Discussion & Decisions:. 

1. David reported that the Regents Blue Ribbon Committee for New Graduation Expectations & Assessment, will be meeting again on Monday, Nov. 14th. The agenda will focus on what NYS is currently expecting of graduates & what the Committee members recommend for changes in NYS, as well as presentations by education researchers. David will be lobbying for a presentation by Rich Ryan on motivation and Self-Determination Theory's application to public education. If you haven't read Ryan's chapter on motivation & SDT, please see the attached chapter. We're really fortunate to have two coalition members on this Regents Committee; David & Tricia Gonzalez.

2. David shared that the Warner School doctoral students are organizing a February, 2022 conference & would like to have Rich Ryan as their keynote speaker. We discussed how their conference could be expanded beyond academics to include Rochester-area education leaders & practitioners, members of RASE, the Blue Ribbon Committee, the RCSD BoE, RTA & others.

We gave our full support to collaborating with David & the Uof R  doctoral students. 

3. We de-briefed Caterina Leone-Mannino's 10/28 presentation on the RCSD's contract with the TNTP consultants for leadership training of RCSD administrators for increasing student growth & development, & agreed that there is no connection to charter school implementation in the RCSD & support the professional development initiative. Our only recommendations were:

  A. To see multiple methods of assessment to determine the initiative's success, and

  B. Initiate the training with a presentation by Rich Ryan on motivation & self-determination to all TNTP trainers, BoE, RCSD Leadership members & School Principals as a foundation for the TNTP training.

4. We discussed the progress of the RASE Education Implementation Committee, noting that it has been slow, but apparently much farther ahead when compared to the other 8 RASE committees that focus on other elements of systemic racism. There is a 9:00 am RASE meeting on Monday, 11/14, at which each committee will share its progress. If little has been accomplished, we will send a letter to Mayor Evans, County Executive Bello and the RASE Commissioners suggesting specific methods to move forward.

We also shared that the RASE Education Committee will be hosting an in-person community meeting on Thursday, 11/17 , from 6-7:30 pm, that will focus on vocabulary development on racism. (See attached flyer.) Please share this flyer with other individuals and organizations.

5. We supported an invitation for RCSD/BoE member, Cammille Simmons to attend an up-coming Coalition meeting to learn about her perspectives & goals, and lobby for our Coalition's agenda. Dan will send her an invitation.

6. We discussed a proposal to increase our Coalition's diversity, particularly with more people-of-color, by having each of our active members contact a current Coalition member of color, who has not been attending meetings and discuss their perceptions of our Coalition, their own education agenda & what might help in getting them to attend more of our meetings. Don suggested that we also use the results of Joe Simson's recent survey about our meetings as part of the discussion. (See attachment) Dan will initiate this process by sending a list of our members of color & a suggested list of questions for discussion.to our active members to review & choose from, if they are interested in participating.

7. We discussed the need for anti-racist professional development for all RCSD teachers & administrators & agreed that the use of the phrase "anti-racist" may be a road-block for gaining support for this PD. We suggested that the BoE use the phrase "Exploring Racism" PD, rather than "anti-racist" PD. This may be a strategy to have the same envisioned "anti-racism" training approved for the RCSD & RTA, by making the title less threatening. Dan will circulate a draft of a letter to the BoE, suggesting this proposal, for feedback.

8. We have still heard no response from Regents Norwood or Turner regarding a proposed meeting with us. Where do we go from here?

9. We discussed what specific characteristics we would recommend for the new RCSD Supt. Several meaningful ideas were shared, including knowledge of motivation & brain-research about learning. Dan will draft a letter & share with Coalition members for feedback before sending to them.

10. John shared the San Francisco School District's initiative of supporting homeless students & families, by offering shelter, meals & learning support in school buildings. John has shared the initiative with the RCSD BoE & City Council & will hopefully gain support of this plan for the 
RCSD.   How Homeless Shelter in San Francisco School Paid Off in Classroom

11. We agreed to meet again on Friday, December 2nd at 4:00 pm, by Zoom.

Attachments:

SDT Article.pdf         11.17.22.Flyer copy-5.jpg         SURVEY RESULTS.docx