Earlier this month, Saugerties High School was announced as one of 23 schools across the state as a participant in the Performance-Based Learning and Assessment Networks (PLAN), a program established by the New York Stated Education Department (NYSED).
“In layman’s terms, (PLAN) is having students show what they know in a variety of ways that foster deeper thinking and student ownership in their learning experience,” said deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction Gwendolyn Roraback during a meeting of the board of education held on Tuesday, May 14.
According to NYSED, PLAN is designed to improve outcomes for students by exploring the conditions and supports schools need to adapt instructional practices. Developed with the input of educators, researchers and policymakers, PLAN is intended to build upon the statewide implementation of performance-based learning assessments (PBLA) to enact teaching and learning shifts in diverse learning communities.
“Through this program, our educators will receive specialized training and professional development opportunities to shift our instructional practices towards more effective and innovative methods,” read a district statement announcing Saugerties High’s participation in PLAN on the district website. “By embracing these new approaches, we’re not just raising standards but also ensuring that every student has the chance to thrive based on their unique strengths and abilities.”
At the May 14 School Board meeting, Roraback said the district’s inclusion in PLAN didn’t happen overnight.
“In 2021, a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to the region’s research fund staff began working to build the state level capacity to launch a PLAN pilot,” she said. “That was my first year here in Saugerties and there was rumblings of it so at the cabinet level, (Superintendent Dan) Erceg and our former superintendent, we began talking about this. In 2022, NYSED was awarded nearly $3 million from the U.S. Department of Education’s competitive grants for a state assessments program to fund the plan program as an opportunity to explore the fullest potential of assessment through real life situations and authentic learning experiences, which better prepare students for college in the workplace.”
Roraback said the district applied for the PLAN pilot program in January of this year, “and on May 8, 2024 approximately at 5:08, my phone began going up with all sorts of congratulatory remarks from around the state and my colleagues who had applied and didn’t receive it.”
In the PLAN pilot, the 23 chosen schools were connected by three different areas of focus. Saugerties High School is one of six with a focus in career and technical education and work-based learning, which NYSED identifies as: “School networks and regional hubs that are implementing high-quality career and technical education and work-based learning in ways that prepare students for success in the workplace.”
In the SCSD, that focus already includes everything from the current yearlong project-based learning program called SHS-CSI, which is seeing students in a variety of different classes endeavor to study and solve a fictitious case, engage in a mock trial, report on the proceedings, and much more; to a study at Riccardi Elementary on the perils of plastic; to a “Genius Day” visit later this month at Saugerties Junior High School by entrepreneur and author Torrance Hampton.
The other PLAN pilot schools have been identified as either focusing on inquiry-based approaches with learner profiles, or project-based learning and performance-based assessment tasks.
As part of the PLAN pilot, Saugerties High School will collaborate with other schools and will aid in developing approaches to PBLA that will then be used in schools across New York State.
SCSD officials said being selected to participate was an honor, one which amplifies what the district is already focusing on.
“We are the only ones in the Hudson Valley who received this,” Roraback said. “This is a really big deal. This supports everything we have been doing in our professional learning plan with authentic sustained professional development and learning to our three E’s of engagement, equity, empowerment.”
Roraback said the PLAN pilot will aid the district in ensuring students and educators are working in synergy.
“We want our students to take ownership of their learning and we want not only the students to be engaged, but also the teachers engaged,” she said. “Here, and very often across the country, when teachers engage in project based learning, inquiry based learning, we do a really good job with the launch. But then turning it over to the students to say, ‘What did you learn? Show me what you know,’ is where we need to do a better job. And this provides us an opportunity to hone those skills.”
Roraback said the SCSD will not only be aided by NYSED through professional development through the PLAN pilot, but will also partner with a mentor school.
“The irony is that one of our administrators and one of our brand new math teachers came from mentor schools down in the city,” Roraback said. “And one even said, ‘I chose to come to Saugerties because I had a feeling you were going to apply for this.’”
Roraback described the application process as “quite rigorous,” adding that there were times where it seemed the district was unlikely to be chosen. And then they were. And Roraback said involvement in the program will help shape education in the district and beyond.
“While Saugerties is in good standing with NYSED, we want to be great,” Roraback said. “We desire to move beyond the status quo of the suburban school to an innovative high school where students are seen, valued, and heard. Saugerties is on the precipice of greatness and this PLAN/PBLA pilot is a kickstart to our district’s needs.”
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