Dr. David Steiner walked the halls at the School Of The Arts. Like these students, he's doing more listening now, so he can "do" later.

"Our conviction is that in the end we need to learn a lot about what's working on the ground, what the challenges are, in order to be helpful to the field," said Dr. Steiner.

With a background in arts education, the new state education commissioner is putting an emphasis on engaging students in the classroom, and not teaching to standardized tests.

"A test is really important, but it must be what it's supposed to be: an assessment, not the curriculum, and the curriculum has to be rich in knowledge, and skills sequenced and spiraled," said Steiner.

The commissioner says there are several top priorities because there are so many challenges, including the current budget.

"We're going to have to do more with less," said Steiner. "I think we have opportunities to use new teaching techniques, technology, hands on learning."

Steiner says he wants to ensure teachers are better prepared before they're certified too. He says that's key to increase graduation rates. In Rochester, it's at about 52%.

"If you challenge students with passionate teaching, enriched materials then they will stay in school," said Steiner.

Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard says he thinks Steiner understands Rochester's needs, and he will be a catalyst for change in classrooms in the district.

"I think he's gotten that. He's seen some of our challenges. He's seen some of our successes and I think we can build on that and see how the state education department can actually help us," said Brizard.

Steiner succeeds Richard Mills who retired in June. Before being sworn in, Steiner was the dean of the Hunter College school of education at the City University of New York.