Dr. DiGaudio is the Founding Principal at New Dawn Charter High School and became the Founding Principal of New Dawn Charter High School II, which opened in September 2019. Lisa has published several books with Teacher’s Discovery, including “Informational Text Analysis in 10 Lessons: Life Skills Edition” and “Seminal U.S. Document Analysis in 10 Lessons.” Lisa has also co-authored an article in Teaching Social Studies (2018) and served as the Chief Blogger for the Network of Independent Charter Schools. A classroom teacher, teacher leader, data coach, and now school leader, Lisa has served children in different settings for over twenty years, but her passion is building promise for over-aged and under-credited teens. A founding team member for both New Dawn charter applications, and a contributor to several charter applications in NYC and Arizona, Lisa has helped many schools develop their instructional programming. Lisa was also a New York Educator Voice Fellow with America Achieves in 2015 and a Policy Fellow in 2016 and 2017.
AAPF19 Session
Alternative Accountability Options for New York City Transfer Schools
Measuring outcomes of transfer schools, that primarily serve students who are over-aged and under-credited, using traditional outcome measures paints an incomplete picture of the academic and developmental impact that these schools have on at-risk students. Traditional evaluative measures also pose difficulty for the schools and their authorizers. These schools receive negative ratings for the graduation rates and high school exit exam participation, resulting in them being labeled “failing schools.” To tell the whole story, this session will feature measures and potential ideas for alternative accountability frameworks that accurately describe the progress of a transfer school’s educational program and will discuss and seek feedback regarding national initiatives such as the “A-GAME” (Advancing Great Authorizing & Modeling Excellence) grant, funded through USDOE CSP dissemination funds, that are bringing authorizers from around the country together to develop exemplars for alternative accountability performance frameworks.
AAPF18 Session
Developing Alternative Accountability Measures in Response to ESSA Legislation
The implications for ESSA regulations are far-reaching, and without proper guidance from state and federal officials, alternative accountability measures may potentially hurt many schools that serve at-promise students across the country. The presenters of this session will discuss the work done at two New York City Transfer Charter Schools: John V. Lindsey Wildcat Charter School, and New Dawn Charter High School regarding alternative accountability measures, and the implications of the new ESSA regulations on New York City's at-promise students.
Participants will have the opportunity share best practices around these issues. Session goals include (1) Ideas around developing accountability measures that make sense for schools (2) Troubleshoot issues in accountability for at-promise students that are off-track and (3) Identify weaknesses in the current ESSA plan that can be addressed with state education leaders.
Past AAPF Sessions:
Implementing Mentoring Programs with At-Promise Teens
Research shows that students who have strong personal connections at the school setting have a greater chance of achieving academic success. New Dawn leaders will outline how to develop a mentoring program that connects all adults in the school building with every student in the school, including sharing the results at New Dawn, a transfer high school in Brooklyn, NY. Presenters will share how New Dawn outperforms in persistence and other areas on the NYC School Survey and Quality Snapshot by developing and implementing a mentoring program. In this hands on session, participants will work in small groups according to their mentoring experience to explore one of three relevant questions: How can a small scale mentoring program be adopted at your school? What would be necessary to develop a successful proposal and implement it? And, troubleshooting current practices: what is working and what isn’t?
Alternative Accountability Measures for Transfer Schools in New York City Learn about New Dawn’s work as a charter school with alternative cohorts and reengagement strategies with NYSED and the NYCDOE School Quality Snapshot. Study the consequences of working with alternative accountability measures that do not meet federal standards for graduation. Hear about New Dawn’s approach to open enrollment and to delivering dynamic instruction and individualized support. This session will include group discussion to share their experiences with policymaking for alternative accountability by exploring any ground been made in attendees schools to give transfer school students better measures? Attendees will be invited to share their experiences and celebrations on making accountability measures work.
