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| Stay the course on the standards and reach beyond | |
| Higher learning standards with higher expectations bring quality learning opportunities to all students, serve to drive out low-level instruction and give students a strong foundation and vision for the future beyond high school. With higher standards comes change in the capacity of the education system to educate all students. This change is redefining schools and improving what happens in the classroom, including challenging, rigorous curricula aligned to the standards and the world of work, new instructional methods and more time for students to learn content. In addition, there must be greater investment and improvements in school infrastructure, e.g., buildings, technology and instructional materials. All levels of the educational system - boards of education, administrators, teachers and parents - are an integral part of the change process and should become active partners. | |
| Strengthen teaching | |
Certified teachers who have
high expectations for all students, know their subjects and are able to
teach them make a big difference in student achievement. Effective
teaching can raise student achievement while ineffective teaching serves
as a barrier. In most school districts it is common practice,
based on tenure and longevity, for the most qualified, experienced
teachers to work in schools with higher achieving students, at the
expense of schools with high concentrations of poor and minority
students. In addition, teacher salaries are relatively low in high
need schools, putting them at a competitive disadvantage with more
affluent districts. To get all students to meet the standards,
these trends can be reversed through the following actions:
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| Improve classroom instruction through technology | |
| Technology is the most promising vehicle to provide the State's diverse teaching force with information and curricular materials to improve teaching methods and classroom practices. Through technology, teachers would have access to high-quality, research-based programs that have been successful in New York and in other states. This would help teachers in schools with the greatest challenges in getting students to meet the State learning standards. Regional education leaders, in cooperation with the State, should take the lead to ensure that all teachers have access to technology to participate in these unique training opportunities. | |
| Retain and recruit effective school leaders | |
Effective leaders are
essential to driving change. The ultimate test of success for
educational leaders is whether all students, in both low need and high
need areas, meet the learning standards. To retain and recruit
qualified leaders to work in high poverty and high minority school
districts and schools, the following actions are needed:
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| Ensure success by giving students the extra time and help they need and by removing barriers to learning | |
Most schools are
demonstrating progress in meeting the State learning standards.
This is being accomplished by schools using a variety of strategies,
many of which involve giving students the extra time and help they need
to meet the standards, including
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| Give students a strong, successful start in education | |
| Providing sustained learning opportunities and supporting young children's development in early childhood education programs are essential to ensure that all children can enter kindergarten prepared to learn and succeed in elementary and secondary schools. High quality prekindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs boost later achievement and improve social adjustment, reduce the likelihood of retention or placement in special education and increase the chances of graduation from high school. Long-term intellectual gains among children are most significant when early childhood education experiences provide targeted intervention to those most at risk of academic failure - poor and minority students - who subsequently receive academic instruction in effective schools. To increase the probability that these children will succeed, activities should be provided in smaller classes with appropriate, quality reading and mathematics instruction as part of the overall program. | |
| Help schools be accountable for student success | |
| School accountability needs a
sophisticate, 21st century data system to support it, including a
database with unique student identifiers. Towards that end, a
school accountability system has been developed in New York State with
the goals of measuring school performance in terms of students achieving
proficiency rather than minimum competency, developing a multi-year plan
for raising the bar for school performance until the standard becomes 90
percent, and establishing standards for all schools, not just
low-performers.
All members of the education community - boards of education, administrators, teachers and parents - must receive training in the use of school report card data to understand what students know and compare that to what they should know, as well as to determine where efforts should be targeted to improve achievement. |
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| Commit resources | |
| Closing the gaps in student
achievement, especially in high poverty and high minority schools,
requires both a commitment of new resources and the redirection of
existing resources. Key funding priorities involve money to
recruit and train teachers, to provide greater access to technology to
improve classroom instruction, to provide extra time and help for
students (provided on a per-pupil basis with extra weight given to
poverty), to retain and recruit effective school leaders, and to provide
for a data system required to support strong school
accountability. Schools receiving extra funds must commit to
meeting performance targets set by the State accountability
system. A school that does not achieve its performance targets
would be sanctioned under this system.
Multi-year comprehensive school district plans provide the direction for allocating resources to areas of greatest need. Local districts should engage their stakeholders to create these plans. The State's role is to monitor district progress in meeting the standards and in allocating resources for strategies that have proven successful in changing instruction. |
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| Build partnerships with those who can help | |
| Closing the student performance gaps cannot be solved by schools alone. While some strategies can be best addressed by the educational system, others require partners who are able and willing to work with schools to raise student performance. Such partners represent a broad range of public and private organizations, including community-based organizations, postsecondary education, health, mental health and social services agencies, faith-based organizations, businesses, legislative interests and groups, and cultural institutions. In working together to close the gap, each group must understand its specific role and responsibilities in the process. | |
| Communicate the need to close the gap and the consequences for not succeeding | |
| The issues and associated strategies in closing the gap in student performance need to be brought to public attention in a very visible manner. In particular, public policy-makers, parents and the general public need to be provided with quality and substantive information in order to be persuaded that improving student performance is necessary to advance the social and economic goals of our State and nation. The long-term costs of failing to address the problem, including incarceration, welfare, unemployment, and low productivity, will far exceed the costs of implementing these strategies. | |
