As ESSAA’s Regents Liaison, Paul Scampini attends the monthly meetings of the Board of Regents. Following is a summary of meeting held on March 13, 2017:
The March 2017 meeting of the Board of Regents began with Commissioner Elia providing a summary review of graduation rate data for the 2012 cohort of students who graduated in 2016.The Commissioner was pleased that the graduation rate increased 1.3% from last year to 79.4% and that the state exceeded its goal of 80% with the inclusion of August graduates.
While the achievement gap has been reduced slightly over the past two years, she expressed concerns that achievement amongst African American, Hispanic and ELL students remains unacceptably low.She is optimistic that recently-adopted multiple assessment pathways in the areas of the Arts, Languages Other Than English (LOTE), Career/Technical Education, the Humanities, and STEM, will assist with improving results in the future.
http://www.regents.nysed.gov/c
Department staff members Chuck Szuberla and John Sipple, who are NYSED appointed monitors, provided an update on the progress of their work in the East Ramapo School District toward improving fiscal practices and educational programs.
Based on the recommendations of the edTPA Task Force, the Board of Regents approved an amendment eliminating the Academic Literacy Skills Test (ALST) as a requirement for teacher certification.This amendment was presented as an Emergency Action and goes into effect immediately.
http://www.regents.nysed.gov/c
Members of the edTPA Task Force also presented a number of additional recommendations, including a proposal to implement a multiple measures review/appeal process for candidates seeking teacher certification who do not achieve a passing score on the edTPA.According to the proposal, candidates who score within one standard deviation of the passing score on the certification exam and meet other related criteria would be eligible to appeal. It is anticipated that the committee will present the proposed amendment to the Board of Regents for adoption at the July 2017 meeting.
http://www.regents.nysed.gov/
Members of the Adult and Career Education Services Committee (ACCES) updated the Board on the three pathways to a NYS High School Equivalency Diploma which include:
- Successfully completing the National External Diploma Program (NEDP)
- Earning 24 college credits
- Passing the High School Equivalency Exam (TASC).
Data was presented on the numbers of students who are pursuing and successfully completing each of the options.Information was also presented on the ongoing implementation and expanded use of the computer-based TASC test which is currently being used as the High School Equivalency Exam.
The agenda for Tuesday, March 14th was supposed to be entirely dedicated to reviewing the ESSA plan, but the session was cancelled due to the snowstorm.
