Office of Teaching Initiatives

Date: May 1&2, 2008
Location: State Education Department, Seminar Room 5A&B, Albany, New York

Members Present

Debra Colley, co-chair
Eric Gidseg, co-chair
Richard Ahola
Sheila Appel
Desma DeGraw
Richard Feller
Catalina Fortino
Rosemary Harrigan

Lloyd Jaeger
Gerald Mager
Nicholas Michelli
Susan Mittler
Eva Mroczka
Susan Phillips
Tira Randall
Evie Rich

Patricia Roberts
Pamela Sandoval
Frank Scelsa
Gale Sookdeo
Kathy Taylor
Sally Thompson
Stephen Uebbing

MEMBERS ABSENT

Erik Bitterbaum
Allison Cugini
Cheryl Freedman
Joseph Perez

STAFF PRESENT

May 1, 2008

1. Call to Order

Day One of the meeting was called to order by the co-chairs at 3:28 p.m.

2. Meeting Minutes

Motion:
That the minutes of the March 2008 meeting be approved.
(Moved by S. Mittler, seconded by S. Phillips, carried.)

3. Announcements

• Approval is granted for the three ad hoc committees to schedule summer writing sessions, to include 2 meeting days and an overnight.
• Terms of six members end in June. Two members will be leaving the Board; four will be reappointed. Any other members who are not able to continue Board service are asked to notify the co-chairs as soon as possible.

4. Subcommittee Reports

Higher Education Subcommittee: Nick Michelli, chair, reported that the subcommittee met on May 1, prior to the full board meeting. The subcommittee conducted one RATE review and discussed teacher education policy issues in advance of Friday’s ad hoc group meeting.

Professional Practices Subcommittee: Rosemary Harrigan, chair, reported that the subcommittee met on May 1, prior to the full Board meeting. The subcommittee reviewed 17 Part 83 cases and discussed the following:

• teacher leadership as a recommended agenda item for June or September
• issues related to Teacher Center funding
• proposed regulation to implement the tenure statute

5. Board Communication with Regents

The co-chairs shared their plan to increase communication between the Board and the Regents, to include:
-Soliciting early input from the Regents on the Board’s annual agenda (to be included in co-chairs’ annual report at the June Regents meeting).
- Periodic conversations with the Commissioner and Regents on the Board’s work
-Invitations to Regents to attend selected Board meetings
-Attendance of Board members at Regents meetings and Regents-sponsored events

6. SED Policy Update

1. Special Education--
D. Colley reviewed the discussion held during the Board’s April 7 conference call on the proposed restructuring of special education certification.
J. Frey reviewed the current proposals under consideration by the Department.

Motion 1:
To support the concept of dividing special education certification into the following three Levels: Birth-Grade 3, Grades 1-6, and grades 7-12.
(Moved by D. Colley, seconded by J. Mager, carried)

Motion 2:
To endorse the concept of a Supplementary certificate for teachers of Students with Disabilities, as part of the larger approach to restructuring special education certification.
(Moved by J. Mager, seconded by S. Uebbing, carried)

• Tenure--

J. Frey reviewed the changes in the tenure statute and the adjustments being made to the proposed implementing regulations to reflect this. The Regents will review the proposed language at their May meeting. The Board discussed and offered comments.

7. Annual Report to the Regents

Members reviewed a draft of this year’s annual report to the Regents and suggested modifications,, including adding a brief discussion of upcoming agenda topics for 2008-2009.

8. Adjournment

The co-chairs adjourned Day One of the meeting at 5:36 p.m.

May 2, 2008

1. Call to Order

Day Two of the meeting was called to order by the co-chairs at 8:13 a.m.

2. Teacher Development Programs

Richard Rose of the Office of K-16 Initiatives and Access presented information on the several teacher development programs administered by that office.

3. Teacher Moral Character (Part 83) Report

Deborah Marriott reported on the trends in Part 83 teacher moral character cases over the seven year period 2001-2007.

4. P-16 Data System Project

Barbara Sullivan of The Parthenon Group provided an overview of their project to assist NYS in designing a unified system of P-16 student achievement data to inform policy, programs, and practice.

Board members discussed issues and concerns. B. Sullivan will provide a summary of Parthenon’s research on “best practices” once this information is available.

5. Ad Hoc Work Groups

Ad hoc chairs reported on the small group meetings:

-- Professional Development- Trish Roberts reported that the group is now doing a standard-by-standard review of comments received from the field, which it will continue at the June meeting. The group will meet in July to complete a final draft of the Professional Development Standards, a rubric, and a glossary. The draft will be emailed to the Board for its review over the summer.
-- Teacher Education Policy- Nick Michelli reported that the group will meet during the summer to finalize a draft of its recommendations for changes in teacher education policy. The group will examine institutional accreditation, transitional programs, and pilot studies in innovation.
-- Mentoring- Catalina Fortino reported that the group discussed various issues related to the development of mentoring standards, including underlying philosophy, appropriate target audiences, implementation, and integration of the standards with professional development, teacher induction, and the Code of Ethics. The group will meet at the end of July to draft Mentoring Standards, which will be emailed to the Board in August for its review.

6. Adjournment

Motion to adjourn:
(Moved by S. Appel, seconded by N. Michelli, carried.)
The co-chairs adjourned Day Two of the meeting at 12:29 p.m.