Randi Levine supports decoupling but urges stakeholder engagement and attention to SWD/ML
Randi Levine, Policy Director at Advocates for Children, supports multiple pathways and decoupling Regents. She calls for extensive stakeholder engagement, drawing on existing performance-assessment expertise, a comprehensive communications plan, and targeted supports for students with disabilities and multilingual learners.
Thank you, Chair Dinowitz, for holding this hearing and for the opportunity to speak with you.
My name is Randi Levine.
I'm Policy Director of Advocates for Children of New York.
In addition to helping families navigate New York City schools, including high school graduation requirements, AFC also served on the state's Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures and coordinates the statewide Coalition for Multiple Pathways to a Diploma.
We are pleased to see the New York State Education Department move forward with its proposal to decouple Regents exams from graduation requirements.
AFC has long advocated for multiple pathways to a high school diploma, for a system that provides students with multiple ways to demonstrate what they know and are able to do.
And this is especially true given that there is no evidence that exit exams increase student achievement.
And I think you heard from the students here more powerfully than I can ever say the value of those multiple ways and how they have impacted students learning.
As this work moves forward to ensure we capitalize on this opportunity, there are many steps that need to be taken.
With our limited time today, we'll highlight just a few recommendations.
First, New York City Public Schools needs to engage in extensive stakeholder engagement with meaningful opportunities for feedback.
New York City Public Schools should also draw on the expertise of schools and educators across New York City that are already using performance-based assessments.
NYCPS should also start developing a comprehensive community.
communications plan now to ensure students and families understand what they need to do to graduate.
There are still big questions to answer and it's hard to overstate how critical it will be to get clear and accessible information out to the field.
There must also be an intentional and targeted focus on the needs of students with disabilities and L's
Too often in our work, we see barriers to access and meaningful participation, such as limited supports and accommodations for students with disabilities in certain works-based learning programs.
We want to ensure that students with disabilities and L's can get the academic and transition support they need to graduate and to have full access to graduation pathways.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Thank you so much.