Coalition for Glen Cove
Minutes
December 9, 2002
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Rich Tortorici introduced Superintendent Mary Ellen
Freeley, who spoke to us about the many facets of the new "No Child Left
Behind" federal legislation.
NY State Schools must get in alignment with the new
federal legislation. This is a very busy time for educators, who are
learning how they must comply with each section of the law. New York
State already has many details in place and is well ahead of many states
because of our Education Department's efforts to raise learning standards
and increase accountability for students and teachers.
Currently, schools are waiting on a decision as to
whether students with Individual Educational Plans (IEP's) will receive
accommodations when being tested. Students and their teachers are caught
in the middle when the state and federal authorities disagree. This is
just one of the disadvantages of federal involvement in education.
All schools will be monitored annually to ascertain
if they are meeting specific targets, called the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP).
New York State already requires local report cards and is carefully
monitoring schools. New report cards will be even more specific, with up
to 11 subgroups of the student population being analyzed. The goal is to
be sure every group and every child is achieving and that schools are
meeting everyone's needs. Superintendent Freeley is concerned that it is
the lowest performing subgroup that will become the baseline for each
district. It will be important to educate the public as to how to
interpret the report cards and subgroups. The federal law will now require
testing annually starting in 3rd grade. NY already has testing in place
in 4th and 8th grades, as well as Regents exams at the high school level.
There are several ramifications for schools which do
not meet the AYP. The first year they will develop a "school improvement
plan". If this does not succeed, they will undergo a "corrective action
plan"."Restructuring" will take place if corrective action is not
effective. Superintendent Freeley reassures us that Glen Cove is not in
danger of being put in the above situation.
Glen Cove is already working with teachers through
inservice training to help them meet the needs of all their students.
Plans are being made to target every child and make available to them
whatever they need to succeed. Teachers are being asked to look at every
child in their class and differentiate instruction to meet individual
strengths and weaknesses. Instead of thinking in terms of remediating our
students, we can work to prepare them to handle a more challenging level
of work. We can "pre-teach" many learning strategies that can be applied
in a variety of situations.
The guidance department will be especially involved
at the high school level, making sure each student is taking the steps to
fulfill the more extensive graduation requirements. At the Middle School,
the 6th grade curriculum will introduce new material, rather than
emphasize review of previous years work. This will better prepare the
students for the 8th grade assessments. Overall, a curriculum review
committee is currently doing an overview, aligning the curriculum with the
standards at each grade level and making sure textbooks are also aligned
with the standards for each subject and level.
The "No Child Left Behind" legislation also requires
1) hiring only "highly qualified" teachers and paraprofessionals 2)
parent notification if a school needs improvement, corrective action or
restructuring 3) parent school choice in failing schools 4) parents'
right to know teacher qualifications, students' achievement and limited
English proficient services 5) tutoring beyond the school day for failing
schools6) expanding district's responsibility to homeless children 7)
expanding district's responsibility to private schools and 8) access to
military recruiters unless parents prohibit in writing.
Please note : ALL GLEN COVE TEACHERS ARE CERTIFIED IN
NY STATE under a rigorous process and meet the requirement of being highly
qualified.
For additional information:www.emsc.nysed.gov/deputy/nclb/nclbhome.htm
After a very informative and interesting meeting,
Rich Tortorici and Don Scarl thanked Superintendent Freeley for her time
and expertise.
Minutes submitted by Helen Kotzky
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