March 2, 2006

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S C D N
March 2, 2006 Marriott Hotel
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Commissioners 2006 Performance Plan

• Increased capacity in the State Education
  Department
• Effective gap-closing strategies and policy
  implementation
• A mobilized USNY

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The Percentage of Students in the 2000 Cohort by
Outcome After Four Years (June 30, 2004) and
After Five Years (June 30, 2005)
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Comparison of Records Reported Through STEP with
BEDS First-Time Grade 9 Enrollment and Number
Tested on Grade 8 Mathematics Assessment
2000 Cohort
2001 Cohort
2005 STEP
2004 STEP
2005 STEP
Number of Student Records Reported Number of
Cohort Tested in Grade 8 First-Time Grade 9
Enrollment (BEDS)
199,312 198,512 203,917
210,159 198,512
214,494 199,330 207,315
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More About This Cohort

• These students were in fourth grade in 1995-96
  before New York raised standards and in seventh
  grade when New York began testing the higher
  standards in 1999.
• In Spring 2000, these students took the
  middle-level ELA and mathematics assessments.
• ELA assessment performance 13.4 percent of
  students statewide and 23.6 percent of students
  in New York City scored at Level 1.
• Mathematics assessment 25.1 percent statewide
  and 44.3 percent in New York City scored at Level
  1.

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Findings

• Too few students in this cohort graduated too
  many dropped out.
• Certain groups of students graduated at a lower
  rate than other groups.

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2000 Cohort After Five Years Students in High
Need Districts graduated at much lower rates than
students in Average and Low Need Districts
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2000 Cohort After Five Years Fewer than
one-quarter of students with disabilities in New
York City graduated in the rest of State, over
50 percent did so. Almost 1/3 of students with
disabilities in New York City dropped out.
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2000 Cohort After Five Years Statewide, fewer
than half of limited English proficient students
graduated. LEP students were more likely than
other students to earn IEP diplomas.
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2000 Cohort After Five Years Blacks and Hispanics
were less likely than Whites and Asians to
graduate and three times as likely to drop out.
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2000 Cohort After Five Years Males were less
likely than females to graduate and more likely
to drop out. This difference was more pronounced
in New York City.
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Outcomes After Four years for the 2001
Cohort Snapshot as of June 30, 2005
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The Percentage of Students in the 2001 Cohort by
Outcomes as of June 30, 2005 After Four Years for
All Public High Schools
Outcomes as of June 30, 2005
Total Public
Number
Percent
Regents/Local Diploma IEP Diploma Enrolled Transfe
rred to GED Dropped Out Total
137,704 3,877 39,384 10,226 23,303 214,494
64.2 1.8 18.4 4.8 10.9 100.0
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More About This Cohort

• These students were in fourth grade in 1996-97
  before New York raised standards and in sixth
  grade when New York began testing the higher
  standards in 1999.
• In Spring 2001, these students took the
  middle-level ELA and mathematics assessments.
• ELA assessment performance 13.6 percent of
  students statewide and 23.1 percent of students
  in New York City scored at Level 1.
• Mathematics assessment 26.4 percent statewide
  and 44.2 percent in New York City scored at Level
  1.

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2001 Cohort After Five Years Fewer students had
graduated or dropped out more remained in
enrolled. New York City students were least
likely to have graduated and most likely to
remain enrolled.
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The Percentage of Students in the 2001 Cohort by
Outcomes as of June 30, 2005 after Four Years for
127 Selected High Schools
Outcomes as of June 30, 2005
Total Public
Number
Percent
Regents/Local Diploma IEP Diploma Enrolled Transfe
rred to GED Dropped Out Total
17,856 970 15,651 2,617 7,521 44,615
40.0 2.2 35.1 5.9 16.9 100.0
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Demographic Characteristics of Selected High
Schools and All High Schools in 2003-2004
Characteristics
Selected
All
Percent Eligible for FRPL Percent
Disabled Percent Limited English
Proficient Percent Repeating Grade 9 Student
Stability Percent Certified Teachers Books per
100 Students Computers per 100 Students Suspension
Rate
60 14.5 14.2 24 96 79 1,180 13 7.7
34 13.1 5.8 15.3 98 92 1,452 24 8.1
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What Do These Data Mean?

• Four-year high school graduation rates are too
  low.
• Many students are still in school after four
  years many will stay in school one additional
  year.
• Most students who are still in school started 9th
  grade academically behind their peers.
• Few students are dropping out during the first
  four years of high school.
• If a student who stays for the fifth year doesnt
  graduate, he/she is likely to drop out.

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What Can Be Done?
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Transition From Middle School to High School

• Review and revise professional development
  plans/Establish collegial circles
• Determine student preparedness for high school
• Revise 9th grader orientation programs
• Discontinue social promotion

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Targeted Intervention Programs for Students At
Risk

• Establish summer academies for at risk incoming
  9th graders
• Develop an alternative program for at risk
  students
• Establish school academies/programs to enhance
  language and math skills for identified 8th grade
  students transitioning to high school

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Student Engagement, Recognition and Support

• Establish small learning communities in high
  schools
• Every staff member adopts (mentors) a student
• Establish student advisories and town hall
  meetings
• Partner with institutions of higher education
• Establish student of the month/recognition
  programs

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• Addition of elective course offerings to increase
  student engagement
• Establish programs to promote student health and
  wellness and positive youth development
• Improve building security
• Monitor student attendance and the guidance
  department
• Extend library hours to improve access to
  technology and study/research support
• Increase parent involvement through parent
  conferences, mailings, PTA meetings
• Establish student mentor/intern program

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Academic Programs and Services

• Revise pacing and segmenting of academic
  instruction
• Provide transportation for after-school tutoring
• Extend the consultant teacher model
• Adjust teacher schedules to allow for common
  planning time for all teachers
• Establish a Word-of-The-Day program
• Establish a model to be used by teachers in
  developing daily lessons plans
• Establish Advance Via Individual Determination
  (AVID) program
• Establish a reading intervention program

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• Audit the English as a Second Language Program
• Revise/establish system to ensure availability of
  high quality strategic/performance data
• Use data to evaluate programs and to drive
  instruction and services
• Establish a team of Literacy Specialists (or a
  Literacy Coordinator) to support literacy in the
  schools
• Prioritize literacy instruction
• Establish SAT prep courses, honors classes and/or
  advanced courses to increase high school academic
  rigor
• Establish programs/services to better support
  students with disabilities and English language
  learners
• Establish in-school detention disciplinary option

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Fiscal Support/Realignment of Resources

• Realign school district fiscal resources to
  implement multi-year district plan
• Review current programs discontinue less
  effective programs and reallocate resources to
  support more strategic, high impact initiatives

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Leadership

• Target professional development for principals
  and assistant principals
• Integrate teachers and administrator leadership
  development
• Reassign/realign the roles and responsibilities
  of central office/high school administrators
• Establish new administrative positions (Director
  of Secondary ELA and the Academy Director for
  each secondary school)
• Revise school district feeder patterns for high
  schools

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A CALL TO ACTION
Follow-Up To The New York Education Summit
November 2005
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Urgent Action on Early Childhood Education

• Make pre-kindergarten universal throughout the
  State.
• Change the compulsory school attendance age from
  six to five.
• Ensure adequate funding to all school districts
  so they provide full-day kindergarten to all
  students.
• Make sure that early education programs starting
  with pre-kindergarten are standards-based and
  research-driven, employ the best curriculum and
  instructional methods, maximize the integration
  of students with disabilities with their peers,
  and incorporate the resources of cultural
  institutions.
• Make sure school districts are able to hire and
  retain qualified teachers who can teach a diverse
  group of students with a range of needs.

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Urgent Action on High Schools

• Set targets and measure results.
• Make local school boards accountable for high
  school performance.
• Check teacher qualifications and order changes
  where necessary.
• Strengthen teaching, especially in math and the
  sciences.
• Ensure safety.
• Engage the public.
• Improve achievement among the highest performers.

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Urgent Action in Higher Education

• Increase college attendance and graduation rates,
  especially among underrepresented groups.
  Increase the number of graduates in critical
  academic majors and professions.
• Make college more affordable. Increase
  investment in faculty, infrastructure, and
  research.
• Expand close ties among higher education
  institutions.

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Strategies on High Schools

• Set targets for high school graduation and
  measure results.
• Make local school boards accountable for high
  school performance.
• Check teacher qualifications and order changes
  where necessary.
• Strengthen teaching.
• Ensure safety.
• Engage the public and students.
• Support the highest performers.

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Strategies on Students with Disabilities

• Produce accurate and timely data, set targets for
  improved outcomes, and increase public awareness
  of results to leverage change.
• Refocus monitoring to hold schools accountable
  for improving instructional practice.
• Focus technical assistance networks through
  increased accountability for student performance.
• Increase the supply of qualified special
  education teachers and other staff.
• Expand high quality in-State special education
  options for students with the most severe
  disabilities.

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Strategies on LEP Students

• Hold districts and schools accountable for
  meeting improvement targets in English language
  acquisition. Raise the level of improvement over
  time.
• Increase monitoring to ensure students are
  receiving all required time and services in
  English and native language instruction. Report
  results. The Regents will determine consequences
  for noncompliance.
• Improve quality of bilingual and ESL teachers
  through new incentives and expanded professional
  development.
• Increase outreach with NYCDOE to provide better
  information to parents on ESL and bilingual
  programs that can improve their own levels of
  reading, writing, and speaking English.