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

 

TO:

The Higher Education and Professional Practice Committee

FROM:

Johanna Duncan-Poitier

SUBJECT:

Appointments to the State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching

 

DATE:

August 9, 2005

 

STRATEGIC GOAL:

Goal 3

 

AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Decision (Consent Agenda)

 

Should the Regents approve the appointment of new members to the State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching and appointment of a new Board co-chair?

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

 

Required by Rules of the Board of Regents.

 

Proposed Handling

 

Approval.

 

Procedural History

 

Terms for members of the State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching are set forth in Regents Rule 3.14. The Board of Regents appoints members to the Standards Board.

 

Background Information

 

Six vacancies exist on the Standards Board. Also, a co-chair position is vacant due to the resignation of one of the co-chairs in June.

 

The following persons are recommended for appointment as new members: Cheryl Lee Freedman (public), Rosemary B. Harrigan (teacher), Susan W. Mittler (teacher), Shelley Rappaport  (public), and Patricia E. Roberts (teacher). A current Board member, first appointed in the public category, is recommended for reappointment in the higher education category: Anne Marie Tryjankowski. In addition, Board member Eric R. Gidseg is recommended for a two-year appointment as co-chair. One vacancy remains for a teacher member.

 

Brief biographical sketches of new members and a list of the current membership are attached.

 

Recommendation

 

VOTED: that Rosemary B. Harrigan (teacher member), Susan W. Mittler (teacher member), and Anne Marie Tryjankowski (higher education member) be appointed, each to a four-year term, beginning September 9, 2005 and ending June 30, 2009; that Patricia E. Roberts  (teacher member) and Shelley Rappaport (public member) each be appointed to unexpired terms, beginning September 9, 2005 and ending June 30, 2006; that Cheryl Lee Freedman (public member) be appointed to an unexpired term, beginning September 9, 2005 and ending June 30, 2008; and that Eric R. Gidseg be appointed to a two-year term as co-chair, beginning September 9, 2005 and ending June 30, 2007.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

Members’ terms will begin immediately upon appointment.

 

Attachments


                                                                                                                                            Attachment A

 

The University of the State of New York

The State Education Department

State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching

 

 

Cheryl Lee Freedman                                     Membership Category: Public

Central Hudson Region

Parent Teachers Association

 

          Cheryl Freedman is a member of the Central Hudson Region Parent Teachers Association where she serves as chair of legislation for Rockland, Orange, and Sullivan Counties.  She is also active in the Tuxedo Union Free School District, serving as past PTA president from 1999-2001, and as a member of the Comprehensive District Education Plan (CDEP), Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR), and Character Education Committees.  Mrs. Freedman has a career in aviation, and is employed as an airline pilot by Continental Airlines.  At Continental Airlines, she is a former Boeing 727 flight engineer instructor pilot, and is currently a peer pilot counselor assisting other pilots.  Formerly, Mrs. Freedman taught school as a substitute teacher in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

 

          Mrs. Freedman serves on the Tuxedo Town Planning Board and acts as an aviation merit badge counselor for the Boy Scouts of America.

 

          Mrs. Freedman has a B.S. in Ed. in English from California University of Pennsylvania and an M.S. in Ed. in special education from William Paterson University.

 

Rosemary B. Harrigan                         Membership Category: Educator

Executive Director

The Greater Capital Region Teacher Center

 

          Rosemary Harrigan has served as executive director of The Greater Capital Region Teacher Center for the past five years.  The Center encompasses the 93 public school districts, four BOCES and 83 non-public schools in the Capital Region.  Ms. Harrigan first joined the teacher center staff in 1993 as a program specialist.  Prior to this, she taught social studies in the Duanesburg Central School District, where she retains her position on the faculty.  Her 23 years of classroom experience includes teaching in the East Greenbush and Shenendehowa school districts.  She has designed, delivered, and evaluated countless professional development activities over the past 35 years.

 

          Ms. Harrigan has served on the board of the Schenectady County Historical Society and is a member of the New York State Archives Visitors Committee.  In 2001, she received the State Archives Award for educational uses of local government records.

 

          Ms. Harrigan has a B.A. in history from Marygrove College, Michigan, and an M.A. in social studies from the State University of New York at Albany.  She did additional graduate work under a summer fellowship at Haifa University, Israel, in 1987.

 

Susan W. Mittler                                  Membership Category: Educator

President

Ithaca Teachers Association

Ithaca City School District

 

          Susan Mittler has served as president of the Ithaca Teachers Association for the past 11 years.  Since joining the Ithaca City School District in 1981, Ms. Mittler has taught nursery school through third grade, as well as worked in Project Opportunity, the district’s gifted and talented program serving K-5 students.  Prior to joining the Ithaca City School District, she served as lead teacher in the Community Nursery School for three years.

 

          Ms. Mittler serves on the NCATE Board of Examiners and the Ithaca Sciencenter Advisory Board.  She is active in parent-teacher associations at the local, state, and national levels.  She holds honorary life membership in the New York State Parent Teacher Association and National Parent Teacher Association and served as NYS PTA vice president for six years.  Ms. Mittler was honored with the PTA Life Achievement Award in 2004 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2001.  She served on a State Education Department School Review Team and is an active member and past president of Delta Kappa Gamma, the Women’s Education Association.  She volunteers as an instructor in a collective bargaining simulation course at the College of Industrial and Labor Relations of Cornell University.

 

          Ms. Mittler has a B.S. in human development and family relations from Cornell University and an M.S. in elementary education from the State University of New York College at Cortland.  She has additional training in labor law from the College of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University.

 

Shelley Rappaport                                            Membership Category: Public

Research/Operations Associate

Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC)

 

          Shelley Rappaport joined the research staff of MDRC, a non-profit policy research corporation, in 2005, where she is involved in studying the education of students in low-performing schools.  Ms. Rappaport’s prior experience includes serving as a resource specialist at the New York City BETAC (Bilingual/ESL Technical Assistance Center) and as a policy analyst for the Hispanic Federation and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.  She began her career as a teacher of bilingual education and ESL, and from 1990 through 2001 taught at numerous schools, including P.S. 19 and P.S. 89 in New York City, the Elysian Charter School of Hoboken and the Los Angeles City Schools.  She served as a teacher trainer in Los Angeles’ alternative credential program.  In 2001, Ms. Rappaport earned National Board Certification in Early Childhood Education.  She has served as an adjunct professor at Fordham University and the College of New Rochelle and, since 2000, has been a mentor for the UFT, working with New York City teachers pursuing National Board Certification.

 

          In 2004, Ms. Rappaport was appointed to the New York City Community Education Council in Community School District 2.  In 2003, she received the New York State TESOL Special Recognition Award for her work in bilingual education while at the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund and in 1995 was the recipient of a Toyota Science Innovation Grant.

 

          Ms. Rappaport has a B.S. in philosophy from the London School of Economics and an M.A. in Ed. in administration from California State University, Los Angeles.  She is currently pursuing an M.P.A. degree from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.

 

Patricia E. Roberts                               Membership Category: Educator

Special Education Teacher

Garden City School District

 

          Patricia Roberts has been a special education teacher in the Garden City School District since 1999.  Ms. Roberts serves as an elementary resource room teacher, and has taught special education at all levels during the past 18 years, in both public and non-public schools.  She is an instructional leader and serves on the district’s Positive Strategies, Crisis and Instructional Support teams.

 

          Ms. Roberts was honored with the Richard Gazzola Teacher Fellowship Grant in 2003 for teachers pursuing advanced study in education.  She served on a Middles States Association Evaluation Committee in 2002 and participated in the New York State Alternate Assessment Pilot program in 2000.  Ms. Roberts is an adjunct professor both at Molloy College and in Mercy College’s preparation program for New York City Teaching Fellows.  She has served on a local school board for nine years and is a member of the Special Education Parent Teacher Association in Garden City. 

 

          Ms. Roberts has a B.A. in elementary and special education from Marymount College, an M.S. in Ed. from Queens College of the City University of New York, and an Advanced Certificate in administration from the College of New Rochelle.