Part B State Performance Plan (SPP) for 2005-2010

Overview of the State Performance Plan Development

See Overview of the State Performance Plan Development preceding Indicator 1.
 

Monitoring Priority:  FAPE in the LRE

 

Indicator 1:  Percent of youth with individualized education programs (IEPs) graduating from high school with a regular diploma compared to percent of all youth in the State graduating with a regular diploma.

(20 U.S.C. 1416 (a)(3)(A))
 

Measurement:

Measurement for youth with IEPs should be the same measurement as for all youth.  Explain calculation.

 

New York State’s Measurement:

Percent of “graduation-rate cohort” of students with disabilities who graduate with a high school diploma (Regents or local diploma) within four years of first entering 9th grade or for ungraded students with disabilities, within four years of becoming 17 years of age.

 

NYS will use the same measurements as used for accountability reporting under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

Definition of Graduation-Rate Cohort:
The -rate cohort includes all students in the accountabilitycohort plus all students excluded from that accountability cohort solely because they transferred to a program leading to a high school equivalency diploma(General Education Development (GED) program). The final date used to determine the members of the graduation-rate cohort is August 31 of the fourth year after a student first entered 9th grade.  For example, graduation-rate cohort membership would be determined on August 31, 2004 for a student who entered grade nine for the first time in the 2000-01 school year. 

Definition of District Accountability Cohort:

2000 District Accountability Cohort.  The 2000 district accountability cohort consists of all students, regardless of their current grade status, who were enrolled in a district school or placed by the district CSE or a district official in an out-of-district placement  on October 2, 2002 (BEDS[1] day) and met one of the following conditions:

  • first entered grade 9 (anywhere) during the 2000–01 school year (July 1, 2000 through June 30, 2001); or

  • in the case of ungraded students with disabilities, reached their seventeenth birthday during the 2000–01 school year.

The Department will exclude the following students when reporting data on the 2000 district accountability cohort:

  1. students who transferred to a schoolin another district or state or transferred to a program leading to a high school equivalency diplomaafter BEDS day 2002;

  2. students who left the U.S. and its territories after BEDS day 2002; and

  3. students who died after BEDS day 2002.

  • Students who transferred into the district after BEDS day 2002 (October 2, 2002) will not be included in the 2000 district accountabilitycohort.

  • Students who move between district schools and out-of-district placements are included in the cohort, as long as the transfers are the decision of the CSE or a district official.

  • Students who have dropped out are included in the 2000 cohort. A dropoutis any student (regardless of age) who left the school districtprior to graduationfor any reason except death and was not documented to have entered another school or a program leading to a high school equivalency diploma.

Change in definition of Graduation-Rate Cohort in 2008:
The definition of graduation-rate cohort will be revised as follows, beginning with students who first entered 9th grade in 2003-04 or for ungraded students with disabilities who attained the age of 17 during the 2003-04 school year:

  • To determine the percentage of students in a school district who have graduated with a regular diploma in the standard number of years, or who have dropped out, the denominator (beginning with the students who first entered ninth grade in the 2003–04 school year, July 31–June 30) will be the count of students who meet Condition 1 and either Condition 2 or Condition 3 below:

  1. enrolled in ninth grade (anywhere) for the first time in a particular year (year 1) or, for ungraded students with disabilities, attained age 17 during that school year, AND

  2. were enrolled in the school or local educational agency (LEA) on the first Wednesday of October (BEDS day) in year 1 and did not transfer to another program leading to a high school diploma, OR

  3. transferred into the school or LEA after the first Wednesday of October (BEDS day) in year 1 and were continuously enrolled in the school or district for a period of five months (excluding July and August), except that students who first enrolled in the school after the first Wednesday in October of year 4 will not be included in the denominator.

  • The graduation rate will be the percentage of these students who earned a regular high school diploma no later than the end of year 4.  An exception will be made for high schools where a majority of students participate in a State-approved five-year program that results in the receipt of certification in a career or technology field in addition to a high school diploma.  For those schools, the graduation rate will be the percentage of those students defined in Conditions 1 and 2 who earned a regular high school diploma no later than the end of year 5. The public high school graduation rate will be used pursuant to §1111(b)(2)(1) of NCLB.

Overview of Issue/Description of System or Process

In New York State, a regular diploma is defined as a local or Regents diploma, including a Regents diploma with advanced designation requirements.  The course work for high school graduation requirements may be found at:

In 2005, the Board of Regents approved policy to phase in more challenging diploma requirements over the next few years.  The following chart displays the NYS diploma requirements that will be phased in over the next four years.

DIPLOMA REQUIREMENTS

 

Entering Freshman Class

Local Diploma Requirements

Regents Diploma Requirements

Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation Requirements

2005

Score 65 or above on 2 required Regents exams and score 55 or above on 3 required Regents exams. Earn 22 units of credit.

Score 65 or above on 5 required Regents exams. Earn 22 units of credit.

Score 65 or above on 8 required Regents exams. Earn 22 units of credit.

2006

Score 65 or above on 3 required Regents exams and score 55 or above on 2 required Regents exams. Earn 22 units of credit.

Score 65 or above on 5 required Regents exams. Earn 22 units of credit.

Score 65 or above on 8 required Regents exams. Earn 22 units of credit.

2007

Score 65 or above on 4 required Regents exams and score 55 or above on 1 required Regents exam. Earn 22 units of credit

Score 65 or above on 5 required Regents exams. Earn 22 units of credit.

Score 65 or above on 8 required Regents exams. Earn 22 units of credit.

2008

 

Score 65 or above on 5 required Regents exams. Earn 22 units of credit.

Score 65 or above on 8 required Regents exams. Earn 22 units of credit.
 

The safety net allows eligible students who fail a Regents examination required for graduation to meet the requirement for a local diploma who have been declassified at any time between grades 8 and 12, as recommended by the CSEat time of declassification; and 

  • general education students identified under Section 504, as recommended in their 504 Accommodation Plan by the Multidisciplinary Team.

    • The RCT safety net for students with disabilities will continue to be available for students entering grade 9 prior to September 2010.  Students using this safety net will be eligible to receive a local diploma. Students with disabilities may also graduate with a local diploma if they score between 55 and 64 on the required Regents exams.

    Baseline Data for FFY 2004 (2004-2005)

    Data for the 2000 graduation-rate cohort will include the summer 2004 graduates, as of August 31.  The summer 2004 graduates are reported with the 2004-05 school year data, which is expected to become available by December 2005.   The SPP will be revised to reflect the 2000 cohort baseline data at that time.

    Baseline Data for 1999 Cohort as of August 31, 2003

    Fifty-eight (58) percent of youth with IEPs in the 1999 cohort graduated from high school within four years compared to 76 percent of all students in that cohort.

    Discussion of Baseline Data

    As the tables below indicate, 55 percent of the 1998 graduation-rate cohort and 58 percent of the 1999 graduation-rate cohort of students with disabilities graduated with a local or Regents high school diploma within four years of first entering 9th grade or for ungraded students with disabilities within four years of becoming 17 years of age compared to 77 percent and 76 percent of all students, respectively.

    The 1998 graduation-rate cohort data four years later includes the summer 2002 graduates, as of August 31. Similarly, the 1999 graduation-rate cohort data four years later includes the summer 2003 graduates, as of August 31.

     1998 Cohort as of August 31, 2002
     

    Student Subgroup

    Graduation- Rate Cohort

    Graduation Rate

    All Students

    165,226

    77%

    Students with Disabilities

    14,306

    55%

     

    1999 Cohort as of August 31, 2003

    Student Subgroup

    Graduation- Rate Cohort

    Graduation Rate

    All Students

    173,978

    76%

    Students with Disabilities

    15,056

    58%

     

    NYS is reviewing its definitions of the “accountability cohort” and “graduation-rate cohort” for NCLB and is expected to revise these definitions for subsequent years. We expect the graduation rates will be significantly lower once the definitions are revised to include additional students.  We will need to adjust our baseline data and targets for this indicator once data based on new definitions become available.

    The data and projected targets presented in the 2004 Annual Performance Report were based on the annual exiters of students with disabilities who earned a local, Regents and High School Equivalency (HSE) diploma as a percentage of the total number of students with disabilities who earned a local, Regents, HSE and IEP diploma or who reached maximum age.  These data did not consider the number of years it took to graduate nor were students with disabilities who dropped out of school included in the calculation.  In addition, these data were not compared to all students or general education students. 

    The baseline data and targets established for this SPP are based on a comparison to all youth in the State graduating with a local or Regents diploma within four years, and the data used in the computation of graduation and dropout rates are the same data that are used for calculations for accountability under NCLB. 

    Measurable and Rigorous Targets

    FFY

    Measurable and Rigorous Target

     2005
    (2005-06)
    (2001 cohort)

    The percent of youth with IEPs graduating from high school within four years with a regular diploma will be 59 percent and no more than 18 percentage points lower than the rate for all youth.

     2006
    (2006-07)
    (2002 cohort)

    The percent of youth with IEPs graduating from high school with a regular diploma within four will be 60 percent and no more than 17 percentage points lower than the rate for all youth.

    2007*
    2007-08
    (2003 cohort)

    The percent of youth with IEPs graduating from high school with a regular diploma within four years will be 61 percent and no more than 17 percentage points lower than the rate for all youth.

     2008
    2008-09
    (2004 cohort)

    The percent of youth with IEPs graduating from high school with a regular diploma within four years will be 62 percent and no more than 16 percentage points lower than the rate for all youth.

     2009
    2009-10
    (2005 cohort)

    The percent of youth with IEPs graduating from high school with a regular diploma within four years will be 63 percent and no more than 16 percentage points lower than the rate for all youth

     2010
    2010-11
    (2006 cohort)

    The percent of youth with IEPs graduating from high school with a regular diploma within four years will be 64 percent and no more than 15 percentage points lower than the rate for all youth.
    * Year definitions of accountability and graduation cohorts will change

     

    Improvement Activities/Timelines/Resources

    Activity

    		 Timelines Resources
    Conduct focused “Exiting/Transition” monitoring reviews of school districts with graduation rates below the State targets.  School districts experiencing a higher dropout and/or lower graduation rate for students with disabilities are targeted for the exiting/transition review. 2005-11

    Special Education Quality Assurance (SEQA) Regional Offices

    42 Special Education Training and Resource Centers (SETRC) - $16,200,635 for 2005-06

    7 Regional School Support Centers (RSSC) - RSSC includes a full-time special education specialist on staff funded by IDEA discretionary funds - $1.5 million for 2005-06
    Conduct focused monitoring reviews of Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) to review student access and opportunities to participate in the general education curriculum and to receive course credit to meet the graduation requirements. 2005-11

    SEQA Regional Offices, SETRC and RSSC
    Provide Quality Assurance Review grants to large city school districts to offset the costs that these school districts may incur to participate in the focused monitoring reviews. 2005-11

    $60,000 allocated in 2005-06
    Provide Quality Assurance Improvement grants to school districts to implement improvement activities identified through the focused review monitoring process. 2005-11 $3,080,000 for 2005-2006
    Use a data-driven strategic planning model to develop annual improvement plans for the Big Four Cities (Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and Yonkers) and to provide coordinated technical assistance and professional development programs within the cities.  2005-11 Urban Initiative

    Provide “Destination Diploma” forums to bring together school districts with the lowest graduation rates and the highest proportion of students taking three or fewer Regents exams in four years.  “Destination Diploma” is designed to create a community of professional practice among school district teams, along with State and regional technical assistance providers and professional organizations.

    		 2005-08 EMSC, SEQA, SETRC, RSSC
    Partner with other State agencies to leverage local and State interagency funding to implement school-based collaborative efforts to improve results for students with disabilities. 2005-11

    Task Force on School and Community Collaboration

    http://www.ccf.state.ny.us/schoolcollab.html
    Promote implementation of Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) in school districts with graduation rates below the State target. 2005-11 PBIS project in collaboration with SED, NYS Office of Mental (OMH), NYS Department of Health (DOH), the Children’s School Health Network (CSHN) and Families Together NYS (FTNYS) - $2,717,350 for 2005-06 (determined annually)
    Support preservice and inservice staff development programs to enhance the knowledge and skills of general and special education teachers who provide instruction to students with disabilities. 2005-08

    The Center for the Preparation of Educational Interpreters $600,000 for 2005-06

    Bilingual Paraprofessional Certification
    $46,500 for 2005-06

    Bilingual Personnel Development Center
    $150,000 for 2005-06

    Bilingual Special Education Personnel Preparation - $900,000 for 2005-06

    United Federation of Teachers Special Education Support Program
    $2,200,000 for 2005-06

    Bilingual School Psychology and Speech and Language Program
    $300,000 for 2005-06

    Intensive Teacher Institute - Blind/Visually Impaired/Deaf/Hard of Hearing-
    $200,000 for 2005-06

    Higher Education Support Center (HESC)
    $530,500 for 2005-06

    Increase student with disabilities’ participation in Career and Technical Education (CTE) Programs

    • The Regents policy for program approval will continue to be implemented and administered so that students have access to specialized courses that integrate academic and career and technical skill development.

    • A Career and Technical Education Resource Center (CTERC) has been established to increase graduation rates and support low performing schools. CTERC will provide training and technical assistance in CTE and academic integration.
    		2005-11

    The Department’s web site provides information on policy, guidance and resources for CTE programs.

    http://www.p12.nysed.gov/workforce/cte/cte.html

    A Career and Technical Education Resource Center (CTERC) has been established at the Questar III BOCES to increase graduation rates and to support low performing schools. The CTERC will provide training and technical assistance in CTE and academic integration.

     

    See

    http://www.p12.nysed.gov/workforce/cteskillsachievementprofile/home.html

    Promote use of high quality research-based instruction for students with disabilities

    • Convene a group of experts in reading and response-to- intervention models to assist the State in its development of State criteria to identify students with learning disabilities.

    • Develop guidance materials and resources on research-based reading instruction and response-to- intervention models.
    • Identify school districts with effective models of response-to-intervention.
    • Provide staff development and sharing of effective practices.
    		 2005-09 $25,000 in 2005-06.  Additional discretionary funds will be allocated to support these activities in subsequent years.

     

     

    [1] BEDS day is the first Wednesday in October and is the date that enrollment data for all students is collected in New York State.