NEWS
Twenty-one districts pool $3 million of Race to the Top funding
Nov. 24, 2010 – Twenty-one school districts from Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga and Schoharie counties, including the Cohoes City School District, have pooled their funding from the Race to the Top federal monies — which totals nearly $3 million — and expertise to create an unprecedented consortium aimed at raising student achievement.
The group, which will be run by the districts and supported by the Capital Region BOCES, is called the Capital Region Network Team. The districts participating range from large city districts to small rural districts.
"Race to the Top includes some hefty requirements, and by joining together, these 21 districts will be able to make the broad range of change New York State is requiring," said Capital Region BOCES District Superintendent Charles Dedrick. "Individually districts' Race to the Top funding was as low as $6,500, but by working together, these districts will maximize the funding they received and tap everyone's expertise for the good of the region and our students."
"We are excited to be part of a regional collaboration," said Superintendent of Schools Robert K. Libby. "This collaboration will hopefully lead to exciting improvements in the area. Working together, I know we will be able to do more than if otherwise. In addition, the shared expertise of the education leaders in these districts is undoubtedly an asset."
Cohoes is focusing on six main areas to improve with its Race To The Top funding, which is approximately $180,000. Those areas include: increasing the proficiency on four different state exams--grade 4 English Language Arts, grade 4 Mathematics, grade 8 English Language Arts and the English Language Regents Exams. The district also expects to focus efforts on increasing its four-year graduation rate.
The sixth area that the district will be focusing on is modifying and improving its annual performance review/evaluation system, based on national standards.
Districts had the choice of forming their own in-house network team, or joining together to meet the Race to the Top requirements. (See details below.) In the region, such a large number of districts working together is unprecedented.
An Advisory Committee, comprised of representatives from each of the participating districts, will run the Network, deciding what support it needs (in terms of training and staffing), what direction it will take and how to use the pooled funds. Capital Region BOCES will attend all NYSED-mandated trainings and provide consultation and training to districts in the areas of curriculum, instruction and data.
Race to the Top application team requirement
New York State was notified that it had received nearly $700 million in federal Race to the Top funds in August. A major component of the state's application was to build teams for every school in the state — like the Capital Region Network Team — that will be responsible for:
• Assisting schools in implementing common core standards and
aligning instruction to the new standards and curricula.
• Supporting schools in implementing the state's assessment program
and adapting to more rigorous performance-based assessments.
• Supporting school-based inquiry teams to analyze student
performance data and make adjustments to instructional practices.
• Assisting schools in interpreting and using/designing formative
assessments closely tied to the curricula.
• Working closely with principals and key faculty leaders to provide
school-based and network-level intensive, ongoing, real-time
coaching and professional development, according to the needs of
each school.
• Helping principals find outside service providers based on the
needs of each school's faculty and students.
• Supporting Joint Intervention Teams in evaluation of persistently
lowest-achieving schools, and facilitate professional development to
support the implementation of a turnaround plan.
The Network's Advisory Committee will begin meeting in December, and the goal is to begin releasing content to districts in early 2011.
The districts comprising the Network Team are:
City School District of Albany
Berne-Knox-Westerlo Central School District
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School District
Cobleskill-Richmondville Central School District
Cohoes City School District
Duanesburg Central School District
Green Island Union Free School District
Menands School
Middleburgh Central School District
Mohonasen Central School District
North Colonie Central School District
Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District
Schalmont Central School District
Schenectady City School District
Schoharie Central School District
Scotia-Glenville Central School District
Sharon Springs Central School District
Shenendehowa Central School District
South Colonie Central School District
Voorheesville Central School District
Watervliet City School District
