School Accountability
skip breadcrumbsFrequently Asked Questions
- What is the Contract for Excellence?
- Who must file a Contract for Excellence?
- What are the terms of the Contract?
- When was the Contract for Excellence Reviewed?
- If a school district’s budget and other plans for next year are already formulated, is there any spending flexibility for the 2007-08 school year?
- Will parents and other members of the public have an opportunity to participate in the development of their school district’s Contract for Excellence?
- How can parents be sure that the increased aid is spent responsibly by their school district on strategies for improving student achievement?
- What can parents do if the commitments in the Contract for Excellence are not followed?
- Are there any provisions that apply only to New York City?
- What improvements will be made to remediate failing schools?
- What is the “Distinguished Educator” program?
- Are there new teacher quality initiatives?
- How will results be measured?
The Contract for Excellence is a plan that certain school districts must file with the State Education Department that provides details on how additional state foundation aid will be used by the district.
Every school district in the State that receives an additional $15 million or a 10% increase in aid, and has at least one school that the State Education Department has identified as not meeting standards will be required to file a Contract for Excellence.
The Contract must provide State officials with a commitment from the school district that the increased amount of aid that it receives will be dedicated to proven strategies for improving student performance. The new law establishes five categories of allowable expenditure: class size reduction, increased student time for learning, restructuring of schools, teacher and principal quality initiatives and full-day kindergarten and prekindergarten.
The law also allows school districts to spend up to fifteen percent of their increase on experimental programs that have the effect of improving student performance. Before making expenditures outside of the five categories, a school district will have to obtain approval from the State Education Department.
The Contracts for Excellence were approved on November 19, 2007. Further information can be found at: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/mgtserv/C4E/
- If a school district’s budget and other plans for next year are already formulated, is there any spending flexibility for the 2007-08 school year?
Yes. The new law recognizes that planning for the next school year is underway. For this reason, up to twenty-five percent of a district’s aid increase, or thirty million dollars, whichever is less, for the next school year can be spent to maintain student achievement improvement initiatives implemented in earlier years, if they are within one of the five categories of allowable activities.
In addition, the new law gives districts wide discretion in spending up to 3 % of their base formula aid on programs which the district selects, and 15 % of a district’s aid increase on experimental programs if approved by the Commissioner, in every school year.
- Will parents and other members of the public have an opportunity to participate in the development of their school district’s Contract for Excellence?
Yes. School districts will be required to hold at least one public hearing before the district’s Contract for Excellence is submitted, and a transcript must be provided to the State Education Department as part of the approval process. Because the deadline for local school budgets is soon, a less formal process for public comment is permitted for the 2007-08 school year.
- How can parents be sure that the increased aid is spent responsibly by their school district on strategies for improving student achievement?
The annual independent audit that school districts have to submit to the State will be required to include a certification that new funding received by the school district has been spent on approved initiatives. The Commissioner has options for recourse when aid provided to school districts is misspent.
An appeal process is provided when a violation of the Contract occurs. The first step is to file a complaint with the school principal or the superintendent. If a complaint is denied by a principal, there is an appeal to the superintendent. If the superintendent denies the appeal, there is a further appeal to the Board of Education or, in New York City, to the chancellor. Any further appeals must be made to the State Education Department.
New York City must submit a five-year plan to reduce class size as one element of its Contract for Excellence. In addition, the City must prepare a city-wide Contract for Excellence as well as a Contract for Excellence for each of the 32 community school districts, and when the City holds public hearings on the adoption of its Contract for Excellence, one hearing must be held in each borough.
The new law requires the Board of Regents to toughen the standards for identifying schools that need intervention. The goal is to identify up to five percent of the schools in the State as needing remediation. The Commissioner will be empowered to appoint a quality review team as a first step in this process, to provide diagnostic recommendations for use in developing a comprehensive plan for the school.
The second step is the appointment of a joint school intervention team for schools that haven’t demonstrated sufficient progress. At this stage of the process, school districts will be required to implement the proven strategies for improving the learning environment, such as lowering class size, increasing student learning time or other options derived from the Contract for Excellence.
The Regents will implement a Distinguished Educator program that will recognize superintendents, principals and teachers whose performance has been superior. Distinguished Educators must pledge to use their expertise by participating in improving schools that have not made adequate progress for four or more years. Their recommendations must be followed by the school district, unless an adequate explanation is made to the State Education Department.
Adequate teacher preparation is key to improving student performance, and the new law requires that the State Education Department consider whether that sector of the State’s educational system can be made better. In addition, when evaluating teachers for tenure, the school district must consider whether they have demonstrated the ability to contribute adequately to their student’s academic progress, and appropriately use student achievement data when providing instruction. School districts may choose to spend increased state aid on teacher and principal quality initiatives, and the State Education Department will provide support in developing incentives for experienced teachers to work in low performing schools.
Finally, the State Education Department will award grants to colleges and universities to operate summer institutes for middle and high school math and science teachers. Priority will be given to teachers from schools identified as deficient. In addition, tuition reimbursement will be available to prepare additional math and science teachers to work in low-performing schools.
A variety of progress reports will be issued under the new law. By July 2008, a student progress report must be prepared for all students. The report will provide parents with data on student performance on state assessments over multiple years of testing, and provide an opportunity for parents to discuss this data. In addition, the Board of Regents will develop a system of student performance measure that assesses the effects of specific educational programs on student progress over time.
Report cards rating schools and their leaders will also be distributed to the public. The report cards will provide an assessment of the school’s progress in achieving parent involvement and teacher quality, curriculum improvements, and other measures of accountability. By July 2008, the Board of Regents will establish school improvement targets for performance on state assessments, graduation rates, student retention, college attendance and other indicia of progress.
NOTE: The information on this page is taken from the 2007-2008 Financial Plan.