BOARD CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

 

MINUTES
Monday, January 14, 2002

 

Members of the Board Curriculum Committee met on Monday, January 14, 2002, at 6:15 p.m. in the Superintendent’s Conference Room at the Education Center. Present were school board members Joseph Craig, Ed Gallagher, Craig Haytmanek, William Heske, Charlene Koch, Loretta Leeson, Julie Venanzi, and Margaret Williams. Also present were Thomas Doluisio, Superintendent of Schools, Michele Kostem, Assistant Superintendent, Monty Perfetti, Director of Secondary Education, and William Nelson, Director of Elementary Education.

 

Open Forum

Mr. Heske asked the Superintendent for an update on the timeline for Academic Standards implementation. Mr. Doluisio provided Mr. Heske with a copy of the Academic Standards Phase II Report, which indicates the district is working within timelines established in March 2001.

 

 

Academic Standards Update - Secondary

Mr. Perfetti distributed a packet of information designed to provide an overall glimpse of progress made with the Academic Standards Initiative thus far in the secondary schools. Since grade 8 students are the first ‘live’ group, procedures for instruction, additional academic support, and assessment for promotion to grade 9 need to be in place. Alignment of curriculum to New Standards has been developed over that past three years.

 

The types of documents contained in the packet are as follows:

        •    Alignment of Curriculum to Standards

                     An example of a Performance Standard in Writing for Grades 6-10 indicates at what grade level performance standards are introduced, reinforced, and mastered to be on target for meeting standards on the NSRE by grade 10.

 

        •    Rubric

                     A ‘checklist’ for a student to clearly understand expectations of a portfolio project prior to its completion. It is a ‘recipe’ for how to demonstrate levels of proficiency from ‘little evidence of standard’ to ‘exceeding standard’. Rubrics are used by teachers to assess student performance on student work to be included into student portfolios.

 

        •    ELA Portfolio

                     A document that remains in the student file through each grade level. It also is a checklist of required entries identified for each grade and provides a composite look at scores earned by each student for required entries.

 

        •    Student Performance Summary

                     In order for students to be promoted to the next grade, certain criteria must be met through a system of point assessment. Categories for assessment include: course grade, portfolio entries points, district-wide exam points, and at the middle school level, effort and responsibility points. This document will also be used to determine in which diploma program of studies a student will be placed in high school. Options for consideration are a Standards Diploma or a Basic Diploma, with placement at the Vocational-Technical School or Liberty or Freedom High Schools, dependent upon academic strengths and/or weaknesses of each student. The Student Performance Summary will also determine student eligibility to attend summer workshops in order to earn promotion points.

 

        •    Academic Standards Support Programs – Middle School

                     In order to provide maximum opportunities for students to meet standard, academic standards support programs have been put into place which occur during the school year on Saturdays, or for a full week during the summer, for each topic identified as a deficiency for a student. School-based Academic Support Programs are also offered at each middle school and may extend beyond the school day. In order for students to participate in the Saturday or summer programs, they must first have attended and made an effort to master the skill at a school-based program. Saturday and summer workshops are hosted by each middle school, depending on the topic offered. Transportation is provided. Current Academic Standards Support Programs have initially been offered in English/Language Arts and mathematics. Plans are being designed for these programs to include science and social studies topics and will require the same criteria for student participation as previously designed for ELA and mathematics. Teachers have been extremely supportive in staffing these workshops. Assistance is also provided by high school honors students earning community service credit, and Moravian College students in the field of education.

 

        •    Academic Standards Staff Support Seminars

                     Seminars, taught by Lisa Rodriguez, Academic Standards Trainer for Middle Schools, have been designed to offer support to teachers who choose to gather a better understanding on how to deliver instruction for required portfolio entries. Workshops have also been designed for High School English/Language Arts teachers. Teachers are given Act 48 credit for their attendance.

 

        •    Data Collection Schedule

                     The Data and Material Resources Department, under the direction of Marie Bachman, gathers assessment data for each student, grade 6-10. According to a schedule, which was designed after teacher input on when topics should be introduced and how long it would take for completion and assessment, this department enters scores for each student. After the data is entered, this information is used to determine where students are falling on the assessment scale. The last five pages of the packet demonstrate how this information is used in tracking student performance by school, as well as by teacher. It also shows an assessment history, which, for many students, validates improved scores through Academic Standards Support Programs.

 

 

Meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m.

 

Minutes Prepared by:                                                                        

                                    Gayle Justice, Confidential Secretary