News and Notes Archive
From Senior Deputy Commissioner John B. King, Jr.
November 9, 2009
Board of Regents Adopts New Policies
At its October 19 meeting, the Board of Regents adopted new policies related to graduation rates and making up course credit.
The Board of Regents graduation rate policy includes two provisions:
The Federal No Child Left Behind regulations required states to adopt the new federal four-year adjusted graduation rate cohort definition and use this definition beginning no later than the 2011-2012 school year results. How the graduation rate cohort is defined determines which students are being counted for accountability purposes. In the past, states have been given considerable flexibility to create their own methodology for determining which students should be included in the graduation cohort. The federal regulations now require all states to use the same definition of graduation cohort. The federal regulations permit states to adopt the federal definition beginning with the 2009-2010, 2010-2011 or 2011-12 school year results. In order to give schools and districts as much time as possible to prepare for this change, the Regents voted to adopt the new federal cohort definition beginning with the 2011-12 school year results.
More information about the new federal graduation rate cohort definition and how it differs from the current NYS cohort definition is available in the October Regents item on Defining the Graduation Rate Cohort.
The Regents also voted to apply to the U.S. Department of Education to use a five-year extended graduation rate which will give schools and districts credit for making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as long as the school or district achieves the goal or the target(s) for either the four-year cohort or the five-year cohort. An extended graduation rate provides schools and districts with additional incentive to continue to work with students to ensure that they graduate, even if they graduate in more than four years.
The October Regents item on Defining the Graduation Rate Cohort also has more information on this policy decision.
At the October meeting of the Board of Regents, the Regents also approved a policy on making up course credit. After conducting a field survey and reviewing the input received through that survey, the Regents approved a policy that says:
- School district officials may provide various programs for students who were previously enrolled in a course but failed to demonstrate mastery of the intended course outcomes.
- A school-based panel, consisting of at least the principal, a teacher in the area for which the student must make up credit, and a guidance director (or other administrator) must approve all programs for make-up credit.
- In order to provide the appropriate program to make up failed or incomplete course credit, the panel must consider each student’s needs and course completion deficiencies.
- The program must be aligned with the Regents learning standards.
- In order to receive credit, the student must receive equivalent, intensive instruction in the deficiency areas of the course by a teacher certified in the subject area.
- The student must demonstrate mastery of the initial deficiency area(s).
- If an end-of-course Regents examination is required for graduation, the student must pass the Regents examination to fulfill the graduation requirements, and, to the extent determined by the school district, receive course credit.
Regulations to implement this policy are now being drafted for discussion and approval by the Regents. More information about this new policy and options for programs for making up course credit is available in the October Regents item on making up course credit.
Green Cleaning Regulation Change Notification
The "Green Cleaning Guidelines" have been posted for public comment before adoption. More information is available at http://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/WhatsNewItems/green_cleaning.html.