December 1999
Report to the State Board of Regents
BY STATE EDUCATION COMMISSIONER RICHARD P. MILLS


The meeting in brief:

In December the Regents will discuss and then vote on their State Aid proposal.

Four charter school applications will be before the Board for action. These applications have been submitted to the Board of Regents as the chartering entity.

Discussion will begin on the proposed changes to Part 80 of the regulations that deal with the certification of teachers. The Regents will consider these regulations for adoption at the April meeting.

Last month the Regents discussed the Federal Brochure. In December the Board will decide whether or not to adopt that document and the recommendations it contains on federal aid. Also before the Board for approval is the Year 2000 Strategic Plan and amendments to Part 200 of the Commissioner’s Regulations.

The Regents will receive an update on staff efforts to strengthen existing second language programs and to increase the number of teachers of Languages Other Than English.

The Regents will award the second annual Emlyn Griffith Scholarship and the annual Yavner Awards at this month’s meeting. Also, a representative from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be at the Full Board meeting to present the Department with the USDA Summer Sunshine Award for State Agencies which recognizes the Department’s implementation strategy for the Summer Food Service Program.

State Aid

Following the discussion by the Full Board and Subcommittee on State Aid at the November 1999 meeting Regent Dawson, Chair of the Subcommittee worked with Department staff to revise the draft Regents State Aid proposal to incorporate some of the suggestions made by Regents. The revised draft proposal has been available to the public on the Web and at a round table discussion on December 1, 1999.

Since then, we have developed specific State aid figures that are consistent with the proposal and Regents will discuss these figures in the State Aid Committee and at the full Board.

The guiding concepts are to provide more resources to high need school districts, strengthen teaching, support district efforts to give students extra help to meet the standards, and to ensure cost-effectiveness. All of these reflect long-term Regents objectives. The proposal would accomplish these objectives by consolidating several aid categories into a larger operating aid that would be adjusted for regional cost differences and concentrations of poverty. A new aid would enable districts to raise salaries in hard-to-staff schools. The proposal would support Universal Prekindergarten and would support the rapid increase in summer school programs. The Regents aid proposal would require maintenance of effort in the Big Five dependent school districts.

Recommendation: I recommend that the Board approve the final conceptual proposal, including the increase to be requested.

Strategic Plan

At this month’s meeting, the Board will vote on the third edition of our Strategic Plan, thus completing a yearlong effort. It is important to remain steadfast in the results we seek, while adapting our strategies to accomplish results. This is why the new plan retains the mission, vision, and the six goals of the previous plan, while refining the strategic performance measures and revising our key strategies. The Committee on Quality and I have agreed that I will bring to the Board in subsequent months the results we are getting for each performance measure contained in this new plan. We will review these results together and select targets for future performance.

Recommendation: I recommend that the Board approve the Strategic Plan for the year 2000.

Part 200 of the Commissioner’s Regulations

Proposed amendments to Part 200 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education will be presented for approval by the Board. The proposed amendments will align Part 200 with the requirements of Part 300 of the federal regulations implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Recommendation: I recommend that the Board approve the proposed amendments to Part 200.

Task Force on Postsecondary Education and Disabilities

In September, the Board voted that the draft report of the Task Force on Postsecondary Education and Disabilities be released to the general public for comment at regional public forums. Those forums were conducted during October 1999.

Recommendation: I recommend that the Board accept the recommendations of the Task Force and acknowledge its work over the past year.

Closing the Gaps in Achievement: Regents Take the Message to the Big Five

The greatest challenge to meeting the Regents standards is in five school districts that educate 42 percent of New York’s children. The Regents and the State Education Department have engaged leaders in those communities for a long time to build the foundation needed, and we have been mindful of how each policy initiative and State aid proposal could contribute to the solution.

The advisory panel on closing the gap and the Regents Task Force on Closing the Performance Gap have examined the data, listened to national experts, and honed the strategies. Recently we built on years of joint work with the CEOs of those systems. All of them gathered in Albany to consider the results and plan a common strategy:

The concepts are consistent with Regents thinking as expressed not only in previously adopted policy but also in the work of the Regents Task Force.

Since the last Regents meeting, the Regents and the State Education Department have taken the message directly to the communities. In each of the Big Five we have talked to principals, visited high performing schools, and met in the evening with the public. What we had to say reflected what we had seen while visiting many pairs of schools in these districts – high performing schools and low performers. On these most recent return visits we told what we had seen and asked pointedly why all schools did not yet resemble the high performers. In doing this, we put a human face on the expectations. We hope that we have also helped overturn the idea that high performance is nowhere to be found in the cities. In fact, it is quite easy to find the champions. We need their example now more than ever. They show that with the right support and high standards, children in the Big Five can indeed achieve at high levels.

Charter School Applications

The Board will decide on four charter school applications this month. The applications are for the Carol Fisher Institute Charter School, Fulton, N.Y.; Village Charter School, Hudson, N.Y.; Waking On-Line Charter School, Nassau, N.Y.; and Harriet Tubman Charter School, Bronx, N.Y. I recommend that one of these charter applications be approved, and that the others be denied for various reasons cited. The Regents EMSC Committee will review the applications and bring its recommendation to the Full Board for final approval.

Schools Under Registration Review (SURR)

At the conclusion of the 1998-99 school year, 102 public schools in the State, including 97 in New York City, were under registration review. As a result of decisions made by the New York City Board of Education, six of these schools were closed in June 1999. Consequently, there were 96 SURR schools in operation at the beginning of the 1999-2000 school year, 91 of which are located in New York City. We are completing an analysis of this year’s student performance results to decide on schools to add and remove, and if necessary, to recommend revocation of registration. I will inform the Board of my decisions consistent with Regents policy as soon as possible.

Second Language Requirement

Last February, the Board received the results of a survey on the recommendations of the Foreign Language Implementation Committee. Since that time, staff has undertaken efforts to strengthen existing second language programs and to increase the number of teachers of Languages Other Than English. They will provide an update on these efforts and suggest areas for policy consideration by the Board for the future. A brief question-and-answer document is included with the material on the new requirements for study in Languages Other Than English.

School Accountability

The proposed school accountability model is drawing intense interest and there are strong views on both sides. For example, the Big Five superintendents strongly endorsed the accountability system after their joint study of what it would take to close the gaps in achievement. However, during my two days of meetings with superintendents and other school leaders on Long Island I heard consistent objections to several elements of the proposal. Supporters point to the need for public disclosure of data about subgroups of students in relation to the standards in order to focus pressure for improvement. Critics of the proposal argue that too much depends on a few test results and that competition even at the "exemplary" end of the scale will have unintended consequences that will not benefit children. We need to pay close attention to this debate.

Since September, staff have made presentations and consulted with over 30 organizations to solicit comment on the proposed design of a System for Accountability for Student Success. Given the richness of the discussions that have resulted, we decided to provide the Board with a summary of comments rather than a revised proposal. We will continue the public engagement on the proposal and begin drafting regulatory language for discussion by the Board in the spring.

Audit Activities

You have already received a memorandum concerning the Education Department’s assessment of the accuracy of the data it receives from external sources. The memorandum responds to Regent Levy’s request for information about the Department’s capacity to monitor the validity of data. We are conducting the assessment as part of the ongoing risk assessment for all areas of the State Education Department. The information gathered will inform us as to our capacity to monitor data, what gaps there are and how we can fill them through process adjustments, technology and human resources.

Follow Through on the CUNY Master Plan Decision

I contacted Chancellor Matthew Goldstein immediately after the Regents decision on the master plan revision. We will continue the close communication that we established much earlier as we begin monitoring the University’s implementation.

Teacher Certification Regulations

Regents this month will discuss proposed changes to Part 80, the regulations that govern the certification of teachers. These changes, which will affect all persons who apply for a classroom teaching certificate on or after February 2, 2004, constitute the next major piece in the Regents teaching reform plan. The Part 80 amendments are a companion to the newly adopted Part 52 regulations governing the registration of teacher preparation programs at colleges and universities.

The major disagreement on this matter is how much time to allow candidates to earn a master’s degree. The Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching recommended retaining the current five-year limit. The small group of education deans with whom I meet regularly also supports this view. The Regents Task Force on Teaching had originally proposed that candidates possess the master’s degree prior to receiving the initial credential but subsequently considered some leeway.

I have examined various mock schedules for students pursuing a master’s degree. A student just beginning the master’s program during the first year of teaching would have great difficulty completing the program as it is now conceived within two years. However, retaining the current five-year schedule would be to ignore the central idea of the Regents Task Force on this point, which is to provoke serious rethinking of the master’s degree by the education faculty. I suggest that everyone concerned drop the five-year idea as unresponsive to the broad direction of the Regents policy, and instead consider a three-year plan, together with the changes in the program that would make that pace feasible. While the recasting of Part 80 is a major undertaking, I anticipate that we will be ready for adoption of the amended regulations at your April meeting.

Telepractice

The Professional Practice Committee will have a comprehensive discussion on the important topic of Telepractice - the provision of professional service over geographical distances by means of modern telecommunications technology, in all of the 38 professions. This discussion will provide an overview of the key issues that involve telepractice, its many uses nationally and in our State, what is permissible under New York State statute, the many benefits and potential dangers of this mode of practice, the steps taken to ensure public protection and what steps the Board of Regents and the Department will be taking next. Because of the current widespread use of telepractice and its expected growth throughout many of the professions, this discussion is timely for the professions and for all of us as consumers of professional services.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Award to SED

The State Education Department has won the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Sunshine Award for State Agencies in recognition of our Summer Food Service Program. This is the first year of the award and it recognizes our rapid development and implementation of a massive program in one year. Mr. John Magnarelli of the USDA Northeast Regional Office in Boston will present the award at the December meeting.

New York State Archives’ Dutch Colonial Papers

The Dutch Colonial Papers of the New York State Archives continue to receive national attention. In the spring, the Archives received an $80,000 federal grant, which is being matched by private contributions to the Archives Partnership Trust, to preserve the records. In August they were named an official project of Save America's Treasures, an initiative of White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Treasures program is a national endeavor to preserve for future generations our nation’s irreplaceable historic and cultural treasures that have defined and shaped America. The State Archives is one of only 62 national recipients; only 11 archives/library collections were recognized.

Federal Brochure

The Regents had a preliminary look at the 2000 Federal Brochure at the November meeting. This version has been changed to reflect your comments and is before the Board for approval. The Brochure focuses on the Regents recommendations for reauthorization of elementary and secondary education programs, which should be completed during second session of the 106th Congress. The other featured discussions address block granting, the Federal role in education, the 2000 U.S. Census, school construction and cultural education-related topics.

Recommendation: I recommend that the Board approve the Regents Federal Brochure for the year 2000.


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Last Updated: December 27, 1999 (emc)
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