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From Office of Higher Education Deputy Commissioner John D'Agati
March 2013

Quick links to headlines in this edition of the Higher Education Newsletter:

OHE and Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES Host P-20 Regional Forum on School Building Leadership

On March 8, 2013, Commissioner John B. King, Jr., OHE Assistant Commissioner Stephanie Wood-Garnett and over 70 other education professionals met at the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES to discuss the preparation and training of effective school building leaders. The conference was organized by BOCES Superintendent William Speck in collaboration with the Office of Higher Education. The event provided a unique opportunity for representatives from 7 area colleges and universities, over 30 Central New York school districts, BOCES, and Teacher Centers, to convene for this important conversation.

Commissioner King’s presentation focused on the importance of producing highly effective school building leaders to support the implementation of the Regents Reform Agenda and the need to strengthen partnerships between P-12 and higher education institutions.  Commissioner King and Assistant Commissioner Wood-Garnett also presented on a panel of experts along with 15 area leaders. During the panel, Auburn school district Superintendent Constance Evelyn described a few of the critical skills she looks for in school building leaders: "We need people who are timely, who can come into a building and immediately be able to evaluate its needs, where they are right now and a vision for where they will be in three years.” Superintendent Evelyn also stressed the need to rethink the current design of the administrative internships.

Ensuring College- and Career-Readiness For All:   Implementing Common Core P-12

The March edition of the News and Notes from Commissioner King is focused on the implementation of the Common Core. The newsletter also contains a link to the recent field memo from Deputy Commissioner for P-12 Education Slentz to Superintendents, District Superintendents, and Principals of P-12 schools about New York’s implementation of the Common Core State Standards.

Highlights from Clinically Rich Teacher Preparation Program Partnerships

Using its Race to the Top funds, the Department awarded grants to several higher education institutions to prepare cohorts of candidates to take roles as educators in high-need, low-achieving schools, and with high concentrations of underserved and/or underprepared students, like those living in poverty, those with special needs, or those who are learning English as a second language. This month we are featuring two of the awardees: Mercy College and SUNY Oswego.

  • Mercy College. The Mercy College School of Education and the Yonkers Public Schools established a partnership to develop a corps of secondary mathematics teachers able to integrate content, clinical experience, and pedagogical and professional knowledge.  The goal of this 3-year Clinically Rich Teacher Preparation Pilot Project is to improve the mathematics performance of general education students and diverse student populations including English Language Learners (ELL) and students with disabilities in high-need schools. At this time, 25 faculty members and 25 mentor teachers in the Yonkers Public Schools are working collaboratively to provide intensive on-site mentoring and support in both math and special education for 25 student teachers through a full day, full year of internship and related coursework. The student cohort ranges from career changers to recently graduated math majors.  The first cohort will graduate in July 2013.

  • SUNY Oswego.  SUNY Oswego is offering two clinically rich teacher preparation programs. The undergraduate program, BRIDGES, partners with Syracuse City School District and leads to initial TESOL certification. The graduate program, O-RITE, Oswego Residency Initiative for Teacher Excellence, is a graduate program which leads to a new Master’s of Arts (MAT) that integrates coursework with intensive school residency experiences in order to prepare teachers to work in high-need schools in the areas of  special education, the sciences, mathematics, or TESOL.  O-RITE has a diverse cohort of apprentice teachers who are currently placed with partner schools in the Syracuse City School District, Oswego county schools, and New York City.  On March 8, 2013, Commissioner King, Assistant Commissioner Wood-Garnett, and Project Coordinator Melissa Greene visited the O-RITE program and met with faculty, candidates, and staff from the Syracuse City School District to discuss the benefits of the clinically rich approach.

March Professional Standards and Practices Board Meeting

The New York State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching met in Albany on March 14-15, 2013. Higher Education Subcommittee members created a set of comments and recommendations in response to the recently posted CAEP (Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation) draft standards. The draft standards are open for public comment until March 29. 

The Board also received an update on New York State certification examinations from Jennifer Case, Project Coordinator at NYSED. Exam frameworks, FAQ’s, timelines and other important information regarding the new examinations are available online by using the links below.  Sample test items will be available to preview by April 1, 2013.

NYSTCE Exam Resources:
Frameworks: http://www.nystce.nesinc.com/NY_annProgramUpdate.asp#TestMaterials
Webinars: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/certexam.html
FAQ: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/pdf/certexamfaq.pdf
edTPA NY website: http://www.nystce.nesinc.com/NY_annTPA.asp

Important Certification Examination Reminders for Candidates Applying for Trans B or C Certificates

  • A candidate who applies for a Transitional B or C certificate on or before April 30, 2014 and who meets all the requirements for a Transitional B or C certificate on or before April 30, 2014 is required to take the LAST and the CST in the area of the certificate, where such CST is required for the certificate title on or before April 30, 2014. Successful completion of the CST in the area of the certificate shall not be required for the Transitional B certificate authorizing the teaching of English to speakers of other languages, students with disabilities, students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, students who are blind or visually impaired, or students with speech and language disabilities, or for an extension of having achieved a satisfactory level of performance on a CST prescribed by the Commissioner.

  • A candidate who applies for a Transitional B or C certificate on or after May 1, 2014 or a candidate who applies for a Transitional B or C certificate on or before April 30, 2014 but does not meet all the requirements for a Transitional B or C certificate on April 30, 2014 is required to pass the ALST, EAS, and the CST in the area of the certificate, where such CST is required for the certificate title. Successful completion of the CST in the area of the certificate shall not be required for the Transitional B certificate authorizing the teaching of English to speakers of other languages, students with disabilities, students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, students who are blind or visually impaired, or students with speech and language disabilities, or for an extension of a Transitional B certificate in bilingual education. Instead, the candidate shall submit evidence of having achieved a satisfactory level of performance on a CST prescribed by the Commissioner or a teaching certificate in the classroom teaching service.

  • Timeline for Transitional B or C Candidates Applying for Certification
    Candidates for certification via the Transitional B or C (“alternative”) pathways would be subject to the following requirements. A candidate who applies for an initial certificate on or before April 30, 2014, and who has completed all other requirements for an initial certificate or who has completed all requirements for an initial certificate except completion of their registered Transitional B program, on or before April 30, 2014, is required to take the ATS-W and any other examination required for the provisional or initial certificate, as applicable, and/or a bilingual education extension of such certificate, as applicable, on or before April 30, 2014 or a satisfactory level of performance on the edTPA and any other examination required for the provisional or initial certificate, as applicable, and/or a bilingual education extension of such certificate, as applicable.

    A candidate who applies for an initial certificate on or after May 1, 2014 or who applies for an initial certificate on or before April 30, 2014 but does not meet all the requirements for an initial certificate on or before April 30, 2014 shall submit evidence of having achieved a satisfactory level of performance on the edTPA and any other examination required for the provisional or initial certificate, as applicable, and/or a bilingual education extension of such certificate, as applicable.
SUNY Holds Faculty Development Event on Clinically Rich Teaching

Dr. Kenneth Howey was the keynote speaker at the March 6, 2013, Faculty Development MOU event which was simulcast to multiple SUNY campuses where C-TEN teams were gathered by region. Dr. Howey’s keynote was followed by three video-vignettes highlighting clinically rich models from around the State, including Buffalo State College, Empire State College, and SUNY Oswego. Small regional breakout groups worked throughout the afternoon to map the types of clinically rich experiences already occurring on their campuses and to identify new ways to enrich the experiences of their students and better prepare them for the implementation of the Regents Reform Agenda in our P-12 schools.

Upcoming SUNY Faculty Development MOU events will include a focus on the new NYS certification examinations and a discussion of the Annual Professional Performance Review process and Data Driven Assessment. Upcoming SUNY Faculty Development MOU events will include a focus on the new NYS certification examinations and a discussion of the Annual Professional Performance Review process and Data Driven Assessment.

Bullying Prevention Workshop

In June 2012, the Legislature enacted Chapter 102 of the Laws of 2012, which amended the Dignity Act to include a requirement that school professionals applying for a certificate or license on or after July 1, 2013 complete training on the social patterns of harassment, bullying and discrimination.

Deputy Commissioner D’Agati presented an item at the February 2013 Regents meeting requesting Proposed Amendments to Section 52.21 and Part 80 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education and the Addition of a New Subpart 57-4 to the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to Coursework or Training in Harassment, Bullying and Discrimination Prevention and Intervention.

This proposal includes an amendment to Part 52 of the Commissioner’s Regulations to require teacher and school leadership preparation programs to include at least six hours of training in Harassment, Bullying and Discrimination Prevention and Intervention. Programs will be required to submit a proposed syllabus for the workshop and submit the credentials for the trainer to the Department for review. Programs will not be required to submit a fee. Students who graduate this year but do not apply for their certification until after July 1, 2013 will be required to take the six hour training course.
For more information visit: http://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2013Meetings/February2013/213hed1.pdf

Syracuse University Hosts 15th annual Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) Statewide Student Conference

During the week of March 8-10, Syracuse University hosted the 15th annual Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) statewide student conference.  The theme of the conference was "15 years: From Excellence to Eminence.  Our Journey continues... "   This year’s conference hosted approximately 400 middle and high school students, and 200 administrators, staff members, counselors, and professionals from 46 colleges and universities from across the state.  During the course of the conference students had the opportunity to participate in workshops that addressed college readiness and preparing for STEM; a college fair; money management; achieving goals, and preparing for internships, to name a few.  Students in grades 7-12 who had done research during the course of the year presented their work during the poster presentation segment of the conference. A professional development workshop was presented to program administrators on how to use resources to strengthen student and program success.   The keynote speaker for the conference was Christine Wingo, who is a former STEP and CSTEP student from the University at Buffalo.  Ms. Wingo is now a senior manufacturing engineer at DuPont.

Upcoming Dates

4/12-14/13 CSTEP Student Conference at The Sagamore in Bolton Landing
Registration Packet
4/17/13 Closing the Achievement Gap:  Options in Education, at Excelsior College
For additional information, contact: Mary Coonradt, email:mcoonradt@excelsior.edu
4/19-21/13 Liberty Partnerships Program (LPP) Empire Promise Youth Summit (25th Anniversary celebration), Latham Holiday Inn Express
http://www.libertypartnerships.com/

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Last Updated: April 5, 2013
April 5, 2013