The Contract for Excellence plan that the City School District of Albany will implement in 2009-2010 will address the efforts toward improving student achievement in four schools cited by New York State as needing academic improvement, along with building the capacity to serve students in high-needs schools across the district.

 

New and expanded program opportunities that comprise the 2009-10 contract are focused on services to students at Albany High School, William S. Hackett Middle School, North Albany Academy and Giffen Memorial Elementary School.

 

The district has targeted 92% of the contract funds for these schools.

 

District-wide, the 2009-10 Contract for Excellence commitment is $193,440. That will support:

• A new English as a Second Language coordinator to oversee instructional programming, and to identify needs for both resources and staff development for ESL teachers in all schools, at all levels.

• The salary for the instructional supervisor for science.

The district also will maintain existing programs initiated under the 2008-09 contract in the amount of $1,793,040. This is a Maintenance of Effort provision authorized by the State Education Department.

 

At Albany High School, the 2009-10 contract commitment is $137,877 and will provide the following:

• Increase Time on Task: Additional support for attendance monitoring will be provided through the services of an attendance officer.

• Improved Teacher/Principal Quality: Targeted professional development to improve the quality of instruction will be provided to teachers and the high school administrators by the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education (NUA). The primary objective of the NUA initiative at Albany High School is to plan and deliver professional development.

Among the challenges that exist within the district at present are the performance needs of students at Albany High School and Hackett Middle School. 

 

Albany High identified as a school requiring academic progress and Hackett, in the state's accountability system, is a school in need of restructuring. For subgroup performance of students with disabilities on the 2008 NYS English Language Arts test, both North Albany Academy and Giffen failed to meet performance targets and are included in the high-needs category.

 

The district's contract plan will provide services to special populations at each of the above-named schools, namely students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students and students with low achievement. The poverty rates of the schools are as follows:

• Albany High School - 53%

• Hackett Middle School - 87%

• North Albany Academy - 75%

• Giffen Memorial Elementary School - 99%

Each of the schools has a significant percentage of students with disabilities and has been identified as schools demonstrating low academic achievement.

 

The contract plan targets students with the greatest educational need as identified on the Educational Need Matrix provided by the State Education Department. 

 

Contract for Excellence regulations indicate that the contract plan should result in at least a 10% gain in the percent of the target group students achieving the state standards. The target group students are those at the four identified schools that did not meet their benchmark for annual progress, denoted by the State Education Department as Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) or Safe Harbor (SH). 

 

Target student groups that did not meet their AYP but met their SH have performance targets of 5% gain.

 

You are invited to share your questions, concerns, or comments regarding the 2009-10 Contract for Excellence. You may submit your comments, in writing, to the Interim Superintendent of Schools. Please send your feedback, via mail, to:

 

Raymond Colucciello, Ed.D.

Academy Park
Albany, NY 12207

 

Additionally, you can review the district's 2008-09 Contract for Excellence by following this link.

 

The City School District of Albany serves approximately 8,300 students in 16 elementary, middle and high schools. In addition to neighborhood schools, the district includes several magnet schools and programs, as well as other innovative academic opportunities for students. The district is nearing completion of its comprehensive facilities project to newly build and/or renovate nearly all of its elementary and middle schools. The ultimate goal of the facilities project is to provide schools with the resources necessary to help students succeed in the 21st century.