EDU-41-11-00006-P Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation

10/12/11 N.Y. St. Reg. EDU-41-11-00006-P

NEW YORK STATE REGISTER

VOLUME XXXIII, ISSUE 41

October 12, 2011

RULE MAKING ACTIVITIES

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

PROPOSED RULE MAKING

NO HEARING(S) SCHEDULED

 

I.D No. EDU-41-11-00006-P

Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation

PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:

Proposed Action:

Amendment of section 100.5(b)(7)(v) of Title 8 NYCRR.

Statutory authority:

Education Law, sections 101(not subdivided), 207(not subdivided), 208(not subdivided), 209(not subdivided), 305(1) and (2), 308(not subdivided), 309(not subdivided) and 3204

Subject:

Regents diploma with advanced designation.

Purpose:

To revise the mathematics requirements for earning a Regents diploma with advanced designation.

Text of proposed rule:

Subparagraph (v) of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of section 100.5 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is amended, effective January 4, 2012, as follows:

(v) Earning a Regents diploma with advanced designation. To earn a Regents diploma with an advanced designation a student must complete, in addition to the requirements for a Regents diploma:

(a) additional Regents examinations in mathematics as determined by the commissioner or approved alternatives pursuant to section 100.2(f) of this Part.

[Students entering grade nine prior to September 2009 must pass two of the three commencement level Regents examinations in mathematics through one of the following combinations: Mathematics A and Mathematics B, or Mathematics A and Algebra 2 and Trigonometry. Students entering grade nine in September 2009 and thereafter] Beginning with the 2011-12 school year and thereafter, students must pass [all] two or three commencement level Regents examinations in mathematics [titled Mathematics A or Integrated Algebra, Geometry, and Algebra 2 and Trigonometry] through one of the following combinations:

(i) Two examination combination. A student must pass:

(a) Mathematics A and Mathematics B, or

(b) Mathematics A and Algebra 2/Trigonometry, or

(c) Mathematics B and Integrated Algebra; or

(ii) Three examination combination. A student must pass:

(a) Mathematics A, Geometry and Algebra 2/Trigonometry, or

(b) Integrated Algebra, Geometry and Mathematics B, or

(c) Integrated Algebra, Geometry and Algebra 2/Trigonometry

(b) . . .

(c) . . .

Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:

Chris Moore, State Education Department, Office of Counsel, State Education Building, Room 148, 89 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12234, [phone], email: [e-mail]

Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:

Kenneth Slentz, Deputy Comm. P-12 Education, State Education Department, Office of P-12 Education, State Education Building, Room 125, 89 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12234, [phone], email: [e-mail]

Public comment will be received until:

45 days after publication of this notice.

This action was not under consideration at the time this agency's regulatory agenda was submitted.

Regulatory Impact Statement

STATUTORY AUTHORITY:

Education Law section 101 continues the existence of the Education Department, with the Board of Regents at its head and the Commissioner of Education as the chief administrative officer, and charges the Department with the general management and supervision of public schools and the educational work of the State.

Education Law section 207 empowers the Board of Regents and the Commissioner to adopt rules and regulations to carry out laws of the State regarding education and the functions and duties conferred on the Department by law.

Education Law section 208 authorizes the Regents to establish examinations as to attainments in learning and to award and confer suitable certificates, diplomas and degrees on persons who satisfactorily meet the requirements prescribed.

Education Law section 209 authorizes the Regents to establish secondary school examinations in studies furnishing a suitable standard of graduation and of admission to colleges; to confer certificates or diplomas on students who satisfactorily pass such examinations; and requires the admission to these examinations of any person who shall conform to the rules and pay the fees prescribed by the Regents.

Education Law section 305(1) and (2) provide that the Commissioner, as chief executive officer of the State system of education and of the Board of Regents, shall have general supervision over all schools and institutions subject to the provisions of the Education Law, or of any statute relating to education, and shall execute all educational policies determined by the Board of Regents.

Education Law section 308 authorizes the Commissioner to enforce and give effect to any provision in the Education Law or in any other general or special law pertaining to the school system of the State or any rule or direction of the Regents.

Education Law section 309 charges the Commissioner with the general supervision of boards of education and their management and conduct of all departments of instruction.

Education Law section 3204(3) provides for required courses of study in the public schools and authorizes the State education department to alter the subjects of required instruction.

LEGISLATIVE OBJECTIVES:

The proposed amendment is consistent with the authority conferred by the above statutes and is necessary to implement policy enacted by the Board of Regents relating to the State learning standards, State assessments, graduation and diploma requirements, and higher levels of student achievement.

NEEDS AND BENEFITS:

The proposed amendments to the regulations will provide for additional options for students to meet the Mathematics assessment requirements leading to a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation. Commissioner's Regulation section 100.5(b)(7)(v)(a) currently provides that beginning with the cohort entering grade 9 in 2009, all students seeking a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation had to pass a three exam sequence in mathematics, as this was all that would be available to them. The sequence of exams available to students entering grade 9 in 2009 were the following:

• Mathematics A, Geometry, and Algebra 2/Trigonometry.

• Integrated Algebra, Geometry, and Algebra 2/Trigonometry.

Absent from these sequences in the regulatory language are the following two or three exam sequences that would also meet the mathematics requirements for the Advanced Designation Regents Diploma:

• Mathematics A, Mathematics B.

• Integrated Algebra and Mathematics B.

• Mathematics A, Algebra 2/Trigonometry.

• Integrated Algebra, Geometry and Mathematics B.

It has come to the attention of the Department that there are some students who have completed or wish to complete one of the sequences listed above in order to meet the requirements for an Advanced Regents. While Math A and Math B are no longer available, there are still students in the P-12 system that may have completed one or both of these exams in the past. In order to give students a continued opportunity to meet the Advanced Regents requirements and honor the work they have completed in the past, the above sequences would have to be made available to all students regardless of cohort assignment.

COSTS:

(a) Costs to State government: None.

(b) Costs to local government: None

(c) Costs to private regulated parties: None.

(d) Costs to regulating agency for implementation and continued administration of this rule: This proposed amendment will require no additional costs to the State Education Department as regulating agency.

The proposed amendment will not impose any costs to the State, local government, private regulated parties or the State Education Department. The proposed amendment merely establishes additional exam sequences in Mathematics to ensure that any student (regardless of cohort) who completes an approved combination of Mathematics Regents Examinations will meet the Mathematics assessment requirements for a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANDATES:

The proposed amendment imposes no additional program, service, duty or responsibility upon local governments, but will ensure that all students have continued opportunities to earn a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation.

PAPERWORK:

There is no required additional paperwork as a result of these amendments.

DUPLICATION:

The proposed amendment does not duplicate existing State or federal regulations.

ALTERNATIVES:

There are no significant alternatives and none were considered. The proposed amendment is in response to comments from various school districts across the State requesting that the list of acceptable exam sequences be expanded to account for students who transfer between districts, and/or completed the exams out of sequence.

FEDERAL STANDARDS:

There are no related federal standards.

COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE:

It is anticipated that school districts will be able to achieve compliance with the proposed amendment by its effective date.

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

1. EFFECT OF AMMENDED RULE:

The proposed amendment applies to each school district within the State. The amended rule also applies to the approximately 10 registered (or registration pending) nonpublic high schools or junior-senior high schools in the State that are small businesses. In addition, there are presently 39 charter schools offering instruction in any or all of the grades 9-12.

2. COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS:

The proposed amendment does not impose any compliance requirements on small businesses or local governments but merely establishes additional exam sequences in Mathematics that will meet the Mathematics assessment requirements for a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation. The proposed rule does not impose any specific recordkeeping, reporting or other paperwork requirements. School districts awarding Regents Diplomas with Advanced Designation will be given additional options for students to meet the Mathematics assessment requirements leading to that diploma

3. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:

The proposed amendment imposes no additional professional service requirements on school districts or registered nonpublic schools.

4. COMPLIANCE COSTS:

There are no costs associated with the proposed amendment. The proposed amendment merely establishes additional exam sequences in Mathematics to ensure that any student (regardless of cohort) who completes an approved combination of Mathematics Regents Examinations will meet the Mathematics assessment requirements for a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation.

5. ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL FEASIBILITY:

The proposed amendment does not impose any technological requirements on school districts or registered nonpublic schools. Economic feasibility is addressed under the Costs section above.

6. MINIMIZING ADVERSE IMPACT:

The proposed amendment is necessary to implement policy adopted by the Board of Regents, and does not impose any additional compliance requirements or costs. The proposed amendment has been carefully drafted to meet statutory requirements and Regents policy while minimizing the impact on school districts. The proposed amendment provides additional flexibility to school districts and registered nonpublic schools to award Regents Diplomas with Advanced Designation to students who complete an expanded list of mathematics exams. The proposed amendment will have no adverse affect and will provide additional opportunities and flexibility for students to fulfill existing requirements.

7. SMALL BUSINESS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION:

The proposed amendment is in response to comments from various school districts across the State requesting that the list of acceptable exam sequences be expanded to account for students who transfer between districts, and/or completed the exams out of sequence.

The Board of Regents and the State Education Department received various inquiries from district administrators including the rural educational community. All expressed concerns that students within their districts had limited or no opportunity to obtain a Regents Diploma with advanced Designation because the series of exams they had available to them was not listed in the regulatory language due to their cohort assignment. The impacted students either failed the last examination administered, transferred to a district that transitioned to the new series earlier and/or completed the exam sequence out of order. Because the original language in the regulation listed specific exam sequences applicable to each grade 9 cohort, students who completed exam sequences not included in the language would be denied the opportunity to fulfill the Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation requirements. The new regulatory language allows additional sequences of examinations to meet the requirement, and addresses the needs of the small numbers of students who completed one of these sequences.

Rural Area Flexibility Analysis

TYPES AND ESTIMATED NUMBER OF RURAL AREAS:

The proposed amendment applies to all school districts in the State, including those located in the 44 rural counties with less than 200,000 inhabitants and the 71 towns in urban counties with a population density of 150 per square mile or less. The proposed amendment also applies to nonpublic high schools or junior-senior high schools and charter schools in such areas, to the extent they offer instruction in the high school grades and issue Regents diplomas and local diplomas.

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

The proposed amendment does not impose any compliance requirements on small businesses or local governments but merely establishes additional exam sequences in Mathematics that will meet the Mathematics assessment requirements for a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation. The proposed rule does not impose any specific recordkeeping, reporting or other paperwork requirements. School districts, nonpublic schools and charter schools awarding Regents Diplomas with Advanced Designation will be given additional options for students to meet the Mathematics assessment requirements leading to that diploma. The proposed amendment imposes no additional professional service requirements on school districts in rural areas.

COSTS:

There are no costs associated with the proposed amendment. The proposed amendment merely establishes additional exam sequences in Mathematics to ensure that any student (regardless of cohort) who completes an approved combination of Mathematics Regents Examinations will meet the Mathematics assessment requirements for a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation.

MINIMIZING ADVERSE IMPACT:

The proposed amendment is necessary to implement policy adopted by the Board of Regents, and does not impose any additional compliance requirements or costs. The proposed amendment has been carefully drafted to meet statutory requirements and Regents policy and imposes no additional burden on the school districts of the State. The Regents policy upon which the amended regulations are based applies to all school districts throughout the State and provides greater flexibility for all students to meet assessment requirements for an Advanced Regents Diploma. Therefore, it was not possible to establish different requirements for school districts in rural areas, or exempt them from the provisions.

RURAL AREA PARTICIPATION:

The proposed amendment is in response to comments from various school districts across the State requesting that the list of acceptable exam sequences be expanded to account for students who transfer between districts, and/or completed the exams out of sequence.

The Board of Regents and the State Education Department received various inquiries from district administrators including the rural educational community. All expressed concerns that students within their districts had limited or no opportunity to obtain a Regents Diploma with advanced Designation because the series of exams they had available to them was not listed in the regulatory language due to their cohort assignment. The impacted students either failed the last examination administered, transferred to a district that transitioned to the new series earlier and/or completed the exam sequence out of order. Because the original language in the regulation listed specific exam sequences applicable to each grade 9 cohort, students who completed exam sequences not included in the language would be denied the opportunity to fulfill the Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation requirements. The new regulatory language allows additional sequences of examinations to meet the requirement, and addresses the needs of the small numbers of students who completed one of these sequences.

Job Impact Statement

The proposed rule establishes additional sequences of Mathematics Assessments that will meet the requirements for a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation. The rule will not have an adverse impact on jobs or employment opportunities. Because it is evident from the nature of the amendment that it will have a positive impact, or no impact, on jobs or employment opportunities, no further steps were needed to ascertain those facts and none were taken. Accordingly, a job impact statement is not required and one has not been prepared.