New York State �Transfer School Accountability Under ESSA

An Explainer | April 2021

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Presenters:

• Evin Orfila, School Aide, NYC Department of Education; Alumnus, Liberation Diploma Plus High School
• Ali Holstein, Co-author, And Still They Rise; consultant, Eskolta School Research and Design; Ali Holstein LLC

1. The Context: Traditional Schools Fail to Serve All Students
2. Filling an Unmet Need: Transfer Schools Produce Positive Outcomes for Students the System Has Failed
3. The Problem: Current Accountability Policy Systematically Penalizes Transfer Schools
4. The Result: Poorly-designed Policy Compounds Racial and Socioeconomic Inequities
5. The Way Forward: An Accountability System that Supports All Students

1. The Context: �Traditional Schools Fail to Serve All Students

Context

• NYC’s public education system has never served all students. NYC is one of the most segregated education systems. New York State has the 4th largest gaps in 4-year graduation rate by race.
• New York also has one of the lowest 4-year graduation rates for Student with Disabilities (57%) and the lowest graduation rate for students with limited English proficiency (31%).
• One in five NYC public school students remain enrolled into a 5th or 6th year of high school.
• Before transfer schools, many high school contained night schools or credit recovery programs that were not designed to meet the holistic needs of students.
• As we return from over a year of remote learning, the accountability structures must reflect the work that needs to be done. It is estimated the number of “disconnected” youth doubled during the pandemic.

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2. Filling an Unmet Need: Transfer Schools Produce Positive Outcomes for Students the System Has Failed

Transfer Schools

• There are 65 transfer schools in New York State
• 57, including 8 charter schools, are in NYC serving 13,592 students
• Average enrollment is 238
• Not all transfer schools are the same. For example, some specifically serve newcomers, other serve over-age 8th graders, some serve high numbers of adjudicated youth.

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Transfer Schools

• Were designed as an alternate model to meet the academic needs of students who are poorly served by traditional public high schools.
• Serve students who transfer into them after having left another high school, dropped out, or fallen behind on credits.
• NYS definition: “a high school in which:
• the majority of students upon their first enrollment in the HS had previously attended grade nine or higher in another high school, or
• a HS in which the majority of students attained age 16 or higher in the year in which the students first entered grade 9, or
• a school in which more than 50% of currently enrolled students are ELLs who have attended school in the 50 United States (*excluding Puerto Rico) and the District of Columbia for less than 3 years.”

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Transfer Schools

Transfer schools are designed to meet the needs of our young people:

• Small, personalized
• Academically rigorous
• Youth development approach
• All Transfer Schools partner with a community-based organization to offer paid internships, student support services, college and career exploration and preparation activities.

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Transfer Schools: A Critical Support

Reducing Dropouts: Since transfer schools expanded and partnered with community based organizations, the dropout rate in NYC has fallen from 22% (2005) to 7.8% (2019).¹

Making Academic Progress: On average, students who enter transfer schools with 22 credits or fewer will earn more credits than their comparison group.

Creating Learning Communities: On the NYC School Survey, transfer high schools outperform traditional high schools on nearly all survey items including questions related to relationships and high expectations. (2018-19 NYC School Survey)

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Transfer School Students

NYC transfer school students...

• Are more likely to be classified as Black or Latinx and as English language learners
• More likely to experience high economic need, housing instability, lower 8th-grade proficiency, or be classified as Students With Disabilities than their peers at other NYC high schools.

Administrative data fails to capture the barriers transfer school students face. In a survey of 800+ transfer school students across the city…

• Students cited school features (51%), mental health (48%), caring for family (29%), financial responsibility (17%), violence (17%), and housing instability (13%) as obstacles prior to transfer school enrollment.

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Transfer Schools: A Critical Support

Transfer school students report their transfer schools helped them overcome obstacles, find a sense of purpose, and that adults believed in them and could be trusted at higher levels than in their prior schools.

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Transfer Schools: A Critical Support

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“[since transferring] I've not only grown as a student, but as a person. I feel safe, happy, comfortable and as though I'm actually learning. All of the staff, teachers, students—the entire community is comforting to be a part of.”

—Transfer school student

Transfer Schools: A Critical Support

“Transfer schools provide a safe haven for students who were left behind by traditional schools, meaning we fell through the cracks because we didn’t fit the traditional template. We are, like many students, unique, and transfer schools nourish our uniqueness to make us set and excel our expectations.”

—Cristal Cruz, Human Rights Activist and Alum of Brooklyn Frontiers High School

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“[My transfer school] help me realize there are resources that can help me and a safe space to communicate my issues without worry of backlash.”

—Transfer school student

3. The Problem: �Current Accountability Policy Systematically Penalizes Transfer Schools

The Problem

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The problem is twofold:

1. New York State’s interpretation of the federal law that has created unethical and ineffective accountability metrics for transfer schools.
1. Transfer schools are systematically categorized as failing (Targeted Improvement (TSI) or Comprehensive Improvement (CSI))
2. These designations:
1. Stigmatize alternative schools as “failing”
2. Put schools at risk of receivership
3. Fail to provide direct funding
4. Require time and resources to be dedicated to administrative tasks
2. The absence of an ethical framework, regardless of federal law, for holding transfer schools accountable.

Current Policy: What is ESSA?

The Every Student Succeeds Act is the latest federal law that regulates public schools.

• Each state proposes how it will hold schools accountable. ESSA affords more flexibility than previous regulations.
• State plans are required to include measures for graduation, academic achievement, and the progress of English language learners.
• Schools that do not meet criteria set by the State join the list of Targeted Improvement (TSI) or Comprehensive Improvement (CSI).They must submit improvement plans to the State and make progress toward goals. Otherwise, they go into receivership and possible closure.

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Current Policy: Accountability Categories

Under ESSA, NYS schools are identified as one of the following:

1. Good Standing
• Recognition Schools (a subset of Good Standing)
2. Targeted Support and Improvement (identified annually). TSI focuses on the performance of subgroups (by race, ELL, SWD, and economically disadvantaged).
3. Comprehensive Support and Improvement (identified every three years). CSI focuses on the performance of all students in the school.
• Due to pandemic-related extensions, transfer schools have only been identified as CSI once.

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Under prior rules, schools were labeled Reward, Priority, or Focus schools.

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Current Policy: Accountability Criteria

All NYS high schools are evaluated on six criteria:

1. Composite Performance: Annual student performance in ELA, math, science, and social studies
2. Academic Progress: Progress of students on state assessments in relation to long-term goals and Measures of Interim Progress (MIPs)
3. English Language Proficiency (ELP): Percentage of students meeting individual progress targets on the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSELSAT)

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Current Policy: Accountability Criteria (cont)

All NYS high schools are evaluated on six criteria:

• Chronic Absenteeism: Percent of students who are absent 10% or more
• Graduation Rate: Graduation rates of students four, five, and six years after first entering grade 9, based on graduation rate cohorts that are lagged one year.
• College, Career, and Civic Readiness (CCCR): Percentage of students who are leaving HS prepared for college, care, and civic readiness as measured by diploma, credentials, advanced course credits and assessment results, career and technical education certifications and other similar measures.

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Current Policy: Indicators that Uphold a Racist Status Quo

1. Some of the indicators (ELA, Math, CCCR) use 4-year cohorts, so a transfer school is not recognized for offering CCCR coursework to students in their 5th, 6th, or 7th year of high school.
2. Through the Composite Performance Indices, a transfer school is accountable for low test scores at previous schools, where they were being underserved.
3. Transfer schools are ranked against ALL high schools in the state on test scores, meaning they are likely to be in the lowest 10%, or Level 1. Transfer schools exist, in part, to serve students who have not excelled on these metrics.

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• State tests scores are the key academic measure, despite research demonstrating that standardized tests disadvantage Black and Latinx students and other research on performance-based assessments that tie to postsecondary success.
• Over-reliance on seat time as an indicator of learning. Most transfer schools have high rates of chronic absenteeism tied to the adult responsibilities students hold, frequently the result of racist and other systems of oppression in society. For example, a recent survey of over 800 transfer school students showed that nearly one third are caretakers.

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These accountability indicators are problematic for a variety of reasons:

Current Policy: State Responses to ESSA

ESSA requires that states identify ALL schools for improvement if they do not graduate at least 67% of students in four years.

Nationally, the average 4-year graduation rate for alternative education campuses is 45%. As a result, states did one of two things in response to ESSA:

1. Systematically label alternative schools as low-performing.
2. Propose alternative metrics or appeal for flexibility:
• Several states, including New York, have extended graduation calculations to 5-, 6-, or 7-year cohorts.
• States have modified supports for alternative schools.
• Three states applied for flexibility under Section 1204: Innovative Assessment and Accountability Demonstration Authority. New Hampshire, for example, has a system of local and common assessments.

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Current Policy: NY’s Transfer Schools

The approach to transfer school intervention outlined by NY state, though not written into the regulations themselves, is a multi-step process:

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1) Identification

ALL high schools are assessed on six indicators. There is no differentiation for transfer schools.

Recognizing that transfer schools are systematically considered low-performing under this process, the State relies on an appeal process.

Schools that meet one of the three Automatic Appeal criteria are removed from the CSI list. The automatic appeal process has a variety of features that are not defined in regulation but rather by statements from the Commissioner.

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2) Automatic Appeal - Criteria A

Schools that meet one of the Automatic Appeal criteria are removed from the CSI list.

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11 transfer schools met Criteria A in 2018-19

35 did not

Criteria A: The percentage of students who graduate with a Regents diploma, Local diploma, or HSE in 4, 5, or 6 years equals at least 67%

2) Automatic Appeal - Criteria B

Schools that meet one of the Automatic Appeal criteria are removed from the CSI list.

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Criteria B: Composite Performance Index

• For students who were enrolled in the transfer school for three years (typically less than half of the population), their highest scores in each subject (English, Math, Science, and Social Studies) are put into Performance Levels 1-4. Scores from previous schools are included.
• For example, a score between 65-78 on a Common Core Math Regents is a Level 2.
• An index is calculated, and then another formula gives the most weight or significance to English and Math, then Science, and lastly Social Studies.
• The transfer schools are ranked and those in the bottom 10% of schools are considered Level 1. Schools meet this criteria if they are Level 2 or higher.

Notably, special education status is not considered. Therefore, schools are penalized for students who passed the test on an appeal or with a score below 65%.

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2) Automatic Appeal - Criteria C

Schools that meet one of the Automatic Appeal criteria are removed from the CSI list.

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Criteria C: Graduation Success Ratio

• Based on average grade 8 ELA and Math scores, age at which the student enrolls in their final high school, and grade at which they enroll, the state calculates a statewide probability of a student graduating within six years. Students from the three most recent 6-year cohorts are included.
• The state benchmark is then compared to school performance, and schools that come close to the benchmark meet the criteria. The score must exceed a cut point established by commissioner.

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3) Case-by-Case Appeal

If a transfer school is not removed in the Automatic Appeal process, the school may appeal the preliminary designation and submit information to show extenuating or extraordinary circumstances.

1. In 2018-19, 5 transfer schools were in Good Standing due to extenuating and extraordinary circumstances.
2. The commissioner considers credit accumulation compared to similar students as well as supplementary graduation data after six years.

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1. Identification

2. Automatic Appeal

3. Case-by-Case Appeal

2018-19 ESSA School Identification - NYC District Transfer Schools

31 schools met Automatic Appeal criteria

5 removed from the list due to extenuating circumstances

2 schools in Good Standing

46 preliminarily identified as CSI

15 remain CSI

10 remain CSI

What happens when a school is identified?

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1. Both CSI and TSI schools must complete needs assessments, administer annual surveys, and develop School Comprehensive Education Plans.
2. CSI schools must participate in on-site diagnostics from state officials and establish a participatory budgeting process.

To exit CSI/TSI status, a school must, for two consecutive years, be above the levels that would cause it to be identified for CSI/TSI status.

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CSI/TSI Exit Criteria

An unlikely path for transfer schools

To exit CSI/TSI status, a school must, for two consecutive years, be above the levels that would cause it to be identified for CSI/TSI status.

For transfer schools, that would mean performing highly in the same traditional school metrics that led to their identification.

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Receivership

The placement of a school under superintendent Receivership is a potential consequence of it being identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI).

Once schools have been identified, the district is responsible for:

• Forming a Community Engagement Team for each identified school
• Providing written notification to parents of students who attend each identified school
• Conducting public hearings in each identified school

A school in receivership must show “Demonstrable Improvement.”

Currently, 10 NYC Schools are in Receivership, 3 of which are transfer schools.

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Misalignment Between City and State

There is good reason to be confused when the city and state have different definitions of low-performing.

In any given year, a transfer school may be acknowledged in New York City as “Meeting Expectations” while also designated as low-performing by New York State. The misalignment stems from different definitions, measures, and timelines that are difficult for schools to disentangle.

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For example, in 2018-19, West Brooklyn Community High School was identified as CSI. The State’s designation stemmed from a reported 6-year graduation rate of 37% (2011 Cohort).

The New York City Transfer School grad rate in 2017-18 was 54%, which was higher than the city’s comparison group. In Student Achievement, the city said the school was “Meeting Target.”

CSI Identification: Transfer vs. Traditional

In 2018-19, the most recent time schools were identified as CSI,

• 20% of transfer schools in New York State were CSI or closing compared to 4% of other high schools

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As of 2020-21, 13 transfer schools were identified as CSI, 6 were TSI.

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NYS Transfer Schools

Other NYS High Schools

4. The Result: Poorly-Designed Policy Compounds Racial and Socioeconomic Inequities

Is ESSA Working?

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The purpose of accountability is to improve the educational outcomes for all students by changing incentives or, serving as an indicator to change policies and systems, and directing meaningful resources to schools that need more support.

However, under NY’s current interpretation of ESSA,

• CSI transfer schools receive little to no direct funding.
• Current policy creates perverse incentives for transfer schools to reduce support and outreach to students with fewer credits and instead admit students who are closer to graduation.
• No high-quality alternative accountability system exists.

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Is ESSA Working? Tackling Equity

On average, transfer schools that did not meet state criteria in 2018-19 served a greater proportion of marginalized students facing systemic racism and other challenges.

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Is ESSA Working?

Directing resources and support to “low-performing” schools

• The district provides support to schools (coaching, strategic planning)
• Schools receive no direct funding.
• As schools are working to improve, Learning to Work funding was cut by 25% in 2020-21. Schools had to cut paid student internships and staff, during a pandemic.

By systematically labeling transfers as failing, we are moving resources away from some schools that may really need them (where students are becoming academically behind).

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Is ESSA Working?

Using data to assess performance

• By using traditional metrics to assess alternative schools, NYSED is not using the best available data, and failing to identify success in these schools.
• For many years, NYSED relied on appeals to the traditional system rather than a high-quality alternative accountability system.
• Prior to ESSA, New York City, as well as New York charter authorizers designed accountability systems based on best practices in the field—these systems do not label transfer schools as systematically failing.

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5. The Way Forward: �An Accountability System that Supports All Students

An Alternative: Expert Recommendations

• Partner with schools to create rigorous and attainable recommendations for the specific high-risk populations they serve. NYSED and SUNY offer moderate flexibility that assesses multiple measures across schools while allowing schools to also propose several mission-specific measures. (A-Game)
• Create mechanisms for alternative accountability outside of state ESSA plans, as several states have done (AYPF).
• Consider better, alternative metrics that include growth and change in areas such as attendance, credit accumulation, and student survey responses. Just as we have during the pandemic, consider the traumatic experiences youth have experienced that impact their academic growth. (Center for American Progress)
• Decouple Regents exams from graduation requirements, joining the 39 other states in the country that do not require a high-stakes exam to graduate. (Public Science Project, Graduate Center at CUNY)

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Other Considerations

There are other factors to consider when creating ethical metrics:

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References

See documents and links below for more detail:

Key NYS Documents

• New York State’s most recent ESSA plan
• NYSED Memo on Transfer School Accountability (2018)
• NYSED Memo on Understanding ESSA Accountability (2018-19)
• NYS List of Transfer Schools

Relevant Reports / Accountability Guidance

• Alternative Education in ESSA State Plans: A Review of 38 States, American Youth Policy Forum
• A-Game Resources
• Blueprint for Accountability Systems for Alternative High Schools Center for American Progress
• Transfer School Accountability Recommendations, Eskolta, 2014

Data:

• 2018-19 NYS ESSA data and designations
• 2018-19 NYC Automatic Appeal raw data
• 2019-20 NYS ESSA data and designations

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Next Steps

Share your ideas and thoughts!

Give us feedback in this Google Form

Email us: Jessica Furer (jfurer@eskolta.org)

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Discussion

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Pick your discussion group [15-20 minutes]

Add thoughts on your Jamboard!

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1. Groups 1 (& 3):

Imagine walking through a transfer school you have never been to before. What would you look for to determine if they are doing a good job? What data would you want to see?

• Consider measures of student growth, student achievement, postsecondary readiness, student engagement and support

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• Group 2:

How has accountability played out for your school, educators, and students?

• What are the opportunities to make accountability systems meaningful, so that young people are better served?

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