Dear Colleagues,

In April 2014, the Board of Regents approved an updated New York State K-12 Social Studies Framework, which was developed in partnership with New York State educators over a two-and-a-half-year process, including three rounds of public comment.  

Today we're releasing the New York State Social Studies Field Guide at https://www.engageny.org/resource/new-york-state-k-12-social-studies-field-guide. This Field Guide is the first in a set of documents designed to help educators update local curricula following the adoption of the Social Studies Framework.  Produced collaboratively with New York State teachers, the Field Guide includes a sample unit and highlights three instructional shifts: Focus on Conceptual Understanding; Foster Student Inquiry, Collaboration and Informed Action; Integrate Content and Skill Purposefully.

Additional resources will be released later this school year as part of the collaboration among the Department, Binghamton University, and New York State teachers called the New York State K-12 Social Studies Toolkit Project.  The Toolkit Project will provide more guidance to educators as they design curricula, instruction, and classroom-based assessments. Instructional resources are being developed, reviewed, and piloted by New York State teachers.  The sample unit and unit template in the Field Guide will be updated as feedback is gathered from New York State teachers.

The Social Studies Framework, the Field Guide, and the Toolkit Project all underscore the Department's commitment to teaching and learning Social Studies at all grade levels.  Rigorous Social Studies instruction is vital as we prepare our students to be active and engaged participants in civic life.

Also in this edition of News & Notes is the introduction of a math standards video series, a video on a parent academy event held recently at Columbia University and a video of a Brooklyn 4th grader who is proud of his progress in writing. 

You'll also find a blog post from the U.S. Department of Education about EngageNY.org; an overview of a great high school equivalency program at LaGuardia Community College; information on NYSED and the Attorney General's review of district enrollment procedures for unaccompanied minors and other undocumented students; and information on a special computer science event called The Hour of Code.

Thank you for all you do as educators, family and community members in supporting our students.

Common Core standards help students have a deeper understanding of math while promoting both accuracy and the application of math concepts.  While we all remember algorithms or rules that we memorized in school, we are now looking forward to a generation of students who understand how and why these algorithms work so that they can use this knowledge to tackle new and more challenging math concepts as they grow.

We're introducing a new series of videos that go through many of the properties or "back stories" of these algorithms. Math coach Nick Timpone takes us from standards in kindergarten through Grade 5 and demonstrates hands-on ideas, games, activities and models that teachers can take back to their classrooms or parents can use as a tool as they help their children with their homework.  Since the standards move students from a basic understanding of numbers to more complex math like decimals and fractions, you will also see how these concepts and strategies build upon each other to help students' math knowledge progress from grade to grade. The math standards emphasize both fluency and conceptual understanding; these videos demonstrate the relationship between the two. 

Watch the brief introduction below and take a look at the full video series here .

Last month, parents and family members learned how to help their children become college and career ready by attending workshops and hearing from education and community leaders at Teachers College, Columbia University. Watch a video here. 

Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch, State Education Commissioner John B. King, Jr. and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman recently announced that the State Education Department and State Attorney General's Office will conduct a compliance review of school districts' enrollment policies and procedures for unaccompanied minors and other undocumented students.  The review, which will examine whether students are being denied their constitutional right to an education, will initially focus on districts experiencing the largest influx of unaccompanied minors from Central and South America.

"We have a legal and a moral obligation to provide every child, no matter where they come from or what they look like, with an education," said Chancellor Tisch. "And we're going to do everything possible to make sure that happens.  The Department will take strong and swift action against any district that breaks the law and denies a child a seat in a classroom. 

"The Board of Regents recognizes the fiscal impact an unanticipated influx of new students has on districts.  We are asking New York's Congressional delegation to support urgent action on proposals for federal funding for districts receiving unaccompanied minors.  Our State Aid proposal, to be announced later this fall, will call for immediate action on additional state aid for districts managing an influx of new students this school year."

"Schoolhouse doors must be open to every student in our increasingly diverse state regardless of their immigration status-there is simply no excuse for denying that basic right, which is protected by the Constitution," Attorney General Schneiderman said. "More than 30 years after the Supreme Court guaranteed a free public education for undocumented children, we must do everything we can to uphold the law and ensure equal access for all our students. This review is a crucial step in that effort."

"Every school district in New York State has an obligation to educate all of our children regardless of their immigration status," King said. "We will not stand by while districts ignore the law and prevent these children from receiving an education.  Department staff has already started this process, and we won't stop until we're sure every district is following the law and every child is in school."

Read more.