More Items from the December Board of Regents Meeting
Appeals for Students with Disabilities to Achieve a Local Diploma: After commentary in November, the Regents voted to enable students with disabilities to appeal Regents exams scored within 3 points of the 55 passing grade, if they have 95% attendance and two failed attempts to pass the exam, to be eligible for a local diploma. Read more here.
Academic Intervention Services: Emergency action to extend the district flexibility in providing AIS, based on ELA or Math 3-8 Assessments, for students who score below Level 4 Proficient but are at or above the scale score for the 2015-2016 school year.
Algebra II/Trigonometry Flexibility: On the June 2016, August 2016 and January 2017 test administrations only, students receiving Algebra II (Common Core) instruction may, at the discretion of the applicable school district, take the Regents examination in Algebra II/Trigonometry aligned to the 2005 Learning Standards, in addition to the Regents examination in Algebra II (Common Core), and may meet the mathematics requirement for graduation in clause (a)(5)(i)(b) of this section by passing either examination.
APPR Revisions: The Regents, as recommended by Commissioner Elia, adopted an emergency revision to APPR rules, that is now in the public comment phase, before permanent adoption at the February 2016 meeting. Please send comments or questions to NYSED during the required 45 day comment period that begins December 30, 2015.
The revision to APPR rules defers the use of 3-8 ELA and Math assessment student growth scores and state provided growth on Regents exams during the transition to higher learning standards from March 2016 through June 2019. State provided growth scores for educators (teachers and principals) will be advisory only during the transition until the end of the 2018-2019 school year. Instead, a Transition Score, based on backup student learning objectives and are not tied to the 3-8 assessments, will be used for the overall composite score. The State Education Department maintains a list of appropriate SLO assessment tools used in the measure of growth. Districts and educator unions should have already set growth targets based on their agreed approved assessment tool within their submitted APPR plan. This move will enable State Ed to develop a three year average growth factor to be used from 2019 and beyond.
A teacher’s or principal’s final composite score and rating, for all purposes under section 3012-c and 3012-d of the Education Law, and for of tenure and other employment decisions, will be based on the transition composite score and rating. To see specific language that is open for comment, you can read it here.
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (formerly ESEA) was signed into law by President Obama. This new law replaces the No Child Left Behind Act.
Key elements of this current fix are “rejection of the overuse of standardized tests and one-size-fits-all mandates on our schools, ensures that our education system will prepare every child to graduate from high school ready for college and careers, and provides more children access to high-quality state preschool programs.” To read more, click here.
NY Common Core Task Force Report Released: The Governor’s Common Core Task Force final report has been released with over 21 recommendations. To review the report, click here.
Tax Cap Issues: ECB has sent a letter to the Commissioner of the Department of Taxation and Finance regarding issues related to the tax cap. Click here for more.