Commissioner's Report to the Board of Regents

December 1995

by State Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills

"Will this be on the test?"

      The Regents take a major step toward defining  the
academic expectations this month with the introduction of a
revised set of mathematics standards.  Over the last three
years, New York has engaged in two parallel efforts to
define what students should know and be able to do.  The
first has been led by the Regents-appointed Curriculum and
Assessment Committee, which developed a series of
curriculum frameworks.  Second, is the New Standards
Project which includes 18 states along with New York.  Both
efforts have produced thoughtful statements of academic
standards and have done so with extensive interaction with
educators and other members of the public.  Now the time
for discussion is nearing an end and it is time to decide. 

      The frameworks grow out of the work of New York
educators and that is a major advantage.  However, the
frameworks are very long and in spite of extensive efforts to
distribute copies, many have not read them.  The New
Standards Project performance standards are in a chart
format that make them easy to read and they have the
advantage of representing some of the best work of not only
the 18 participating states, but international standards as
well.  However, while the New Standards Project work is
respected by many on the cutting edge of school reform in
New York, very few people have these drafts.

      The mathematics standards that we are taking to the
Regents this month represent a combination of both efforts. 
We have used the content developed by New York
educators and the presentation format developed by New
Standards.  In addition, we have invited our New Standards
colleagues to participate with us in a linking study to
determine how close New York's standards are to the
emerging national standards represented by the New
Standards Project version.  This is important for at least two
reasons.  When they are completed, New York's standards
must be as good as or better than those in all the other
states.  And if we can achieve a reasonable linkage between
New York's standards and those used elsewhere, we may be
able to use test questions and even whole sections of our
assessment system that are developed in concert with other
states.

      Reaching closure on a clear and challenging set of
standards is perhaps the most significant work the Regents
can do this year in the elementary and secondary area. 
Completing that work requires an unprecedented level of
public engagement.  Several recent surveys, both around the
nation and in New York State, have demonstrated that the
public wants higher academic standards.  The Regents'
standards will come to life to the extent that we can connect
those standards to public expectations.  Over the last two
months, I have asked parent groups, superintendents, higher
education leaders, boards of higher education institutions,
editorial boards, teachers, and numerous other groups, to
read the draft standards and make their views known to the
Regents.

Expectations, Capacity, Results

      The emerging Regents' standards cannot be left to
stand alone for long.  In addition to defining the standards,
or expectations for student performance, the Regents will
need to decide how to boost the capacity of the entire
system to meet those standards and also determine how we
will measure and present results.  The most important
capacity-building effort is professional development.  New
York has an unexamined array of professional development
capacity in the teachers centers, BOCES, professional
associations, higher education, and also in many local
activities that may not be known beyond the particular
school or district.   As the standards become clearer, we face
a major opportunity to bring greater focus to these
professional development resources.  The amount of funds
and talent committed to this work will be astonishing and
will give great promise of actually meeting the standards.

      Measuring results will require decisions this year on
testing.  Last month, I proposed that the Regents adopt the
standards between now and July, and that virtually all
students move toward a challenging curriculum culminating
in a Regents examination, that the low standards Regents
Competency Tests be gradually abandoned, that we evaluate
the many pilot assessment efforts of the last several years
and incorporate the most rigorous of them into a Regents
examination system, and finally, that all the Regents exams
be put on a schedule of continuous improvement.  At the
December meeting, the EMSC Committee will examine a
proposed schedule to accomplish these steps.

Performance Data

      All of us want higher performance in schools, cultural
institutions, colleges and other parts of the enterprise for
which we are responsible.  We will be more credible leaders
in that effort if we first present the results of our own work. 
For that reason, it was encouraging to see the dramatic
decrease in the backlog in teacher certification.  On October
1, there were 7,900 teacher certification applications awaiting
processing.  By the end of November, there were barely
1,800, a reduction of 77%.  During the same time, there was
also a 51% reduction in the number of pending applications
from graduates of approved teacher education programs. 
The teacher certification team in the Education Department
achieved these improvements through skillful redesign of
their processes.  As soon as I learned of their results, I met
with the entire work unit on behalf of the Regents to
congratulate them on their performance gains.  


Regional Visits

      The most important results are to be gained in
communities throughout New York.  Last month, Regent
Bennett and Chancellor Hayden introduced me to Buffalo
in a tour that included meetings with legislative leaders, the
business leadership in the region - which happened to be
meeting with United States Education Secretary Richard
Riley, higher education leadership at SUNY Buffalo, and the
annual meeting of the PTA.  We also met with the editorial
board of the Buffalo News and even taught a MBA class
together at SUNY Buffalo.

      More recently, I spent a day on Long Island to see the
Nassau BOCES School Library System launch a statewide
internet connection, talk with all the Nassau and Suffolk
county superintendents about standards, learn about the
New York Institute of Technology's work with distance
learning, and to speak with the School Boards Association
members of Nassau and Suffolk Counties.  With all the
interest in Roosevelt, I did not feel right to be in the
neighborhood without visiting there as well, so I stopped for
lunch with the Board and administration of the Roosevelt
School District.

      I look forward to other opportunities to visit the
various regions of the state.  For example, in March and
April Regent Dawson will show me the North Country. 
Other regional meetings are being planned.


Roosevelt School District

      This week, the Roosevelt School Board is under a
Commissioner's Order to meet with the review panel led by
Daniel Domenech.  Dr. Domenech will report to the
Regents on December 15.  A series of events in the last
month led me to warn the Roosevelt School Board by letter
that they were on a dangerous path.  While the Board is
under a Commissioner's Order to complete the first four
items of the Corrective Action Plan by December 22, the
panel has reported to me that there has been no action to
date.  On December 4, the Board acted without consultation
with the panel to suspend the Superintendent and appoint
an Interim Superintendent.  The Department issued a draft
audit report on Roosevelt that revealed a potential $1.9
million deficit for which the Board had no plan to resolve,
an absence of financial control, and several inappropriate
expenditures of district funds.

      All of our actions regarding Roosevelt should be taken
with an expected outcome in mind.  Some observers
apparently want to remove the Board, while others want to
give them a chance to heal themselves.  Our first objective
should be to do all that we can to help the Roosevelt Board
become effective so that the school system can be to the
benefit of children.  If all that can be achieved with the
Board now serving, so much the better.  If the most diligent
efforts fail, then we should remove the Board, in the hopes
that an effective Board will be elected, again so that schools
can be put on the proper path for the benefit of the
students.  The Monday night meeting this week between the
Roosevelt Board and the review panel was an important
opportunity to re-establish communications and the process 
established by the special legislation on Roosevelt.  

A Strategic Plan for the Work of the Regents

      During the first week in January, we will all see the
report from the Rockefeller Institute on Department
operations.  This is a 60-day review of the Department
through the eyes of both external stakeholders and many
who work inside the Department.  In all, more than 200
individuals took part in the interviews.  This review is a
crucial first step in developing a strategic focus for the
agency.  Organizations that seek to become more effective
continually study their own strengths and weaknesses, as well
as the threats and opportunities in the environment in which
they operate.  

      There are many good ways to develop a strategic focus
and we will consider several of them at the December
meeting.  Thinking strategically requires thoughtful answers
to some fundamental questions:  What is our mission?  What
do we believe and value as an organization?  What do our
customers, or stakeholders, tell us about ourselves?  What
do they expect of us?  What are the threats and
opportunities in our environment today and just over the
horizon for tomorrow?  What are the significant issues that
will affect our ability to carry out our mission?  What
strategies should we mount to resolve those issues?  How
will we measure success?

      Strategic plans are not so much about the papers that
summarize them, but the human relationships built among
people who care deeply about doing something significant
together. Developing a strategic direction is among the
primary responsibilities of any board and its chief executive
officer.  And yet, they must engage the ideas and energy of
those they serve and those in the organization who work
with them.  

      We already have many of the elements to start a
strategic plan close at hand.  The Office of Cultural
Education is developing a five-year framework, which
describes a mission, three powerful goals, and a set of
strategies with performance measures.  VESID is well along
with a similar planning effort.  Both of these important parts
of the organization have demonstrated skillful use of
performance data, customer surveys, and clear-sighted
examinations of their strengths and shortcomings.  There are
still other tools at hand for the work.  The 60-day review of
the Department by the Rockefeller Institute will summarize
what our stakeholders think.  The new financial controls
show us the limits and extent of our financial resources.  A
team representing all parts of the organization has been
working for three weeks to identify functions and
subfunctions to sort essential from non-essential work.  We
have involved all staff in the Department in developing cost-
saving ideas to help us resolve the projected operating
deficit this year.  More than 300 suggestions have come and
a team meets almost daily to evaluate these ideas for action. 
We must use all of this, and more, to create a powerful
strategic direction for the New York State Education
Department.  And we must do it now.