Login | Register | Subscribe 
Sign Up for FREE E-Newsletters Current Issue Topics
Assessment and TestingBudget and FinanceBullyingCharter SchoolsCommon StandardsCurriculum and InstructionE-Learning English-Language LearnersFederal PolicyHigh SchoolsLaw and CourtsLeadership and ManagementNo Child Left BehindProfessional Development Race to the TopResearchSpecial EducationState News by StateTeaching ProfessionTechnologyUnionsSee All TopicsBlogs Reports & Data Leaders to Learn FromQuality CountsDiplomas CountTechnology CountsSpecial Reporting SeriesState Highlights Reports EdCounts DatabaseEdWeek MapsEPE Research CenterERS Practical Tools for District TransformationEvents PD WebinarsWebinarsChatsLeaders to Learn FromLive EventsLive Events VideosCalendarDiscussions ForumsChatsTeacher Book ClubWebinarsOpinion Multimedia VideosInfographicsPhoto GalleriesAudio Galleries 
Education Week's blogs > State EdWatchSee our States news coverage 
Andrew UjifusaAndrew Ujifusa covers state education policy for Education Week, from new legislation and trends to eye-catching political battles. He previously worked at newspapers in Maryland and Mississippi, and taught high school English in Japan. 3747637476 « Common Core and Medicaid Expansion: Comparing Big Decisions by States |Main| When Has Federal Money Been Used to Create State Standards? »N.Y. Regents: Common Core Needs More State Aid, Periodic AdjustmentsBy Andrew Ujifusa on February 10, 2014 11:09 AM Tweet
UPDATED
A Feb. 10 report from the New York Board of Regents has laid out options for improving implementation of the Common Core State Standards in the Empire State, including advocating for periodic review and updating of the math and English-language arts standards, additional state funding totaling $525 million over the next three budget years to provide "equitable" aid to districts, and clarifying that the state doesn't encourage assessments aligned to the common core to be used in decisions about students' promotion and placement.
UPDATE: The proposals in the report were adopted by the Board of Regents on Feb. 10. In a subsequent conference call with reporters, state Commissioner of Education John King said he was disappointed about one other significant change that I didn't touch on (and should have touched on) in the original post: Delaying the requirement that students demonstrate college- and career-readiness on common-core aligned exams in order to graduate high school from the Class of 2017 until the Class of 2022.
King said that 2022 seems like "a very significant time away" and added that for every class graduating between 2017 and 2022, "That's another generation of students who will leave high school underprepared."
However, the commissioner said that the state will continue to report student performance on these exams to the Board of Regents even though those performance data won't have high stakes for students seeking to graduate high school until the Class of 2022. The Class of 2017 will take common-core aligned exams in high school, but they'll have a lower performance threshold to meet.
Asked if he thought these adopted recommendations were a concession to critics that common core had been rolled out too quickly in New York, King responded he thinks the changes mean that common core had been implemented unevenly across the state, but that the importance to students of implementing common core the right way hasn't changed.
The board's report was the result of a "work group" convened last December to examine ways to improve implementation of the common core in New York, which has been the subject of rigorous debate as well as resistance in recent months. The report offered up a total of 19 options to alter how the standards have been implemented in New York. The options cover the standards themselves, as well as professional development, state and local assessments, educator evaluation, and curriculum.
It's important to point out that this work group and its recommendations are separate from the common-core implementation task force announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, on Feb. 7.
In addition to the options the board lays out for funding and reducing high stakes linked to common-core assessments, the report includes the proposal that if a district seeks to fire a teacher for students' relatively poor performance on common-core aligned assessments in the 2012-13 or 2013-14 school years, "he or she may raise as a defense an alleged failure by the board of education to timely implement the common core by providing adequate professional development, guidance on curriculum, or other necessary supports to the educator during those school years."
It's unclear how many teachers would be affected by this move, either from the most recently completed school year or the current school year. But it doesn't go as far as the proposal from the New York State United Teachers, the state teachers' union, which called for a three-year moratorium on high stakes for educators tied to the common core back in September 2013.
CORRECTION: It turns out that the state board held its official vote on the recommendations in the report one day after they were released, on Feb. 11. (The Feb. 10 vote I referenced yesterday was a preliminary one.) In that official vote, the Regents voted to adopt all but one of the recommendations from the work group—the one that would have provided teachers facing dismissal with the defense that they were inadequately prepared for common core. Between the preliminary and actual vote, both the New York State United Teachers and Cuomo criticized the Regents' report. NYSUT claimed that this supposedly new defense was already a protection afforded to teachers, while Cuomo argued that the Regents were inappropriately delaying the teacher-evaluation system. My colleague Stephen Sawchuk at Teacher Beat has more on these evaluation reactions.
Other recommendations are more technical in nature, but at least nominally address the objections from NYSUT and others that the state has dropped the ball on providing enough classroom resources aligned to the common core. Among them: "Develop an online tool to allow educators from around the state to share curricular resources, including adaptations of modules."
In addition, the options push for "smarter" testing options for English-language learner and special-education students, dealing mostly with waivers from current federal testing requirements.
On the subject of whether additional state money to help with common core, the report is very clear.
"The implementation of the common core and teacher and principal evaluation during a time of limited resources has come with significant challenges," the report states. "School districts need additional financial resources to implement these rigorous reforms."
Categories:Budgets Governors Standards State Boards State PolicyTags:Andrew Cuomo common core common-core pushback new york NYSUT teacher evaluations testingPrint
Email 
TweetYou must be logged in to leave a comment. Login | Register Ground Rules for Posting We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.
Get 10 free stories, e-newsletters, and more!EmailPassword
Select your primary connection to education District Superintendent, Deputy/Asst. Superintendent District Leadership - Technology District Leadership - Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment, PD District Leadership - Business, Communications, HR District Personnel - Other (Admin., Specialist, etc.) School-based Leadership (Principal, Asst. Principal) Teacher - Early Childhood/Elementary Teacher - Middle School Teacher - High School School-based Technology Coordinator School-based Personnel - Other (Admin., Specialist, etc.) Library Personnel/Media Specialist University or College Faculty/Administration Federal Government Personnel State Government Personnel Education Product/Service Provider (including Consultants) Investment Community Association/Advocacy Organization Philanthropy Education Research/Analysis Media Education Services Agency School Board Member Student Parent/Community Member
Send me Edweek Update e-newsletter (Daily)By clicking "Register" you are agreeing to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Follow This Blog
Follow This Blog Recent Entries N.Y. Lawsuit Seeks More School Funding for 'Sound Basic Education' Chris Cerf Departing as N.J. Chief to Take Job at Amplify When Has Federal Money Been Used to Create State Standards? N.Y. Regents: Common Core Needs More State Aid, Periodic Adjustments Common Core and Medicaid Expansion: Comparing Big Decisions by States Advertisement Most Viewed on Education Week Categories--- Select a Category ---Academic Achievement (80)Arne Duncan (38)Budgets (130)Charters (52)Elections (111)Foundations (8)Governors (473)Lawsuits (62)Legislatures (340)Misconduct (23)Race to the Top (88)School Choice (62)School Finance (138)Standards (126)State Boards (98)State Policy (460)State superintendents (216)Stimulus (24)Taxes (39)Teachers unions (118)Title One (3)Turnarounds (29) Archives Select a Month... February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 Recent Comments Director, P-20 Learning Community Serving Innovation, Pilot and Alternative Schools Aurora Public Schools, Auroa, CO Masconomet RSD Superintendent of Schools New England School Development Council, Topsfield, MA Classroom Teachers The Cambridge Schools, Doha, Qa, Qatar Superintendent of Schools Community Consolidated School District 181, Hinsdale, IL Principal School District of Clayton, Clayton, MO Director of Academics, Chicago Director of Academics, Chicago, IL MORE EDUCATION JOBS >> Post a Job >> Powered by Movable Type Pro Account Management •Register or Subscribe •Online Account •Print Subscription •Manage E-Newsletters/Preferences •Site Licenses Contact Us •Help/FAQ •Customer Service •Editor Feedback •Letters
to the Editor Policies •User Agreement •Privacy •Reprints Advertise with Us •Display Advertising •Recruitment
Advertising EPE Info •About Us •Staff •Work@EPE •Mission and History Education Week Publications •Education Week •Teacher •Digital Directions •Industry & Innovation •PD Directory •TopSchoolJobs
© 2014 Editorial Projects in Education
6935 Arlington Road, Bethesda MD 20814 1-800-346-1834 (Main Office) 1-800-445-8250 (Customer Service)
[MESSAGE]UserID:
iCustID:
IsLogged: false
IsSiteLicense: false
UserType: anonymous
DisplayName:
TrialsLeft: 3
Trials:
Tier Preview Log:
Exception pages ( /edweek/state_edwatch/2014/02/ny_regents_common_core_needs_more_state_aid_periodic_adjustments.html ) = NO
Internal request ( 39.55.57.158 ) = NO
Open House ( 2014-03-04 12:29:51 ) = NO
Site Licence : ( 39.55.57.158 ) = NO
ACL Free A vs U ( 2100 vs 0 ) = NO
Token Free (NO TOKEN FOUND) = NO
Blog authoring preview = NO
Search Robot ( unknown ) = NO
Purchased ( 0 ) = NO
Monthly ( : 0 / 3 ) = NO
Can add to monthly ( /edweek/state_edwatch/2014/02/ny_regents_common_core_needs_more_state_aid_periodic_adjustments.html ) = YES
Add to monthly ( ) = NO
Access granted ( 7 ) = YES
No comments:
Post a Comment