The other day, I was going through my reams of e-mail and found this note from the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA, to those in the know) that outlined the results of a state Ed Department “outreach effort to determine how the department could better ‘support student learning and school improvement.’”

They used a written survey, consulted with various groups (including NYSSBA), held large group discussions with thousands of educators and small group discussions with a total of 400 of the department’s own staff.

These are the top 10 recommendations:

1. Increase recognition of the good work going on every day in our schools statewide.
2. Increase the opportunity for the field to share input and feedback on important policy decisions before the Board of Regents and the department take action.
3. More timely availability of data; streamline data collection and reporting processes; roll out improvements to the nySTART data collection and reporting system.
4. Provide more flexibility to schools and districts – less micro-management.
5. Streamline regulatory processes, including monitoring, reporting and required plans; provide more support and technical assistance to individual schools; and eliminate or reduce unfunded mandates.
6. Reduce the number of “lists” of schools/districts in need of improvement and increase the available supports to these schools.
7. Provide advance notice to schools and districts before the Department shares data and reports with the press, the community and others.
8. Improve the coordination of responsibilities within the Department and designate a single point of contact for the field on a particular topic or function.
9. Strengthen communications so they are more regular, less complicated and timely.
10. Support schools, share responsibility, and increase collaboration across the P-16 continuum.

And if anyone knows what a P-16 continuum is, please let me know.