Office of Teaching Initiatives

Date:               May 6 and 7 , 2010                                              
Location:         State Education Department, Seminar Room 5A&B, Albany, New York

Members Present

Debra Colley, co-chair
Catalina Fortino, co-chair
Richard Ahola
Coleen Clay
Richard Feller

Eric Gidseg
Jan Hammond
Rosemary Harrigan
Margaret Kaiser
Gerald Mager

Ross Marvin
Susan Mittler
Joseph Perez
Susan Phillips
Pamela Sandoval

MEMBERS ABSENT

Sheila Appel
Allison Cugini
Cheryl Freedman
Lloyd Jaeger

Khalek Kirkland
John Mahony
Patricia Roberts
Walter Robertson

Diane Rowe
Frank Scelsa
Gale Sookdeo
Stephen Uebbing

STAFF PRESENT

Patricia Oleaga-Gill

May 6, 2010

Day One of the meeting was called to order by the co-chairs at 3:20 p.m.

2. March Meeting Follow-up/ Announcements

1. The co-chairs reviewed the agenda and goals for the meeting.
2. Congratulations to Ross Marvin for his future assignment teaching for the Schenectady City School District.
3. The board will draft a letter to provide comment on the proposed regulations relating to the establishment of graduate level clinically rich teacher preparation pilot programs. 

3. Meeting Minutes

Motion:
The motion to approved minutes from the March meeting was postponed to June due to the lack of a quorum.

4. Subcommittee Reports

Professional Practices Subcommittee: Rosemary Harrigan, chair, reported that the subcommittee had to postpone reviewing the Part 83 cases due to a lack of quorum. The cases will be reviewed in June.

Higher Education Subcommittee: Pamela Sandoval, acting chair, reported that the subcommittee met on May 6, prior to the full board meeting. The subcommittee reviewed two colleges and submitted recommendations to the Deputy Commissioner concerning their accreditation. The colleges reviewed were Pratt Institute and Elmira College.

5. Performance Based Assessments            

Bob Bentley discussed the Performance Assessment for California Teachers model, PACT. The PACT includes the accumulation of teaching artifacts into a teacher portfolio. The Department is moving toward a similar model that will be based on the Teaching Standards.

 Pam volunteered to do research into models of Performance Based assessments to present a general overview of this topic at June meeting.

6. Policy Review

Bob Bentley and Rich Gervais reported on the following regulatory actions the Regents had adopted in April.

1. The establishment of graduate level clinically rich teacher preparation pilot programs. The next step would be the development for a Request for Proposals for potential program providers.
2. The framework for the Teaching Standards and the establishment of a workgroup to begin meeting on May 26th and 27th.
3. Teacher Certification Flexibility in times of fiscal crisis to mitigate the effects of a reduction in force.
4. The review of an early childhood arts endorsement
5. The addition of student growth data as a new evaluation criterion in teachers Annual Professional Performance Review.

 9.  Adjournment

The co-chairs adjourned Day One of the meeting at 5:30 p.m.

May 7,2010

1.  Call to Order

Day Two of the meeting was called to order by the co-chair at 10:40 a.m.

2. Ad Hoc Group Reports

Teacher Education Policy-
Pam Sandoval reported that the Ad Hoc group had written an advisory letter concerning the future of the RATE process. The letter was subsequently sent to the Board of Regent’s and to the Commissioner. 

Mentoring Standards-
Eric Gidseg reported the group had almost completed the revision of the mentoring standards. A final draft will be distributed to the board before the June meeting.

Teaching Standards-
Members of the Teaching Standards group worked with the other groups and did not report out.

3. Priority Agenda 2010-2011

The co-chair led a discussion of possible priority items for the 2010-2011 meeting year.

4. Adjournment

The co-chair adjourned Day Two of the meeting at 11:45 a.m.