THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:	Full Board
FROM:	James A. Kadamus
SUBJECT:	Proposal on Portfolio Schools
DATE:	July 13, 2005
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goals 1 and 2
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Decision

 

Should the Board of Regents approve the proposal that specifies the requirements students enrolled in portfolio schools must meet as the 65 graduation standard is phased in?

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

 

Review of policy.
         

Proposed Handling

 

This question will be before the full Board for action on July 21, 2005.

 

Procedural History

 

Not applicable.

 

Background Information

 

In 1995, the Department granted a five-year variance to a group of schools that make up the New York Performance Standards Consortium to use a portfolio assessment in place of the Regents exams.  This was before the Board of Regents began to require Regents exams for graduation.  A portfolio is a compilation of a student’s work during the year and may consist of exhibits, projects, book reports, papers and other similar items.  Each school determines what makes up the students’ portfolio.

 

In 2001, a Blue Ribbon Panel of the nation’s top assessment experts found no evidence that the alternative assessments measured the State Learning Standards and did not meet the standards for rigor, reliability and validity that are required of any alternative assessment SED approves.  Therefore, SED provided that the 39 schools still in question could implement a schedule for the Regents exams so that students who entered grade 9 in 2001 would take all five Regents exams or an approved alternative.  SED extended that schedule last year, allowing students who entered grade 9 in 2001 to continue to use alternative assessments to graduate provided they passed the Regents English exam.

 

The following proposal applies only to those students in the original 39 portfolio schools and specifies the requirements they would need to meet as the Regents 65 graduation standard adopted in June 2005 is phased in over the next four years:

 

Students entering grade 9 prior to 2005:  would continue to be under their current requirement to pass the Regents English exam at 55 or above.

 

Students entering grade 9 in 2005:  would be required to pass the Regents English exam at 65 or above.

 

Students entering grade 9 in 2006 and 2007:  would be required to pass the Regents English exam at 65 or above plus one other Regents exam at 65 or above.

 

Students entering grade 9 in 2008:  would be required to pass the Regents English exam and two other Regents exams at 65 or above.  This will permit schools time to align their mathematics program with the new standards and tests for high school math.

 

Students entering grade 9 in 2009:  would be required to pass all five Regents exams at 65 or above.

 

Under this schedule, students entering grade 9 in 2009 will need to pass Regents exams at 65 or above or an approved alternative.  During the next four years, the schools can present evidence to show their assessments are rigorous, valid and reliable and measure the State’s learning standards.

 

          This proposal will give the portfolio schools time to adjust their program so that students will be successful in completing their courses, local portfolios and Regents exams.  It would also give a date certain for implementing the Regents exams with a passing score of 65 or above and for choosing alternative assessments that can be submitted and reviewed by the State Assessment Panel.

 

Recommendation

 

VOTED:  That the Board of Regents approve the above schedule for meeting Regents exam requirements for students enrolled in the portfolio schools listed on the attached document.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

The requirements would become effective immediately. 

July 2005

 

 Portfolio Schools Covered Under Commissioner’s Decision for Extension of Portfolio Assessment

 

 

1.       Alternative Community School (Ithaca)

2.       Ballet Tech/NYC Public School for Dance

3.       Banana Kelly Community Learning Center

4.       Beacon School

5.       Bread & Roses Integrated Arts High School

6.       Bronx Coalition Community School

7.       Brooklyn International

8.       Brooklyn School for Global Studies (now School for Global Studies)

9.       Cascade Center for Learning & Technology

10.     Central Park East Secondary School

11.     City-As-School

12.     Coalition School for Social Change

13.     East Side Community High School

14.     El Puente Academy for Peace & Justice

15.     Erasmus Campus Academy of Humanities

16.     Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom School

17.     Humanities Preparatory School

18.     Institute for Collaborative Education (now Institute for Secondary Education)

19.     International High School at LaGuardia

20.     Landmark High School

21.     Legacy School for Integrated Studies

22.     Life Sciences Secondary School

23.     Manhattan International School

24.     Manhattan Village Academy

25.     Metropolitan Corporate Academy

26.     Middle College High School

27.     New School for Arts and Sciences

28.     Satellite Academy High School - Queens

29.     Satellite Academy High School – Bronx (no active BEDS code)

30.     Satellite Academy High School - Forsythe

31.     Satellite Academy High School - Chambers

32.     School for the Physical City

33.     School of the Future

34.     School Without Walls (Rochester)

35.     University Heights High School

36.     Urban Academy Laboratory High School

37.     Urban Peace Academy

38.     Vanguard High School

39.     Wings Academy