S/CDN Minutes

John Stoothoff, District Superintendent’s Report
Access District Superintendents through the appropriate subcommittee.
Jim Butterworth, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Regional School and Community Services Report
EMSC Vision: To be the state’s leader in the NYS reform effort.
EMSC Goal: Direct staff and resources to implement high standards, measure results and build local capacity. Efforts will focus on closing the gaps in high need, low performing schools and schools in crisis.
1. Joseph Frey, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Quality Assurance
NYS Curriculum for Advanced Technological Education (Presenters: William Peruzzi, Project Director and Benard McInerney, Associate Workforce Preparation and Continuing Education)

S/CDN Minutes
March 1 & 2, 2001

John Stoothoff, District Superintendent’s Report

Access District Superintendents through the appropriate subcommittee.
� District Superintendents are busy conducting SURR visits.
� District Superintendents are studying the predictive value of tests in the state’s new assessment system—from grade 4, to 8 to the Regents.
� Don Ogilivie is working on the future of technology in NYS.

Fishbowl Discussion with Roseanne DeFabio, Jean Stevens, Joseph Frey, Fred DeMay, Jim Butterworth, and John Stoothoff
The two major outcomes for the session were:
1. To continue to strengthen S/CDN’s understanding of the connections among the various SED offices and initiatives.
2. To have an opportunity to hear and share not only our knowledge about NYS school reform, but also deeper thoughts, beliefs and reflections concerning the children and adults engaged in this reform.
The questions used to initiate the conversation were—“What are your perceptions of NYS school reform in terms of the whole system?” and “What have been your major challenges and successes with this school reform effort?” The conversation was free flowing and thought provoking for over an hour. Due to the nature of the “fishbowl” format and the length of the conversation the minutes will reflect only some of the major topics addressed during the hour. (Note: The conversation was videotaped. S/CDN is currently working on how to make the taped session available to those who would like to view it.)
� NYS school reform as a “systems” approach.
� The new planning regulation.
� The impact of a results-based and large-scale assessment approach to school reform.
� Capacity to support change.
� NYS’s accountability system as compared to other states.
� The national school reform agenda.
� Special Education as a service not a place.
� The complex needs of students in our schools today and in the future. Many come to school with barriers (emotional, cultural, social-economic, etc.) to learning. Rather than just “fixing” the instruction, we must also “fix” the conditions under which students learn.
� Support for teachers in this new system.
� The new diploma versus the old diploma.
� Career and Technical Education as part of the new system.

Jim Butterworth, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Regional School and Community Services Report

EMSC Vision: To be the state’s leader in the NYS reform effort.

EMSC Goal: Direct staff and resources to implement high standards, measure results and build local capacity. Efforts will focus on closing the gaps in high need, low performing schools and schools in crisis.
Regional School Support Centers (RSSC) and Leadership Development
RSSCs’ work centered on low-performing schools.
� Math/ELA Technical Assistant grant RFPs disseminated to the field.
� Sharing Success.
� Instructional support.
� Technology Policy and Support.
� Understanding how to create a learning community in NYS.
� Determining the best technology tools available?
� Determining the best Title 3 projects, and how to distribute them statewide.
Building Local Capacity
� Attendance Regulation.
� Standards Implementation Study (focus for this year = Science, Technology, Health & Physical Education, and Family and Consumer Science).
� Planning Requirement will be linked with the accountability system and result in a reduction of required plans.
� PDP/APPR.
� Dropout Study.
� Grant Reengineering.
� Technical Assistance on SASS.
� Technical Assistance for AIS.
Leadership Initiative
� Two-thirds of the superintendents and ½ of the principals in NYS will retire in the next five years. Who will fill these positions? What knowledge, skills, and tests will they need?
� There are now 16 Leadership Academies statewide focused on this initiative.

Joseph Frey, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Quality Assurance

Joseph Frey, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Quality Assurance
Joe presented a summary of survey data that his office has collected on Teacher Supply and Demand:
7.5% of the teachers in NYS and 16% in NYC are not certified.
� High attrition rate (32% NYS and 38% NYC) within the first 6 years.
� High percentage are near retirement.
� The most difficult to fill positions are in Technology Education, Secondary Language, Math, Sciences, ESL. Data also showed a growing problem in the area of Special Education.
� The easiest to fill positions are at the elementary level.
� Strategies under consideration to address the quantity problem are:
Alternative certification programs,
� Easier out-of-state recruitment.
� Loan forgiveness.
� Signing bonuses.
� Strategies under consideration to address the quality issue are:
� Omnibus Teaching Initiative designed to ensure both the quality of the teaching force and the adequate supply of teachers.
� Higher passing score on teacher exams.
� Higher standards in teacher education programs.
� Proposal to allow retirees to return without penalty to difficult-to-staff positions.
� Higher Education will have competitive grant funds to provide flexibility in developing and expanding hard-to-staff subject areas and to give extra support to beginning teachers in these areas.
� Entry Level Teacher Retention Program (i.e., mentors) for high need schools.

NYS Curriculum for Advanced Technological Education (Presenters: William Peruzzi, Project Director and Benard McInerney, Associate Workforce Preparation and Continuing Education)
This is a NSF grant funded project centered at Hofstra University. The project focuses on Information Technology, Physical Technology, and Bio/Chemical Technology. The goal of the project is to produce and deliver 14 curriculum modules for grades 9-14. Each module is undergoing a rigorous design and field testing process. The modules will be delivered via the web. The modules can be used as replacement courses or stand alone courses in science, technology, CTE and Tech Prep. The MST and ELA Standards have been integrated into the modules. For more information refer to the project’s web-site at www.nyscate.net .

Gerald DeMauro, Assessment Coordinator, NYSED, ELA and Math A Regents Component Re-testing

Gerald DeMauro, Assessment Coordinator, NYSED, ELA and Math A Regents Component Re-testing
� Students must fail a Regents Exam twice to be eligible for component re-testing.
� A guidance document will be provided by SED to assist schools in selecting re-test components for students.
� Measurement Inc. is providing turnkey training beginning March 19, 2001. Training for district staff will be provided by BOCES following the Measurement Inc. training.
� Component re-testing will take place only in May of each year, beginning 2001.
� Schools will have one week for component re-testing. To create the least amount of disruption, component re-testing will be built into a school’s regular schedule.
� Math A—If the score is between 55 and 64, students will take one component. If the score is between 48 and 54, students will take two components. ELA Regents—If the score is between 48 and 64, students will take only one component.
Another memo from Gerry’s office describing the “nuts and bolts” of how to determine the components for each student will be distributed to the field very soon.

SED Subject Area Panel Discussion—Joanne Larson, Diana Harding, Mary Ellen Collella, Bob Brennan, Al Martino

ELA: SED is in the process of developing more specificity for the Pre-K to 3 Core Curriculum. The focus of the curriculum will be on the six components of reading.

Science—The elementary core is now in place, but no date has been set for when it will become effective. The core is closely aligned with the elementary syllabus. At this time the grade 4 assessment remains a program evaluation. No date has been set for when the assessment will become an individual student assessment. At the middle school level, Earth Science students do NOT need to take the grade 8 assessment this year. Next year, accelerated grade 8 students will take the ILS test in grade 7. At the high school level, Living Environment and Earth Science Standard Setting will occur during March 2001. Standard Setting for Chemistry and Physics will occur next year. January 2002 will be the last administration of the Chemistry and Physics Regents based on the syllabus. All new exams will be based on the new core curricula. The Chemistry Core will be on-line as of the second week of March 2001. Reference charts for Chemistry and Physics will not be distributed until AFTER the Regents to avoid con fusion with this year’s charts. A Science Q&A document is currently undergoing some minor revisions and will be distributed to the field shortly. Marine Science CANNOT be used in place of Living Environment. All Regents level courses must follow the core curricula. All Regents courses must also include a lab. The number of hours for a lab is the same for any science course that concludes with a Regents exam.

Career and Technical Education: The regulations for the new CTE policy will be distributed shortly. The new program approval process is designed to provide local flexibility.

Career and Technical Education: The regulations for the new CTE policy will be distributed shortly. The new program approval process is designed to provide local flexibility.

LOTE: If a student takes 2 units of study and fails Checkpoint A, she /he can take and pass a summer school course to receive credit. Students must complete 2 units of study by the end of grade 9 to graduate. By fall 2001, a guide and supplement of materials will be available for Checkpoint A curriculum. Program emphasis will be on communication. Grammar will not be a very large component of the program. The LOTE web-site will soon have a Q&A document available. There will be a January administration of the French Regents.

Social Studies: The K-11 core curriculum has been distributed. Economics will be distributed in late spring, and the Participation in Government draft will be distributed at the NYSCSS in late March 2001. Training for teachers who will write items for future tests in on going. Turnkey training for scoring the grade 5 social studies assessment will take place in July—location Albany. The Global RCTs will change to reflect the new core curriculum, with more items on history and geography. The “old” RCTs are available for students who entered grade 9 in 1997 or earlier.