From the Desk of Johanna Duncan-Poitier, Senior Deputy Commissioner of Education - P-16

August 2008 Regents Exam Schedule

The NYSED Curriculum, Instruction & Instructional Technology (CI&IT) Team's June 25, 2008 E-Blast is now available.

The Statewide Summer Reading Program web site is now online with ideas, links, and activities for librarians and educators planning for the 2008 program - Catch the Reading Bug @ Your Library. Go to http://www.summerreadingnys.org. Watch the web site for games, puzzles, activities, videos, books and a special quiz that teaches online research skills. Printer-friendly fliers in multiple languages for parents are now available on the New York State LibraryÂ’s web site.

These reports are produced to inform the people of New York State about the recent performance of public schools. We hope that these reports are used in constructive conversations which lead to improved education for all children in the State.

The State Board of Regents convened leaders from education, business, and community service organizations to confront tremendous educational challenges. We must continue to close the achievement gaps that exist from early childhood through postsecondary education while also raising the performance of the entire system to the level needed to sustain the state's economy in the face of global competition. We have made progress over the last decade, yet the gaps in achievement and productivity persist and impede New York's economic and civic vitality.

A great deal of information, including direct mailings to K-8 teachers and regional meetings across the state, will be made available to teachers and administrators - test design, time requirements, etc. so that the field is fully informed and can offer their insights. Sample questions at each grade level in each subject will also be provided. In addition, curricular and other resources for teachers will be provided on our website.

The purpose of the New York State Education Department's Virtual Learning System is to encourage the use of the Internet as a tool for teaching and learning and to assist classroom teachers in locating Internet resources for instruction. VLS offers the full text of New York State's learning standards with their key ideas and performance indicators, as well as alternate performance indicators for students with severe disabilities. It provides resources that classroom teachers can use to support preK-12 standards-based instruction, such as sample tasks, learning experiences and lesson plans.

The Love Your Library license plate is now available from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Proceeds from the plate's annual fee will help support the New York State Library's Statewide Summer Reading Program at public libraries across the State.

The Commissioner's monthly report to the Board of Regents featuring information on the Regents School Accountability Plan, Challenges to the Regents Exams, and other relevant topics.

When you visit ED.gov, why do you come -- what do you hope to accomplish? We are trying to identify the most important or popular tasks that people hope to accomplish at ED.gov, the main website of the U.S. Department of Education. Please help! Simply select the 5 tasks that are most important to you when you visit ED.gov.

ED Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement Doug Mesecar visited the Self Enhancement Inc., Academy in Portland, Ore., today to present a $9,500,000 Charter School Program grant award to the Oregon Department of Education. Susan Castillo, Oregon State Superintendent of Public Instruction, joined Mesecar for the announcement.

ED announced the award of a $1.5 million grant to the University of Illinois at Chicago for a national center to help minority institutions seek funding opportunities for projects that serve students with disabilities, especially in personnel development.

ED announced the award of more than $2.2 million in grants to school districts in seven states to help increase the number of Americans learning foreign languages critical to national security and commerce. The five-year grants were awarded to local educational agencies to work in partnership with one or more institutions of higher education.

Phil Mickelson, the No. 2-ranked pro golfer in the world, visited the ED to emphasize the value of math and science by showing students from Quantico, Fort Belvoir and Washington, D.C., how those subjects influence golf.

Secretary Spellings spoke at the 2008 Higher Education Summit, "A Test of Leadership," in Chicago.

New data from states show improvement in nearly every grade and subgroup, including English language learners and students with disabilities.

Independence Day, U.S. history, poetry, letter writing, energy and rock cycles, polar regions, plant genomes, nearly 100 science videos and webcasts, and teaching English language learners to read are topics of new resources at FREE, the website that makes teaching resources from federal agencies easier to find.

Features collections of dozens of animations for teaching geoscience topics -- atmosphere, biosphere, climate, earth's surface, energy and material cycles, geology, human dimensions, hydrosphere and cryosphere, hydrology, ocean, solar system, solid earth, earth history, and more. Learn what makes an effective visualization and best practices for using visualizations in the classroom. (Carleton College, National Science Foundation)

Notices inviting applications have been issued recently under ED programs that include the following: Centers on Research and Capacity Building to Improve Outcomes for Individuals with Disabilities from Traditionally Underserved Racial and Ethnic Populations, High-Quality Supplemental Educational Services and After-School Partnerships Demonstration, Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers for Individuals with Disabilities Living in Rural Areas, and Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers.

Please let us know what you think of this news feed.