Meeting of the Board of Regents | October 2007

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

TO:
FROM:	Jeffrey W. Cannell
SUBJECT:	Public Television’s Impact on Teaching & Learning July 1, 2006 through July 31, 2007
DATE:	September 28, 2007
STRATEGIC GOAL:	4
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Discussion

 

The Committee will receive a report on the educational services provided by New York’s public television stations for the period July 1, 2006 through July 31, 2007.

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

 

For information.

 

Background Information

 

Section 236 of the Education Law requires public television stations to allocate at least 20% of their State Aid for “instructional television services to be provided to local educational agencies.” The law and Part 179 of the Commissioner’s regulations also require the stations to make regular reports on the programs and services they provide.

 

In collaboration with the stations, the Office of Educational Television and Public Broadcasting developed a new quarterly reporting instrument, which the stations have used since July 1, 2006 (the beginning of their fiscal year). The stations have reported on their services for early childhood education, K-12 classrooms, adult education and teacher professional development provided to schools and school districts on the SED accountability lists (SURR, SINI and DINI), as well as to all other schools and districts.

 

The 2006-07 data is considered a baseline from which meaningful performance targets can be set for 2007-08 and beyond.

 

Recommendation

 

Staff recommends that the Cultural Education Committee review the information and provide direction to staff.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

Not applicable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Public Television

Statewide Educational Services Data 2006-07

 

Ready To Learn

Ready To Learn (RTL) initiative grants from the U.S. Department of Education have funded some of the country's most effective and beloved children's educational television programming. Award-winning RTL initiative programs like Sesame Street and Between the Lions have helped young children build the cognitive, problem solving, and social/emotional skills they need for school success.  Current RTL initiative funding is focused heavily on developing programs and resources that help young children build strong pre-reading and reading skills, using scientifically-based reading research (SBRR) to guide teaching strategies. All New York stations provide RTL workshops and outreach projects to teach parents and caregivers how to use the television programming, simple activities and reading aloud to help children develop school-readiness skills.

 

2006-07 Ready To Learn Data

 

	High Need School Districts	Rest of State
Parents Trained	1,328	1,413
Teachers/Caregivers Trained	602	416
Childcare Providers Using RTL with Children	884	1,423

 

 

Ed Video Online

This digital on-line video service provides access to over 50,000 dynamic multimedia components including instructional video, still images, lesson plans, online quizzes, and podcasting. Landmark PBS content, including The Civil War, Lewis & Clark, Jazz, Freedom: A History of US, American Experience, Cyberchase, and many more, is incorporated in the service. Adult literacy teachers and students have access to all of their favorite GED and workforce development videos. Also, content is aligned to New York State Learning Standards and is provided free of charge to all New York State K-12 and Adult Literacy teachers and their students.

 

2006-07 Ed Video Online Data

 

	High Need School Districts	Rest of State
Teachers Informed	10,679 (out of 118,385 – 11.1%)	75,052 (out of 101,511 – 74%)
Teachers Trained	1,144 (.01%)	7,522 (7.4%)
Usage (resources used or downloaded)	52,288	648,232

 

 

Adult Education/Workforce Development

In cooperation with the SED Office of Adult Education and Workforce Development, BOCES, and other education agencies, public television stations work to provide adults the opportunity to earn a high school diploma, develop literacy skills, focus on career skills, or learn English as a second language. Along with providing access through Ed Video Online, the stations broadcast programs such as GED Connection, Workplace Essential Skills and Crossroads Café so that students can work from home to achieve their educational goals.

 

2006-07 Adult Education/Workforce Development Data

 

Teachers Informed	1,099
Teachers Trained	1,467
Students referred to classroom and/or distance learning programs	1,685

 

 

PBS TeacherLine New York

PBS TeacherLine New York is a collaborative effort among New York state's nine public television stations, PBS and the U.S. Department of Education. More than 90 comprehensive professional development courses are available to support teacher needs in the key curriculum areas of Mathematics, Science, Reading and Language Arts. Other courses support areas of professional development such as curriculum mapping, instructional strategies and technology integration. All coursework is in alignment with state and national learning standards and each course is facilitated by an expert teacher holding a masters or other advanced degree who has been selected by their peers and trained in strategies that enrich and inspire the online learning experience.

 

2006-07 PBS TeacherLine Data

 

Number of Teachers Who Took Courses	597
Number of Seats Filled *	677

*Some teachers took more than one course; therefore we include data on both the number of teachers and the number of seats filled.

 

 

ThinkBright TV & Website

WNED’s ThinkBright Lifelong Learning includes a channel and an online service that aims to transform and enhance the educational experiences of teachers, students, families, and adult learners in the Buffalo-Niagara region. With the advent of stations’ statewide digital interconnect service, ThinkBright will be offered throughout upstate effective October 1, 2007. (For the time being, owing to capacity issues, ThinkBright will not be available in New York City and on Long Island.) We will be collecting data on ThinkBright throughout the coming school year.