For Immediate Release

CONTACT:
Contact Person(s): Frank San Felice, Principal—NY
Company: JPS Solutions, LLC
Phone Number: 845-229-8732
E-mail Address: franksanfelice@optonline.net
Website URL: www.jpssolutions.com www.PICCS.org

JPS Solutions’ Partnership with CEI-PEA Awarded $10.5 million Educational Grant

JPS Solutions, LLC, a full-service educational consulting firm, has announced that it is a partner in a groundbreaking educational reform project that has been awarded a $10.5 million Teacher Incentive Fund grant from the U.S Department of Education. JPS Solutions has joined with the Center for Educational Innovation-Public Education Association (CEI-PEA) and ten charter schools in New York City to establish the Partnership for Innovation in Compensation for Charter Schools (PICCS). PICCS is one of only 18 projects nationwide that were awarded the prestigious Teacher Incentive Fund grant.

PICCS will improve academic achievement at schools that currently serve more than 3,000 of New York City’s most at-risk students, and that will serve more than 4,200 at-risk students by the end of the five-year grant. PICCS is designed to provide comprehensive support and technical assistance to 10 public charter schools located in troubled communities throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Nearly all students enrolled in these schools are minority, and more than 80 percent are economically disadvantaged. PICCS will improve instruction at these schools by:

• Helping schools establish financial incentives for teachers and administrators based on improved student achievement;
• Providing extensive training and support to teachers, administrators, parents and students;
• Training teachers to use student data effectively and tailor instruction to address individual student needs;
• Helping teachers create Individual Student Success Plans to ensure that each student’s academic needs are met;
• Supporting teachers and administrators in collaborative planning to improve teaching and learning at their schools; and
• Building a state-of-the-art Student Data System and technology framework to support teachers and administrators in improving accountability and student achievement.

The PICCS project charts new territory in the areas of accountability and compensation for teachers and administrators. The PICCS network of schools—which include two unionized schools—are working with JPS Solutions and CEI-PEA to develop incentive compensation programs that reward teachers and administrators for achieving specific academic outcome objectives. The outcome objectives are established collaboratively by teachers and administrators at each school, and are based on value-added measures. PICCS provides training, on-site technical assistance, information and technology to help teachers and administrators meet their outcome targets. PICCS also guides teachers at each school through a peer review process that enables them to share best practices and helps them become effective school leaders.

PICCS was designed jointly by CEI-PEA and JPS Solutions, with the input and participation of each of the PICCS schools. Frank San Felice, a principal of JPS Solutions, is the PICCS Deputy Director and is primarily responsible for managing the project. Mr. San Felice has more than 33 years experience in education and was an Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for a New York State educational cooperative that provided technology, professional development and other supports to 13 school districts enrolling more than 47,000 students. He has advised traditional school districts and charter schools throughout New York State, and he co-conducted the evaluation of the $50 million New York State Technology Diffusion Fund. Mr. San Felice is working closely with CEI-PEA and on-site with teachers and administrators at each PICCS school.

PICCS schools are using Plan-Quest™, JPS’ Solutions’ interactive digital planning tool, to help them plan and manage project activities. Plan-Quest is a One-Stop resource for developing effective plans and for managing the collaborative planning process. PICCS schools will use Plan-Quest, in coordination with the project’s other technology, to develop Individual Student Success Plans, classroom achievement plans and school-based plans. Plan-Quest will also help them document the PICCS planning process and meet the accountability requirements of the U.S. Department of Education.

Additional partners in PICCS include Tetra Data and Magi Educational Services.

For more information, visit the PICCS website: www.PICCS.org