A Notice of Proposed Rule Making will be published in the State Register on June 1, 2016. Since the Board of Regents meets at fixed intervals, the earliest the proposed rule can be presented for regular (non-emergency) adoption, after expiration of the required 45-day public comment period provided for in the State Administrative Procedure Act (SAPA), would be the July Regents meeting. Furthermore, pursuant to SAPA section 203(1), the earliest effective date of the proposed rule, if adopted at the September meeting, would be September 28, 2016, the date a Notice of Adoption would be published in the State Register.

Emergency action is therefore necessary to allow those who are issued a full license by the Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision (BPSS) and who have two years of teaching in the license area in a New York State licensed private career school to take advantage of the additional pathway before the start of the 2016-17 school year. Specifically, the New York City school district has expressed concern in filling CTE teaching positions at the secondary level, and this amendment would allow the district to take advantage of this option in hiring for the 2016-17 school year.

1. STATUTORY AUTHORITY:

Education Law 207(not subdivided) grants general rule-making authority to the Regents to carry into effect State educational laws and policies.

Education Law 305(1) authorizes the Commissioner to enforce laws relating to the State educational system and execute Regents educational policies.

Education Law 3001(2) establishes the qualifications of teachers in the State and requires that such teachers possess a teaching certificate issued by the Department.

Education Law 3004(1) authorizes the Commissioner to promulgate regulations, subject to approval by the Board of Regents, regulations governing the certification and examination requirements for teachers employed in public schools.

Education Law 3006(1) authorizes the Commissioner to issue temporary certificates to teachers.

Education Law 3009 prohibits school district monies from being used to pay the salary of an unqualified teacher.

2. LEGISLATIVE OBJECTIVES:

The proposed rule establishes a new certification pathway in career and technical education (CTE) for candidates who hold a full license to teach in licensed private career schools issued by the Department and is necessary to address the issue of school districts and Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) that have expressed difficulty in filling CTE positions at the secondary level.

3. NEEDS AND BENEFITS:

Currently, a Transitional A certificate in a specific career and technical subject is issued to permit the employment of an individual in a specific career and technical education title who does not meet the requirements for an initial certificate, but who possesses the requisite occupational experience. This certificate is valid for three years, and the candidate would complete the additional requirements for an initial certificate during the three years.

The three options available for a Transitional A certificate at this time are:

• Option A. Candidates who possess an associate’s degree (or its equivalent) in the career and technical field in which the certificate is sought, and who have at least two years of documented and satisfactory work experience in the career and technical education subject for which a certificate is sought;

• Option B. Candidates who possess a high school diploma or its equivalent (but who do not possess an associate’s degree or its equivalent in the certificate area), and who have at least four years of documented and satisfactory work experience in the career and technical education subject for which a certificate is sought; and

• Option C. Candidates who possess an associate’s degree (or its equivalent) in the career and technical field in which the certificate is sought, and who have at least two years of documented and satisfactory teaching experience at the postsecondary level (excluding experience as a teaching assistant) in the career and technical education subject for which a certificate is sought.

All three Transitional A pathways described above also require:

(1) Coursework training in identification of and reporting of child abuse or maltreatment, school violence prevention and intervention, and harassment, bullying and discrimination prevention and intervention;

(2) Evidence of having achieved a satisfactory level of performance on the New York State Teacher Certification Exam Content Specialty Test in the area of the certificate; and

(3) An employment and support commitment—the candidate must submit evidence of having a commitment for three years of employment as a teacher in a public or nonpublic school or BOCES, which includes a mentored experience for the first year consisting of daily supervision by an experienced teacher during the first 20 days. However, the mentoring is not required if the candidate has two years of satisfactory employment as a teacher of students in grades 7-12 in a public or nonpublic school or BOCES.

Proposed Amendment:

Based on feedback from the field, it appears that several school districts are having difficulty finding CTE teachers to fill positions at the secondary level, particularly the New York City School District. While the Board of Regents has already made the effort to expand the pathways available to obtain a Transitional A certificate in 2013, and this amendment would create an additional pathway for those who hold a full license to teach in licensed private career schools, who also have two years of teaching experience under such license.

In order to address this issue, the proposed amendment to 80-3.5 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education allows additional opportunities for individuals with specific technical and career experience to obtain a Transitional A teaching certificate in their area of expertise, thus allowing them to teach CTE subjects at the secondary school level. This will help to increase the supply of qualified, certified teachers in the career and technical education field to satisfy the increasing demand for those teachers.

4. COSTS:

a. Costs to State government: The amendment does not impose any costs on State government, including the State Education Department.

b. Costs to local government: The amendment does not impose any costs on local government, including school districts and BOCES.

c. Costs to private regulated parties: The amendment does not impose any costs on private regulated parties.

(d) Costs to regulating agency for implementation and continued administration: See above.

5. LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANDATES:

The proposed amendment does not impose any additional program, service, duty or responsibility upon any local government.

6. PAPERWORK:

Any candidate interested in pursuing this certification pathway must submit evidence of having a commitment for three years of employment as a teacher in a public or nonpublic school or BOCES, which includes a mentored experience for the first year consisting of daily supervision by an experienced teacher during the first 20 days.

7. DUPLICATION:

The rule does not duplicate existing State or Federal requirements.

8. ALTERNATIVES:

No alternatives were considered.

9. FEDERAL STANDARDS:

There are no applicable Federal standards concerning registration and CTLE requirements for certificate holders.

10. COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE:

It is anticipated that schools districts and BOCES will be able to comply by the stated effective date.

(a) Small businesses:

The proposed amendment implements the recommendations of the Common Core Task Force which recommended that until the new Learning Standards and State assessments are fully phased in, the results from the State assessments (Grades 3-8 English language arts and mathematics) and the use of any State-provided growth model based on these tests or other State assessments shall not have evaluative consequence for teachers or students. The rule does not impose any reporting, recordkeeping or other compliance requirements, and will not have an adverse economic impact, on small business. Because it is evident from the nature of the rule that it does not affect small businesses, no further steps were needed to ascertain that fact and one were taken. Accordingly, a regulatory flexibility analysis for small businesses is not required and one has not been prepared.

(b) Local governments:

1. EFFECT OF RULE:

The rule applies to each of the approximately 695 school districts and 37 boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES) in the State.

2. COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS:

In September 2015, Governor Andrew Cuomo formed the Common Core Task Force to undertake a comprehensive review of the current status and use of the Common Core State Standards and assessments in New York and to recommend potential reforms to the system. Following multiple meetings, the Task Force reviewed and discussed information presented at public sessions and submitted through the website, and has made a number of recommendations regarding the implementation of the Common Core Standards.

On December 10, 2015, the Task Force released their report, affirming that New York must have rigorous, high quality education standards to improve the education of all of our students and hold our schools and districts accountable for students’ success but recommended that the Common Core standards be thoroughly reviewed and revised consistent as reflected in the report and that the State assessments be amended to reflect such revisions. In addition, the Task Force recommended that until the new system is fully phased in, the results from the grades 3-8 English language arts and mathematics State assessments and the use of any State-provided growth model based on these tests or other State assessments shall not have consequence for teachers or students. Specifically, Recommendation 21 from the Task Force’s Final Report (“Report”) provides as follows:

“…State-administered standardized ELA and Mathematics assessments for grades three through eight aligned to the Common Core or updated standards shall not have consequences for individual students or teachers. Further, any growth model based on these Common Core tests or other state assessments shall not have consequences and shall only be used on an advisory basis for teachers. The transition phase shall last until the start of the 2019-2020 school year”.

Proposed amendment

In an effort to implement the Task Force’s recommendation, the proposed amendment makes the following changes:

• Two new sections 30-2.14 and 30-3.17 are added to provide for a four year transition period for annual professional performance reviews (APPRs) while the State completes the transition to higher learning standards through new State assessments aligned to the higher learning standards, and a revised State-provided growth model. During the transition period, the Commissioner will determine transition scores and ratings that will replace the original scores and HEDI ratings computed under the existing provisions of Subpart 30-2 and 30-3 of the Regents Rules for evaluation of teachers and principals whose APPRs are based, in whole or in part, on State assessments in grades 3-8 ELA and mathematics assessments and State-provided growth scores on Regents examinations. The transition period will end with the 2018-2019 school year.

• Section 30-2.14 relates to evaluations under Education Law § 3012-c and Subpart 30-2 of the Regents Rules and applies to evaluations for the 2015-2016 school year only, as school districts conduct the negotiations necessary to come into compliance with new Education Law § 3012-d. Section 30-3.17 relates to evaluations under Education Law § 3012-d, and applies to evaluations for the 2015-2016 through the 2018-2019 school year.

• During the transition period, transition scores and HEDI ratings will replace the scores and HEDI ratings for teachers and principals whose HEDI scores are based, in whole or in part, on State assessments in grades 3-8 ELA or mathematics (including where State-provided growth scores are used) or on State-provided growth scores on Regents examinations.

• In the case of evaluations conducted pursuant to Education Law § 3012-c and new § 30-2.14, the overall transition scores and ratings will be determined based upon the remaining subcomponents of the annual professional performance review that are not based on the grade 3-8 ELA or mathematics State assessments and/or a State-provided growth score on Regents examinations.

• In the case of evaluations pursuant to Education Law § 3012-d and new § 30-3.17, transition scores and ratings for the student performance category and the overall transition rating will be determined using the scores/ratings in the subcomponents of the student performance category that are not based on the grade 3-8 ELA or mathematics State assessments and/or a State-provided growth score on Regents examinations or, in instances where no scores/ratings in the subcomponents of the student performance category can be generated, a back-up SLO shall be developed by the district/BOCES consistent with guidelines prescribed by the Commissioner using assessments approved by the Department that are not State assessments.

• State provided growth scores will continue to be computed for advisory purposes only and overall HEDI ratings will continue to be provided to teachers and principals based on such growth scores. However, during the transition period, only the transition score and rating will be used for purposes of Education Law §§ 3012-c and 3012-d and Subparts 30-2 and 30-3, and for purposes of employment decisions, including tenure determinations and for purposes of proceedings under Education Law §§ 3020-a and 3020-b and teacher and principal improvement plans.

• However, for purposes of public reporting of aggregate data and disclosure to parents pursuant to subdivision 10 of section 3012-c of the Education Law, the original composite score and rating and the transition composite score and rating must be reported with an explanation of such transition composite score and rating.

3. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:

The proposed rule does not impose any additional professional services requirements on local governments beyond those imposed by, or inherent in, the statute.

4. COMPLIANCE COSTS:

See the Costs section of the Summary of the Regulatory Impact Statement submitted herewith for an analysis of the costs of the proposed rule to school districts and BOCES.

5. ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL FEASIBILITY:

The rule does not impose any additional technological requirements on school districts or BOCES. Economic feasibility is addressed in the Costs section of the Summary of the Regulatory Impact Statement submitted herewith.

6. MINIMIZING ADVERSE IMPACT:

The rule is necessary to implement the recommendations of the Common Core Task Force. Because Education Law §§ 3012-c and 3012-d apply to all school districts and BOCES in the State, it is not possible to establish differing compliance or reporting requirements or timetables or to exempt schools in rural areas from coverage by the proposed amendment.

7. LOCAL GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION:

Copies of the proposed amendment have been provided to District Superintendents with the request that they distribute them to school districts within their supervisory districts for review and comment. Copies were also provided for review and comment to the chief school officers of the five big city school districts.

1. TYPES AND ESTIMATED NUMBER OF RURAL AREAS:

The proposed rule applies to all school districts and boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES) in the State, including those located in the 44 rural counties with fewer than 200,000 inhabitants and the 71 towns and urban counties with a population density of 150 square miles or less.

2. REPORTING, RECORDKEEPING, AND OTHER COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS; AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:

In September 2015, Governor Andrew Cuomo formed the Common Core Task Force to undertake a comprehensive review of the current status and use of the Common Core State Standards and assessments in New York and to recommend potential reforms to the system. Following multiple meetings, the Task Force reviewed and discussed information presented at public sessions and submitted through the website, and has made a number of recommendations regarding the implementation of the Common Core Standards.

On December 10, 2015, the Task Force released their report, affirming that New York must have rigorous, high quality education standards to improve the education of all of our students and hold our schools and districts accountable for students’ success but recommended that the Common Core standards be thoroughly reviewed and revised consistent as reflected in the report and that the State assessments be amended to reflect such revisions. In addition, the Task Force recommended that until the new system is fully phased in, the results from the grades 3-8 English language arts and mathematics State assessments and the use of any State-provided growth model based on these tests or other State assessments shall not have consequence for teachers or students. Specifically, Recommendation 21 from the Task Force’s Final Report (“Report”) provides as follows:

“…State-administered standardized ELA and Mathematics assessments for grades three through eight aligned to the Common Core or updated standards shall not have consequences for individual students or teachers. Further, any growth model based on these Common Core tests or other state assessments shall not have consequences and shall only be used on an advisory basis for teachers. The transition phase shall last until the start of the 2019-2020 school year”.

Proposed amendment

In an effort to implement the Task Force’s recommendation, the proposed amendment makes the following changes:

• Two new sections 30-2.14 and 30-3.17 are added to provide for a four year transition period for annual professional performance reviews (APPRs) while the State completes the transition to higher learning standards through new State assessments aligned to the higher learning standards, and a revised State-provided growth model. During the transition period, the Commissioner will determine transition scores and ratings that will replace the original scores and HEDI ratings computed under the existing provisions of Subpart 30-2 and 30-3 of the Regents Rules for evaluation of teachers and principals whose APPRs are based, in whole or in part, on State assessments in grades 3-8 ELA and mathematics assessments and State-provided growth scores on Regents examinations. The transition period will end with the 2018-2019 school year.

• Section 30-2.14 relates to evaluations under Education Law § 3012-c and Subpart 30-2 of the Regents Rules and applies to evaluations for the 2015-2016 school year only, as school districts conduct the negotiations necessary to come into compliance with new Education Law § 3012-d. Section 30-3.17 relates to evaluations under Education Law § 3012-d, and applies to evaluations for the 2015-2016 through the 2018-2019 school year.

• During the transition period, transition scores and HEDI ratings will replace the scores and HEDI ratings for teachers and principals whose HEDI scores are based, in whole or in part, on State assessments in grades 3-8 ELA or mathematics (including where State-provided growth scores are used) or on State-provided growth scores on Regents examinations.

• In the case of evaluations conducted pursuant to Education Law § 3012-c and new § 30-2.14, the overall transition scores and ratings will be determined based upon the remaining subcomponents of the annual professional performance review that are not based on the grade 3-8 ELA or mathematics State assessments and/or a State-provided growth score on Regents examinations.

• In the case of evaluations pursuant to Education Law § 3012-d and new § 30-3.17, transition scores and ratings for the student performance category and the overall transition rating will be determined using the scores/ratings in the subcomponents of the student performance category that are not based on the grade 3-8 ELA or mathematics State assessments and/or a State-provided growth score on Regents examinations or, in instances where no scores/ratings in the subcomponents of the student performance category can be generated, a back-up SLO shall be developed by the district/BOCES consistent with guidelines prescribed by the Commissioner using assessments approved by the Department that are not State assessments.

• State provided growth scores will continue to be computed for advisory purposes only and overall HEDI ratings will continue to be provided to teachers and principals based on such growth scores. However, during the transition period, only the transition score and rating will be used for purposes of Education Law §§ 3012-c and 3012-d and Subparts 30-2 and 30-3, and for purposes of employment decisions, including tenure determinations and for purposes of proceedings under Education Law §§ 3020-a and 3020-b and teacher and principal improvement plans.

• However, for purposes of public reporting of aggregate data and disclosure to parents pursuant to subdivision 10 of section 3012-c of the Education Law, the original composite score and rating and the transition composite score and rating must be reported with an explanation of such transition composite score and rating.

3. COSTS:

The proposed amendment will not impose any additional costs beyond those imposed by, or inherent in, the statute.

4. MINIMIZING ADVERSE IMPACT:

The rule is necessary to implement the recommendations of the Common Core Task Force. Because Education Law §§ 3012-c and 3012-d apply to all school districts and BOCES in the State, it is not possible to establish differing compliance or reporting requirements or timetables or to exempt schools in rural areas from coverage by the proposed amendment.

5. RURAL AREA PARTICIPATION:

The proposed amendment implements the recommendations of the Common Core Task Force, formed in September 2015, by Governor Andrew Cuomo to undertake a comprehensive review of the current status and use of the Common Core State Standards and assessments in New York and to recommend potential reforms to the system. Comments on the proposed amendment were also solicited from the Rural Advisory Committee, whose members live and work in rural areas of the State.

The purpose of proposed rule is necessary to implement the recommendations of the Common Core Task Force which were released on December 10, 2015. The Task Force recommended that until the new Learning Standards and State assessments are fully phased in, the results from the State assessments (Grades 3-8 English language arts and mathematics) and the use of any State-provided growth model based on these tests or other State assessments shall not have evaluative consequence for teachers or students. Because it is evident from the nature of the proposed rule that it will have no impact on the number of jobs or employment opportunities in New York State, no further steps were needed to ascertain that fact and none were taken. Accordingly, a job impact statement is not required and one has not been prepared.