BETHLEHEM AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

MEETING MINUTES

MONDAY, MAY 10, 2004

 

 

Members of the Board Curriculum Committee met on Monday, May 10, 2004, at 6:00 p.m. in Superintendent’s Conference Room A of the Education Center. Present were Curriculum Committee Members Anthony Villani and Richard Agretto; Board Members Rosario Amato, William Heske, Dr. Craig Haytmanek, Charlene Koch, Julie Venanzi, and Margaret Williams. Also in attendance were Dr. Joseph Lewis, superintendent of schools, Michele Kostem, associate superintendent, and representatives of the press.

 

OPEN FORUM

 

Nothing to report.

 

ATTENDANCE POLICY

 

Dr. William Nelson reviewed changes to the Attendance Policy in regards to doing college visitations and “Take Your Child to Work Day”. He noted that the state has mandated that, unless a representative of the district is in attendance, it will be recorded as an excused absence on the student’s records. It is recommended that parents take their children to work during the summer or on holidays. The administration is also making this recommendation to local chambers of commerce.

 

DISTRICT-WIDE TESTING OVERVIEW

 

Mr. Villani introduced Mr. George VanDoren who presented an overview of district-wide testing for the next school year. Mr. Villani explained that all districts will be piloting PSSA tests in grades 4, 6, and 7 for reading and math. Mr. VanDoren reviewed the following testings:

 

n     Dates for PSSA pilot testing, grades 4, 6, and 7, dates to be announced

n     Title I testing, 3 times per year, grades 1-8 (He noted that tests vary from building to building.)

n     ESOL Assessments, grades 1-12

n     College Board testing, Grades 11^th and 12^th, various forms of SAT tests

n     Standardized Tests

o      Grade 2 – Otis Lennon School Aptitude Test

o      Grade 4 – Terra Nova Math and Reading

o      Grade 7 – Terra Nova Math and Reading

o      Grade 10 – Terra Nova Math and Reading

n     On Demand Assessments

o      Math – Elementary - Skills Assessments – grades 2, 3, 4, and 5

o      Math Skills Tests – grades 6, 7, 8

o      ELA Developmental Reading Assessment

§       Grades 1 and 2 – all students

§       Grade 3 – Select students who are not at level

 

o      ELA Writing Assessments

§       Narrative Writing – grades 1 and 2

§       Performance Task – grades 3 and 4

§       Informational Writing – grade 4

§       Persuasive Writing – grade 5

o      Middle School – grade 6 – Narrative Writing

o      Middle School – grade 7 – Persuasive Writing

n     Final Exams – Standards Based

 

ACADEMIC INTERVENTION UPDATE

 

Mr. Villani presented an update on the district-wide academic intervention program. He noted that each school plans their own programs per grade level. He reviewed what programs have occurred during the current school year and what are planned for the summer programs.
All schools plan both remediation and enrichment programs. Title I/ASPIRE schools also provide enrichment programs to meet special needs. Many of our schools are partnered with local agencies such as the Banana Factory, etc. Mr. Villani noted that, in addition to summer school being offered at the high school level, a new summer school program will be provided at the middle school level.

 

MATH EVALUATION

 

Mr. Villani distributed copies of a letter from Ms. Robin Marcus of the University of Maryland who will be the primary person assigned to assess the integrated mathematics program and the curriculum-centered professional development efforts in ten school districts, including the Bethlehem School District. He noted that, additionally, the project is hiring another independent group to research the quality of implementation in each district. So that there is no temptation to explain away negative achievement results by looking for weakness in the implementation, the research on the quality of implementation will be conducted entirely independently from the student achievement research. He noted that the district will receive reports on both surveys.

 

OTHER

 

1. High School Summer Program – 2004

 

     Mr. Villani reviewed an agenda item for the high school summer school program, which will be presented at the May 17, 2004, Regular Board Meeting. He noted that prices will be the same as last year.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m.

 

Minutes Prepared By:

 

_____________________________________________________________________

Charlotte L. Zimmerman

Administrative Assistant to the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction