|
The 2012-13 Contract for Excellence (C4E) plan of the City School
District of Albany will continue efforts to improve student achievement
in five schools cited by New York State as needing academic improvement
and build capacity to serve students in high-needs schools across the
district.
Program opportunities that comprise the 2012-13 contract are a
continuation of the 2011-12 offerings and are focused on services to
students at Albany High School, William S. Hackett Middle School, Giffen
Memorial Elementary School, Delaware Community Elementary School and
North Albany Academy.
The district has targeted 85 percent of the contract funds for these
schools.
District-wide, the 2012-13 Contract for Excellence commitment is
$142,582. That will support:
-
The salary for the instructional supervisor for English language
arts; and
-
A half-time literacy coach position to ensure
implementation of Common Core Learning Standards with an emphasis on
instructional delivery, classroom management and assessment.
All C4E programs support the Regents Reform Agenda: Cradle to Career.
The district is committed to the retention of the 600-seat
full-day prekindergarten program to support early foundational
education. Two prekindergarten
teachers will be funded through C4E as part of this program: one at
Giffen Elementary and one at Delaware Community School.
Also, reducing the size of kindergarten and first grade classes
at Giffen and North Albany Academy will offer more personalized
attention as well as increased intervention opportunities.
The English-as-a-second-language (ESL), math and literacy programs are
led by instructional supervisors who are responsible for
evaluating teachers, providing job-embedded professional development,
continuing the implementation of the new AMAO LEP Improvement Plan and
aligning and implementing the Common Core Learning Standards
district-wide, with an emphasis on supporting data driven instruction.
These supervisors support the articulation and implementation of
the Comprehensive Education Plans at schools identified as schools in
need of improvement, corrective action and persistently lowest-achieving.
Additionally, ESL teachers have been continued at those schools with
high refugee and immigrant populations to assist with ensuring the
implementation of the AMAO LEP Improvement Plan. The district is
committed to the instructional coaching model to ensure rigor and
implementation of the Common Core Learning Standards with an emphasis on
instructional delivery, classroom management and assessment.
Three of the district’s instructional coaches will be funded by C4E.
Among the challenges that exist within the district are the performance
needs of students at Albany High School and Hackett Middle School.
In order to support the transformation activities for turning
around the two lowest-performing schools in the district, C4E will
support the following positions:
At Albany High School (Alternative Program), the 2012-13 contract
commitment is $551,708 and will provide the following:
-
For increased time on task: Staffing in the areas of math, reading,
social studies, special education and a social worker.
Also, will continue to contract with Parsons Child and Family
Services for full-service school program.
-
For English language learners: A portion of the salary for the
instructional supervisor for ESL.
At Hackett, the 2012-13 contract commitment is $297,372 and will provide
the following:
-
For increased time on task: Staffing of a home school coordinator.
Also, will continue to contract with Parsons for full-service
school program and Catholic Charities.
-
For high school/middle school restructuring: a portion of the school
improvement manager position.
-
For English language learners: A portion of the salary for the
instructional supervisor for ESL
The contract plan targets students with the greatest educational need as
identified on the Educational Need Matrix provided by the State
Education Department.
Contract for Excellence regulations indicate that the contract plan
should result in at least a 10 percent gain in the percent of the target
group students achieving the state standards. The target group students
are those at the identified schools that did not meet their benchmark
for annual progress, denoted by the State Education Department as
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).
You are invited to share your questions, concerns, or comments regarding
the 2012-13 Contract for Excellence. You may submit your comments, in
writing, to the Superintendent of Schools. Please send your feedback by
Oct. 3, 2012, via mail, to:
Superintendent
of Schools
1 Academy Park
Albany, NY 12207
The district will hold a public hearing on the Contract for
Excellence on Thursday, Sept. 20 from 6-6:30 p.m. at Montessori Magnet
School, 65 Tremont St.
|
