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THE
STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT /
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF |
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TO: |
EMSC-VESID
Committee |
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FROM: |
Jean
C. Stevens |
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SUBJECT: |
Proposal
on Portfolio Schools |
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DATE: |
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STRATEGIC
GOAL: |
Goals
1 and 2 |
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AUTHORIZATION(S): |
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SUMMARY
Issue
for Decision
Should the Board of Regents approve the proposal that would begin to count for State accountability purposes Math Regents exam results for students entering ninth grade in 2009 enrolled in schools in the New York Performance Standards Consortium?
Reason(s)
for Consideration
Review of policy.
Proposed
Handling
This
question will be before the EMSC-VESID Committee for action on March 20,
2006.
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 certain Regents exams. This occurred 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 constitutes the students’
portfolio.
In
2001, SED provided that the Consortium schools could implement a phased-in
transition schedule for the Regents exams so that students who entered grade 9
in 2001 would take all five Regents exams or approved alternatives for
graduation. In 2004, SED extended
the transition schedule, allowing students who entered grade 9 in 2001 to
continue to use portfolio assessments to graduate, provided that they passed the
Regents English exam.
In
July 2005, the Board of Regents approved the following schedule of Regents exams
for students in the Consortium schools, specifying the diploma requirements
those students must meet as the Regents 65 graduation standard is phased in over
four years:
Students
entering grade 9 prior to 2005: required to pass the Regents English
exam at 55 or above.
Students entering grade 9
in 2005: required to pass the Regents English
exam at 65 or above.
Students entering grade 9
in 2006 and 2007: required to pass the Regents English
exam at 65 or above plus one other Regents exam at 65 or above (note no
requirement that the other test be the Math Regents).
Students entering grade 9
in 2008: required to pass the Regents English
exam and two other Regents exams at 65 or above (note no requirement that either
of the two other tests be the Math Regents).
Students entering grade 9
in 2009: required to pass all five Regents exams
at 65 or above.
Under this schedule,
students entering grade 9 in 2009 need to pass all five Regents exams at 65 or
above or an approved alternative to graduate.
Commissioner’s
Regulations require that students who do not take the Math Regents or an
approved alternative be designated a Level 1 for State accountability
purposes. The above schedule,
however, does not require students at the Consortium schools to take the Regents
Math exam until the 2009 high school cohort. Accordingly, a policy change is
necessary to align this schedule with State accountability requirements, so that
students are not penalized with a “Level 1” designation simply because they did
not take the Regents Math exam until required to do so.
It is proposed, therefore, that SED first begin to count for
accountability purposes the Math Regents exam results for students entering
ninth grade in 2009 at the Consortium schools. Beginning with that cohort, all students
attending these schools will be required to pass all five Regents exams,
including the Math Regents, at 65 or above or an approved
alternative.
Recommendation
VOTED: That the Board of Regents approve the
above proposal and direct SED to begin to count for accountability purposes the
Math Regents exam results for students entering ninth grade in 2009 enrolled in
the Consortium schools listed on the attached document.
Timetable
for Implementation
This
policy is effective immediately.
Revised
November 2005
Portfolio Schools Covered Under
Commissioner’s Decision for Extension of Portfolio
Assessment
1.
2. Ballet
Tech/NYC Public School for Dance
3.
4.
5. Bread &
Roses Integrated
6.
7.
8.
9.
City-As-School
10.
11.
12. El Puente Academy for
Peace & Justice
13.
14.
15. Institute for
Collaborative Education (now Institute for Secondary
Education)
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26. School for the
27. School of the
Future
28. School Without Walls
(
29.
30. Urban
31.
32.