Forum part of statewide discussion
About 230 superintendents, board members, teachers and others from around the greater Capital Region gave feedback to the New York State Education Department and the New York State Board of Regents at a forum on January 25 about possible changes to graduation requirements.
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New York State
Education Commissioner David Steiner addresses the 230 school administrators and staff who attended the forum. |
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| Senior Deputy Commissioner for P-12 Education Dr. John King and Chancellor Merryl Tisch answer questions from forum participants. |
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The room was packed with school officials looking to weigh in on proposed changes to graduation requirements. View additional photos on the South Colonie Central School District website. |
The forum at Colonie High School included attendees from school districts in several BOCES regions: Capital Region, Questar III, Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery and Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES.
Attendees discussed the Regents' proposed graduation requirement changes in small groups, then provided feedback and asked questions of the Regents and New York State Education Department officials in attendance, including Education Commissioner David Steiner, Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, Senior Deputy John King and Associate Commissioner Ken Slentz.
The Regents ideas for change are intended to better prepare students for college and careers after high school, including:
Increase
graduation requirements — such as:
requiring
more math and science.
requiring
a "college and career readiness credit," which could be a college
course or advanced placement course.
raising
Regents exam passing scores.
increasing
the length of the school day or year.
Allow
increased flexibility in the ways students can meet requirements —
such as:
allow
students credit for independent study or online courses, not just
required seat time.
increase
the number of credits students can earn through Career & Technical
Education courses.
allow
students to take more high school courses while still in middle
school.
Offer
alternative or supplemental credentials.
Regents
discussion is focusing on developing a "Career Skills Credential,"
which would be available to all students. For students with
disabilities, it would replace an IEP, and for other students it
would supplement a regular high school diploma. The diploma would
require formalized career planning and work-based learning
experiences.
Read all of the Regents' ideas for change (PDF)
Discussion highlights
Attendees highlighted the following ideas during Tuesday night's discussion:
The
need for flexibility in schedules and requirements, particularly
with middle school students.
It
is challenging for some students to get enough credits for
graduation now, and requiring more credits would make it even more
difficult for those students.
Expanding
the opportunity for students to take Career and Technical Education
courses would be beneficial to help students earn required credits
while learning real-world skills in a manner that keeps them
engaged.
Flexibility
in seat time requirements, including offering online courses to
students or the opportunity for them to "test-out" of courses would be
beneficial.
The
recognition of many types of skills and interests as important, i.e.
not requiring increasing amounts of math when the arts and music are
also important areas and places where many students excel.
Next steps
"What we are talking about is what we owe to our children," said Commissioner Steiner. He showed various statistics at the forum that show U.S. students are not prepared for college and careers. For example, 44 percent of students in two-year colleges must take remedial work, and 23.5 percent of students take three years to complete a two-year (associate's) degree. "This is not just rhetorical," said Steiner. "There really is no running away from this reality."
Steiner and Tisch gave no timeline for implementation of changes, but said the forum (one of several being held around the state this month) would help them determine what changes to pursue.
