FAQ (or NYC educational jargon for lay-parents)

Every month during the PA meeting, a new term or commonly used argot will be shared and discussed. Here is a glossary of past items discussed. If you have a word/acronym/concept, you wish more information about, please let us know.

What is a PA/PTA and a SLT?

Each NYC DOE school has a Parent Association or Parent Teacher Association. Muscota has a Parent Association. All parents/guardians of a child at Muscota, current and alum, are members of the PA. The PA is governed by the executive board which is elected annually from PA members.

Every NYC DOE school has a School Leadership Team (SLT) which comprises of an equal number of parents and teachers/administrators. The SLT is an advisory board. The SLT ensures the school community is part of the decision making process for school-wide educational policies. The SLT develops, reviews and assesses the educational goals are aligned not only with student achievement but also with school mission and vision.

DOE information on PA and SLT functions can be found here.

What are Chancellor's Regulations?

The Chancellor's Regulations are the rules and policies that govern all NYC DOE schools. They are the house rules of the DOE.

The Regulations are available in many languages including English and Spanish here.

PA regulations (A-660) can be found here (English and Spanish).

SLT regulations (A-655) can be found here (English and Spanish).

What is a CEP?

The Comprehensive Education Plan (CEP) is like the growth development plan section of an annual performance review but for the school.

It is a map intended to guide school-wide planning and development.

The CEP comprises of sections outlining the education plan for areas including academic needs/goals, Academic Intervention Services (AIS) and parent involvement.

A primary responsibility of an SLT is the development and evaluation of the school’s CEP. This year our goals must address and focus strategies in all 6 elements of The Capacity Framework (see below).

Throughout the year, the SLT will review our progress and if needed amend goals.

The CEP for our school is available here.

What is The Capacity Framework aka Framework for Good Schools?

The Capacity Framework (or the Framework for Good Schools) model is six elements of harmony the DOE believe can lead to student achievement.

These elements are: Rigorous Instruction, Supportive Environment, Collaborative Teachers, Effective School Leadership, Strong Family-Community Ties and Trust.

The School Quality Reports and the school Comprehensive Education Plan (CEP) are based on this model.

DOE information on The Capacity Framework model can be found here (English and Spanish).

What is the School Quality Report?

The School Quality Report replaces the School Progress Report that you may have been familiar with during your Kindergarten admission process.

In October 2014, Carmen Farina announced a new system for evaluating schools removing ranking and school letter grades that the previous administration had emphasized. The first findings of this new system could be found in our school quality snapshot and school quality guides which were released on November 10th. These reports include multi-year data and are written in a lay-parent friendly format.

The snapshot report as well as a more detailed guide report can be found here.

What is the Quality Review?

The Quality Review (QR) is a one day school visit by an educator. It's akin to a visit from your parents/in-laws.

During the visit, the reviewer visits classrooms, talks with parents, students, teachers, and school leaders, and uses a rubric to evaluate how well the school is organized to support student achievement.

Muscota's last QR was during the 2016-2017 school year and we received a proficient score.

DOE information on The Quality Review can be found here.

What is the School Survey?

Every year, the DOE requests parents and teachers of elementary schools to complete a School Survey. The results are anonymous. The School Survey in addition to other measures are used by the DOE as an accountability tool.

During the Family Conference you should have received from Denise a green envelope with an anonymous code that you must have to complete your survey.

You can complete the paper survey that comes with your code OR you can choose to complete it online (via your smartphone/tablet/iPad/computer).

All surveys are due on usually at the end of March.

DOE information on the School Survey can be found here.

Updated 04/04/2018