate technology and the
arts. All high school teachers
will have access to these new units of study as well as related materials and
professional development. The end
goal of this work is to create a product developed by students, which
demonstrates understanding and knowledge of the unit of study.
- implemented Advancement Via Individual
Determination (AVID), a thoroughly researched national program that challenges
underachieving middle and high school students with intensive curriculum in a
number of schools. AVID prepares
students for collegiate rigor by using acceleration as intervention. Students can “transport” the skills
learned and use them in every subject area.
- continued to use “lessons learned” in
Career and Technical Education (CTE) and special programs to inform the work
of secondary school reform.
- focused on a new multiple
pathways initiative to support over-aged, under-credited students.
V. Fiscal
Support/ Realignment of Resources
- allocated $2 million Title I/PCEN
resources to enhance academic intervention services of entering at-risk
9th grade students in 17 selected high schools.
- continued focus on the challenge to assist
large high schools on multiple sessions to embed staff development practices
within the weekly school schedule.
VI.
Leadership
- supported each secondary school leader
including, but not limited to, the first SLC cohort, to understand the current
literacy research by establishing a Speakers Series to showcase prominent
thinkers in the field of literacy.
The series will unite leaders by providing opportunities to network and
share best practices as well as to reflect on the latest innovations and the
implications for instructional leadership.
- developed professional communities within
and among schools through the SED (Wallace/Gates) grant that supports creating
this type of structure among schools. Seventeen high schools form the
Collaborative Communities of Practice (CCP). Partnering with New York University’s
Institute for Education and Social Policy, these secondary schools are
researching and documenting evidence-based best practices in school finance,
structure, and educational programs as a component of CCP. Activities
associated with this work are building capacity through professional
development sessions, school inter-visitations, and teacher leader and
principal study groups. Teams of teacher leaders from the CCP secondary
schools, with guidance from the New York University research team, have
initiated action research projects, examining programmatic or structural
elements of each of their schools.