Education is changing in NYS and PCSD will be a part of it
December 5, 2024 at 2:01 a.m.
New York State is moving forward with substantial philosophical and tangible changes to the way K-12 education is focused and facilitated.
And the Port Chester School District isn’t just getting a head start on studying and implementing one of those coming transformative elements but will have a voice through experience as the Education Department defines its new expectations.
A new vision for schooling was sanctioned by the Board of Regents on Nov. 4 when the body adopted “NY Inspires”—recommendations originally presented by the Blue Ribbon Commission tasked with studying new ways to ensure equity with stakeholders across society in a revamped 21st century education model.
The four “transformations” outlined by the Board of Regents break down into interrelated elements:
*Creating a Portrait of a Graduate
*Redefining credits to focus on proficiency
*Sunsetting diploma assessment requirements
*Moving to one diploma
The goal is to alter state-wide graduation requirements to allow for equally achievable outcomes while promoting skills and proficiencies that go beyond traditional academics outlined by the Portrait of a Graduate. Over the next few years, the state plans to move to a one diploma system that can be enhanced by seals and accolades while adding options to assessment mandates, phasing out dependency on Regents exams by developing alternative yet standardized ways to demonstrate proficiency.
The five-year timeline set by the Board of Regents would see freshmen entering high school in Fall 2029 experiencing the new system in full.
The Port Chester School District has become deeply embedded in the process as the State of New York studies what implementation of this new vision of education will amount to—specifically as it pertains to assessments.
Last Spring, in anticipation of the changes coming down the pipeline, the district applied and was accepted into the state’s PLAN (Performance-Based Learning and Assessment Networks) Pilot program, which “aims to help New York explore the conditions and supports schools’ and educators’ need to shift their instructional practices, with the ultimate goal of improved outcomes for students,” the Education Department states.
High schools chosen for the program network together and are given resources to explore performance-based learning and assessment—a key component in the state’s new model—allowing them to incorporate it into the curriculum and implement it in the classroom.
The participating schools are essentially serving as an intense case study, said Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Tina Wilson. They will ideally help the Education Department understand how to roll out these new models successfully and rewrite requirements over the next few years. And in the meantime, the districts involved are getting a head start on developing methodology.
“They’re doing this very thoughtfully and intentionally in a phased approach,” Wilson said. “This is truly planning for it and using the experiences of the PLAN Pilot schools to better prepare all the other schools in the state to move forward with. Because it’s a lot of change, in some cases. This is setting up the structures and systems to support it for everyone.”
The PLAN for Port Chester Schools
During the application process, districts were asked to select an area of focus they wanted to pursue, said Wilson. Among Career and Technical Education/Work-Based Learning, Inquire-Based Approaches with Learner Profiles and Project-Based Learning and Performance-Based Assessment Tasks, Port Chester Schools opted for the latter.
“We knew there was going to be an emphasis on different ways students could demonstrate readiness to graduate,” she said. “And we thought, especially given our population of students where we have a high percentage of English Language Learners who sometimes find the actual exam is a barrier, if students can demonstrate what they know in different ways, that would provide a more personalized kind of experience.”
“Whether you have a high performing student or a student who might struggle with the English language, everyone can show what they know in a different way beyond the traditional pen and paper exam,” she continued. “So, we were fortunate. We’re one of nine school districts approved for this category.”
There are 23 PLAN Pilot program schools across the state participating. During the selection process, Wilson said the Education Department was looking to ensure schools from across the state were being represented because ultimately, they will need to create policy that considers the regional and demographic differences that embody New York.
She believes Port Chester High School was attractive because of the district’s population.
“We have a diverse student body and we’re pretty large. The other component was you needed to have board and superintendent support and needed to have conversations with members of the school community beforehand,” Wilson said. “So, we did engage the teacher’s union in a conversation about this, with the teacher leaders that we were interested in having pursue this, and we got their input. Then (Principal Luke Sotherden) and I sat down, and we expressed why we felt this would be really beneficial for our students in light of the population that we serve.”
Diantha Barone, the Port Chester High School assistant principal who is working with teachers directly on curriculum and assessment development, outlined the program’s process that’s, frankly, still in its infancy stages.
Last Spring was largely an introduction, she said. This Fall, they started brainstorming and networking with others in their cohort and began working with Modern Learners, the technical assistance resource tapped by the state to help guide the cohorts with professional learning and collaboration.
“We have a few teachers who we’ve identified who have volunteered that they want to be a part of this. It’s been advised that it’s best to start with a group, not the entire building,” Barone said.
“As a district, we write and rewrite curriculum every year. Curriculum is a breathing, living document that changes and modifies as time goes by and things change,” she later added. “Last summer, we did that with the mindset of ‘we’re entering into this program.’ So, we’ve already started curriculum writing. And as a building, we’ve already talked about: when we’re asking students to show us what they know, what does that look like in your classroom and how can we assess all learners? How can we ensure it’s all aligned horizontally and vertically?”
Discussions are happening now, but the work that trickles down tangibly, she said, will come in January.
Will the rigor of test taking be lost?
Nothing on the table is a novel idea—students are engaging in project-based learning and assessment in pockets across the high school every day. Barone noted that most of the teachers who expressed interest in early adoption said they’re already doing it in their classes and wanted to look into furthering their craft.
The PLAN Pilot program is just making the district take a big picture, holistic approach to what already happens, Wilson added.
Conversations at Port Chester High School started by looking at the Seal of Biliteracy as a model—a program already in place that exemplifies what the state is looking to study in terms of alternative assessments. To attain the seal, the final “test” often involves students putting together a project to research and then going before a group of professionals to present what they learned in two different languages.
“We have students who do these large science research projects at outside universities. You have the level of work those students are engaged in, and then you have Science Regents. One is at an extremely higher level than the other, but you still have to do both. Why can’t that also demonstrate someone’s readiness to graduate?” Wilson questioned.
Since the Blue Ribbon Commission’s recommendations were issued, there has been notable critique from some community sects about whether the state will be prioritizing the right skills and if standards will be rigorous without Regents evaluations.
But the local educators believe, particularly with the PLAN Pilot program process they’re engaged in, the development of rubrics will allow schools to assess students by the state’s standards all the same. Afterall, on a day-to-day basis in the classroom, performance-based assessment is already practiced.
Students may be assigned to write papers or engage in oral debate, and they’re evaluated based on the legitimacy of the contextual evidence they cite, strength of position and number of sources among several other points established in standardized rubrics.
“The English Department has been doing portfolios for as long as I can remember in this district, so the process of learning as a process and not a final product has been something that has been happening in the humanities for decades,” Barone said.
“The thought has been about how things don’t necessarily have to be subjective,” she added. “Without an objective test, how do we get there? If we have guidelines that students have to meet with certain criteria that is allotted by the state standards for each content area, then it is objective.”
Some students will prefer a Regents test to demonstrate proficiency. But ultimately, Barone said, a standardized test assesses how well a student performs on a given day. A lot of alternative assessment options would represent a cumulative project studied over a long period of time.
“So, it’s not just one final product on one given day, they’re being assessed throughout the process,” she said. “I think that’s key.”
“It’s a lot of process emphasis on metacognition,” Wilson added. “For example, in a writing type assessment that’s done across time, students will have the opportunity to use the rubric to self-assess but also engage in peer feedback and teacher feedback. Think about how much they’re reflecting on as they work to improve their final product.”
Ultimately, Wilson and Barone see the implementation of alternative assessments as a tool to differentiate and personalize education in a way that empowers students’ individuality. And through the PLAN Pilot program, which the district will be invested in for years to come, they say the high school will have help in making that system as successful as possible.
“It gives us a chance to, I’d even say tinker, with support and handholding,” Wilson said. “I think they’re really trying to set schools up for success so they have the professional learning in place, the systems to support all the shifts, an understanding of the budgetary and staffing implications, and any other changes that this might highlight that need to take place to support this.”
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