State University of New York Minutes of a Meeting of the Education, College Readiness and Success Committee of the Board of Trustees held on May 9, 2011 Notice of a meeting of the Education, College Readiness and Success Committee was duly given on April 28, 2011 (attached). Accordingly, a meeting was held via videoconference on Monday, May 9, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. from the following locations: Bulmer Telecommunications Center, Hudson Valley Community College, 80 Vandenburgh Avenue, Troy, NY 12180 and the SUNY College of Optometry, 33 West 42nd Street, New York, New York 10036. The meeting was also webcast, accessible via http://www.suny.edu. Committee Members present: Trustee Noguera, Chair Trustee Gondar; Trustee Hunt; Trustee Lewin; Trustee O’Brien; and Ambassador Spielvogel. Other Trustees present: Chairman Hayden System Leadership present: Chancellor’s Deputy and Vice Chancellor Duncan-Poitier Provost Lavallee Other SUNY Representatives Susan Miller Barker, SUNY Charter Schools Institute and Staff present: (the “Institute”); Aimee Bernstein, Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor and Secretary Dr. Tina Good, President, Faculty Council of Community Colleges Jill Lansing, Office of the Chancellor’s Deputy and Vice Chancellor Ralph Rossi, Esq., the Institute; and Jason Sarsfield, the Institute. A. CONVENING OF THE MEETING Trustee Noguera convened the meeting at 3:05 p.m. asking that a roll-call be taken. Mr. Rossi confirmed that a quorum of the Committee was present. Chancellor’s Deputy and Vice Chancellor Duncan-Poitier suggested that the Committee first consider the one resolution on the agenda to assure that a full quorum was present. Trustee Noguera agreed. B. COMMITTEE RESOLUTIONS [Pursuant to Resolution No. 2010-117, dated September 15, 2010, “Committee Resolutions” detail proposed actions for which the Education, College Readiness and Success Committee may make the final determination.] * Consideration of the removal of the Albany Preparatory Charter School from probation. Ms. Miller Barker provided the Committee with a brief overview of the proposed resolution, summarized here for the record: Albany Preparatory Charter School is a small middle school serving 211 students in grades 5-8. The school was put on probation in February of last year for failing to comply with its charter and applicable laws, including the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. The terms of the probation required the school to complete a remedial action plan consisting of eight components. In sum, the school was required to revise its admissions process and new student evaluation process and dedicate appropriate staffing to both; make corrections to its processes for student suspensions; provide training to staff regarding reporting violations of IDEA; implement a new system of internal controls for reporting teacher attrition and the annual report required by the State Education Department on any Violent and Disruptive Incidents. Ms. Miller Barker explained that the Institute’s General Counsel and Staff Attorney have overseen the school’s compliance with its remedial action plan and have conducted two site visits for this purpose. She said that the Institute has found that the school has implemented all relevant portions of its remedial action plan and recommended that the Committee vote to remove the school from probation. Trustee Noguera then called for a motion to approve the resolution removing Albany Preparatory Charter School from probation. Trustee Lewin made the motion. Trustee Hunt provided the second. The motion passed unanimously. C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Trustee Noguera then called for a motion to approve the minutes of the Committee’s meeting on March 22, 2010. Trustee Hunt made the motion. Trustee Lewin provided the second. Trustee Gondar asked to abstain from the vote as she was not present at the last meeting. The motion passed with one abstention. D. REPORT OF THE CHANCELLOR’S DEPUTY FOR THE EDUCATION PIPELINE AND VICE CHANCELLOR FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES Vice Chancellor and Chancellor’s Deputy Duncan-Poitier lead a discussion with committee members on the work of the SUNY and the Seamless Education Pipeline Innovation Team to develop metrics to support the implementation of the three goals in the SUNY strategic plan to strengthen the education pipeline: 1) Cradle to Career Success a. Smart Scholars Early College High School (ECHS) b. Cradle to career networks c. P-20 initiatives with SUNY colleges and universities across the State 2) SUNYWORKS co-op education initiative 3) SUNY Urban Rural Teacher Corps and work underway to strengthen the clinical preparation of teachers Vice Chancellor Duncan-Poitier shared important statewide high school and college graduation rate data and how implementation strategies and metrics were developed to help more students graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college and the workforce. Trustees also discussed additional data points worthy of further consideration. Specifically: * Chairman Hayden suggested an analysis of 4 year graduation rates for Bachelor’s degrees and 2 year graduation rates for Associate’s degrees. * Trustee O’Brien was interested in data on the proportion of college graduates from New York State who are now living and working in New York. He also highlighted the importance of taking into consideration the numbers of students who working and attending college part-time – making both persistence and graduation important indicators of success. * Trustee Lewin reinforced the importance of tracking mobility across SUNY. * Trustee Hunt suggested that tracking attrition through 8th grade could help to better understand student mobility and other reasons that cause students to leave school. * Trustee Hunt asked if there are states that are markedly successful at helping students to complete high school prepared for college. Trustee Noguera suggested that Massachusetts might be explored as an example. * Chairman Hayden discussed how a significant leak in the pipeline occurs between ages 0 and 5 if parents and young children are not afforded the necessary resources and supports. Vice Chancellor Duncan-Poitier will routinely share important admission, transfer, and completion data with committee members. Following an overview of pertinent data, members of the committee participated in a rich discussion around the three goals in strategic plan to strengthen the education pipeline. * Trustee Lewin stressed that strengthening teacher education is at the core of reform and is pleased that Chancellor Zimpher is leading these efforts at state and national level. * Trustee O’Brien reinforced the importance of program evaluation, data, and careful analysis to help guide policy decisions over the next few years. Trustees O’Brien and Noguera suggested that SUNY research institutions be tapped to support this important work. * Trustee O’Brien also stressed the importance of community engagement strategies in supporting the importance of education in the lives of students. * Trustee Lewin discussed how a large percentage of students not graduating are minority students – Hispanic and African American students – and how it is critically important that they be provided the supports they need to succeed. * Dr. Goode highlighted the importance of working toward the aspiration goal of helping all students to graduate from high school and college. Vice Chancellor Duncan-Poitier expressed her appreciation to committee members for their commitment to supporting the work ahead to identify best practices across the university system and to invest in, scale-up, and replicate promising evidence-based strategies that help more students to succeed and graduate. Trustee Noguera left the meeting at 3:56 p.m. He asked that Trustee Hunt conduct the remainder of the meeting. E. Report of the Charter Schools Institute Ms. Miller Barker updated the Committee on the Institute’s progress in reviewing proposals received in response to the Trustees’ January 2011 RFP to Establish New York State Charter Schools. She explained that the Institute received 23 new proposals, including 20 in New York City, two in Mount Vernon, and one in Niagara Falls. At the time of the meeting, the Institute was conducting interviews of boards of proposed schools, one of the final steps in the Institute’s review process. She added that recommendations regarding these proposals would be brought to the Committee in June and September. Ms. Miller Barker and Mr. Rossi then updated the Committee the progress of the transition of the board of Harlem Day Charter School to Harlem Prep Charter School. Mr. Rossi explained that Harlem Day Charter School board members were in the process of resigning after appointing all members of the board of Harlem Prep Charter School. For the remainder of the school year Democracy Prep Public Schools would be working with Harlem Day Charter School on a consultancy basis. A lottery for enrollment in Harlem Prep Charter School for the 2011-12 school year would be conducted the night of the Committee meeting. Ms. Miller Barker noted that that she was working with SUNY Albany to identify a graduate student to work on a project tracking the restructuring of Harlem Day Charter School as Harlem Prep Charter School. She added that the Institute had more projects for graduate students. Mr. O’Brien noted his support for the Institute’s involvement in conducting research on charter schools. He suggested that the outreach for possible candidates could even extend beyond SUNY. He also noted his support for the creation of a New York State database of graduate students available for research projects. Ms. Miller Barker then referred the Committee to a memo from her to the Trustees in their meeting binders summarizing four actions taken by the Institute on the Board’s behalf by way of the formal delegation of responsibility from the Board of Trustees. She explained that the actions noted in the memo were minor in nature, all having to do with name changes or minor charter revisions. F. ADJOURNMENT Trustee Hunt called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Lewin made the motion Trustee Hunt provided the second. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 4:10 p.m. ______________________ Ralph A. Rossi II - Page 1 of 3 -