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| September 7, 2017 |
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NYSED
Dear Colleagues,
Welcome back to school! I hope summer vacation gave you time to rest, recharge, and relax with family and friends.
As much as I am thrilled that school is starting again, the difficult news coming out of Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and the events that happened in Charlottesville last month are reminders of the challenges facing our country today. Given the connectedness of the modern world, the heartbreaking images of flooding in Houston and news clips of the unrest in Charlottesville are nearly unavoidable. Even though these things took place many miles from New York, they still have a profound effect on us and our children.
On one hand, recent events have uncovered an unfortunate reality about our country — it's clear we have a long way to go to get to a place of true inclusiveness, understanding, and respect. But, on the other, more positive hand, these events have also helped to remind us about the kindness of neighbors and the resilience of the human spirit. They show us that in spite of these latest tests to our nation's character, there are reasons to remain hopeful about the future.
Most importantly for me, the events underscore the indispensable role of schools. Schools are places of respite for children who have lost their homes and much more; they are communities that provide comfort and security in times of need; and they are institutions where lessons go far beyond academics. In classrooms, children learn to be considerate and compassionate individuals who embrace diversity and differences with open minds and hearts.
In this context, our work becomes more even imperative. That's why I am eager for the new school year to get underway. This year, which will be my third as State Education Commissioner, we will continue to work together to build upon the progress that we've made over the past two years to improve public education in New York State.
Some of our homework assignments this year involve our Next Generation Learning Standards, the Every Student Succeeds Act Plan, a new teacher evaluation system, and new strategies to achieve equity across New York's schools.
I will keep you updated as we work our way through these assignments. We realize that our homework won't be easy and we won't be able to do it alone. We'll turn to you for help. It's the same approach we teach our students — if you do your research and seek out other perspectives, your finished product will be much stronger.
Please watch my back-to-school video message to learn more about how we will work with you — our educators, administrators, parents, and community leaders — this year to make our schools stronger:
I wish you all the best for this school year. Together, we will make it the best one yet!
Sincerely,
MaryEllen Elia
Commissioner
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NYSSCA
Need some inspiration, information and insight for the back-to-school season? Check out the resources and top-five tips from the School Counselor of the Year finalists for making this a stellar school year. Click here for ASCA Back-to-School Resources.
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NYSSCA
School Counselors: Prepared to Lead the Way is about empowering YOU to take the lead. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 17-18, will set the stage for the rest of your school year, so be at the Syracuse DoubleTree Hotel. Click here to view registration and hotel information on our conference page. Schedule and Keynote Information available in our Conference Brochure available here.
Be looking for our Brochure which will be mailed in time for school to start. It will also be available on our website.
We are planning over 30 breakout sessions to engage all levels and interests. We are also looking forward to joining our exceptional group of exhibitors and sponsors.
Our Keynotes are Dr. Carolyn Stone, ASCA's Ethics Chair, Melissa Straub, cybersafety expert, and Dr. Allison Sampson-Jackson, trauma informed schools speaker.
Stay tuned for additional details and visit our conference page often for updates ... See you in Syracuse.
NYSSCA
The New York State School Counselor Association presents several awards each year at our annual conference. The award categories this year include:
- School Counselor of the Year
- Administrator of the Year
- Career Achievement
- Outstanding Program, Practice, or Project
All nominations are submitted online. Click here for all award nominations and descriptions.
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NYSSCA
NYSSCA is pleased to announce a Leadership Grant for members who may be interested in a leadership position in our professional organization. We will sponsor 4 grants this year. Candidates must meet the following requirements:
- Be a current NYSSCA member.
- Have an interest in a NYSSCA leadership position and join a NYSSCA Committee after the grant is received.
- Attend the conference in its entirety, including attendance at a workshop on the functioning of the NYSSCA Executive Board.
Grants will cover conference registration fees and hotel fees for a two night stay (Thursday, Nov. 16 and Friday, Nov. 17), up to $500.
Grant recipients must pay all registration and hotel fees but will be reimbursed by NYSSCA after attendance and participation at the conference is confirmed. Conference & Hotel Registration information available here. If you have questions, please email questions to President Elect Elect Carol Miller.
Online application available here.
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Education Week
The U.S. Department of Education is contemplating changes to its signature Civil Rights Data Collection for the coming school year, including asking districts for new information on computer science and internet connectivity, while scaling back requirements for collecting Advanced Placement test data. The department wants to stop asking districts for data on Advanced Placement performance — how well students do on the tests. But it would keep in place AP participation data — how many kids take the tests.
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By: Pierre LaRocco (commentary)
 Human trafficking has no boundaries. It is not limited to third-world countries, and an estimated 200,000 American children are at risk for trafficking into the sex industry. This happens to children all over America, in urban, suburban and rural areas alike. How do human traffickers lore our children? They look for kids who are on the fringes and need a "friend." They work on filling that void. They give them gifts and show them affection.
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Pew Research Center
As millions of U.S. students start school, and economists and educators grapple with how best to prepare workers for jobs in today's economy, there is evidence that a majority of Americans look to elementary and secondary schools to provide the building blocks people need for a successful career.
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Edutopia
You don't have to reserve phone calls to parents or guardians for bad news. Try these tips to deepen communication with families.
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District Administration Magazine
In just the last few months, several districts and states have eliminated tests and cut assessment time to make room for instruction and reduce stress. The average student takes 112 mandated standardized tests from pre-K through grade 12, according to the Council of the Great City Schools. "It allows superintendents and other policymakers to experiment with and implement alternative forms of assessment based on real performance, not just filling in bubbles," says Bob Schaeffer, public education director at the National Center for Fair & Open Testing.
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Pacific Standard
A new, nationwide study offers typically middling insights into large-scale school reform: School closures, on average, don't much help or hurt student performance. That's the finding of a big report released last week by Stanford University's Center for Research on Education Outcomes, which looked at the effects of low-performing school closures on the students who, in turn, become displaced. Researchers collected data from 1,204 traditional public schools and 318 charter schools between 2006 and 2013. A little less than half of the students pushed out of closed schools ended up in higher-performing institutions, the researchers report.
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NPR
The start of the school year can be rough on some kids. It's a big shift from summer's freedom and lack of structure to the measured routines of school. And sometimes that can build up into tears, losing sleep, outbursts and other classic signs of anxiety. "Going back to school is a transition for everyone," says Lynn Bufka, a practicing psychologist who also works at the American Psychological Association. "No matter the age of the child, or if they've been to school before."
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Education World
The shaggy-haired boy at table six usually loved to write. Most days, he could barely stop tapping his pencil through the mini-lesson before he excitedly bent over his own writing creation. Today, he sat with arms crossed and hair slung over his teary eyes. His notebook remained resolutely closed. Recently, he got the distressing news that his father was being deported. Suddenly, his identity shook in the face of such a life-changing event. He struggled to focus on work that had once been so important to him. He was no longer sure of his place with his father so far away.
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Education Week
The research team whose work runs counter to conventional wisdom about minority enrollment in special education has released a new study that looks at a different, larger data set and comes to the same conclusion as its previous work: black and Hispanic children, as well as children of other races, are enrolled in special education at rates significantly lower than those of their white peers.
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MindShift
When Michael Essien became an administrator at Martin Luther King, Jr. Academic Middle School in San Francisco it was immediately apparent that he needed to help teachers get behavior issues under control. If students acted out in class, teachers sent them to an in-school detention, where they waited for disciplinary action. Pretty soon, any kid who struggled with a lesson was trying to get sent to detention, thus avoiding challenging work that might be embarrassing. Essien could see too many kids were not learning in this dysfunctional system.
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The Atlantic
When it comes to judging a school's quality, what matters most? A new poll suggests the American public puts a premium on offerings outside of traditional academics, including career-focused education, developing students’ interpersonal skills, and providing after-school programs and mental-health care. At the same time, even as local schools were generally viewed favorably in the national survey, parents said they would consider taking advantage of vouchers for private or religious schools if the price was right.
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Education Week
In the spring, fidget spinners were spinning through classrooms across the country, much to many teachers' annoyance. They were the latest craze in a series of educational products to help students focus in class: exercise balls in lieu of chairs, pedal desks, standing desks, and fidget cubes, putty, and other tools students can play with at their desks. A new independent study, "Wiggle While You Work: The Effect of Bouncy Band Use on Classroom Outcomes," looks at one of these fidget tools: Bouncy Bands, which strap to a desk so students can stretch their feet back and forth while sitting.
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U.S. News & World Report
As tech-savvy teens head back to school, they might be tempted to use their cellphone to cheat on exams. More than 20 percent of teens admitted to using tech devices to cheat, while nearly half have seen or heard of a classmate doing the same, according to a new survey of high school students conducted by cybersecurity firm McAfee. Cheating is nothing new, but with more schools providing students with tech devices or encouraging students to bring their own to use as a learning tool, teens may have more opportunities to deceive their teachers.
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U.S. News & World Report
The SAT Biology E/M subject test can be a great addition to your college application. Some schools require one or more subject tests as part of the application, and biology can be a less intimidating option than chemistry or physics for some students. Biology E/M can also be a good choice for students who wish to compensate for a low grade in a high school biology class or who wish to demonstrate dedication to pursuing a degree in the biological sciences. To make the most of the SAT biology subject test, follow these three steps when preparing for the exam.
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