BETHLEHEM AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

MEETING MINUTES

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2005

 

 

Members of the Board Curriculum Committee met on Monday, February 14, 2005, at 6:00 p.m., in Superintendent’s Conference Room A of the Education Center. Present were Curriculum Committee Members Anthony Villani, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and Richard Agretto, director of special education; Board Members Rosario Amato, Joseph Craig, Dr. Craig Haytmanek, Charlene Koch, Loretta Leeson, Diane Rowe, and Margaret Williams. Also in attendance were Dr. Joseph A. Lewis, superintendent of schools; Michele Kostem, associate superintendent; Dr. William Nelson, director of student services; Julie Victory, supervisor of mathematics; George VanDoren, coordinator of English Language Arts; Doris Correll, coordinator of English acquisition; and representatives of the press.

 

COURTESY OF THE FLOOR

 

No one requested courtesy of the floor.

 

OPEN FORUM

 

1.     Mrs. Koch informed the board that during budget hearings, she will be looking at the laptop computer program. She also requested a copy of the laptop inventory when Mr. Majewski completes his report. Dr. Lewis noted that he will be bringing the report to the next Board Curriculum Committee meeting.

 

2.     Mrs. Rowe noted that a questionnaire was sent out by Julie Victory to all BASD graduates from the years 2001 to 2004 regarding the math program and how well students felt they were prepared for math after high school. She requested to see the results of the survey. Mrs. Victory stated that she will be bringing the results of her survey to the board as soon as it is completed.

 

REGIONAL ACADEMIC STANDARDS ACADEMY (RASA) EVALUATION

 

Mr. Villani introduced Ms. Jill Moran, principal, and Ms. Judy Gehman, outside evaluator, who gave an update of the Regional Academic Standards Academy. They discussed a PowerPoint presentation, which was presented at the Pennsylvania League of Urban Schools Conference and will be used again at the Pennsylvania Association of Federal Programs Conference in April.

 

Following the presentation, the board requested the following:

 

1.     They would like to receive a copy of the PowerPoint presentation.

2.     They would like to see a report of attendance since the beginning of the Academy.

3.     They would like the administration to consider entrance and exit testing of all students to evaluate how much improvement each student has achieved during his/her year at the Academy. This is presently done through the STAR program and will be provided to the board.

4.     They would like a report on how students whose parents refused to send them to the Academy did academically staying at their home school.

 

 

 

5.     They would like to know the cost per pupil of the Academy. Dr. Lewis replied that he will provide the board with figures.

 

Dr. Lewis thanked Ms. Moran, Ms. Gehman, and the staff from the Academy for attending the meeting and their outstanding presentation.

 

ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION TASK FORCE UPDATE

 

Mr. Villani presented an update on the district’s Alternative Education Task Force. He noted that his committee of 30 members has already met five times and will continue to meet throughout the year. He noted that the committee’s charge is to:

 

1.     Examine all existing alternative education programs in the district.

2.     Make decisions about “what works” and “what doesn’t work”.

3.     Dialogue about current resources and facilities available.

4.   Begin to look at “extended” opportunities for students (one year vs. multiple year programming).

5.   Establish time lines for the development of a plan for implementation by September 2006.

6.   Investigate and research the structure of what an effective alternative education academic program looks like.

 

Mr. Villani noted that, as further plans unfold, there will be updates provided to the board.

 

PSSA DATA STUDY REVIEW

 

Mr. Villani reviewed the PSSA Data Study that was provided based on a number of questions raised by several board members at the PSSA Data presentation on October 11, 2004. He noted that the district very recently acquired a data management package entitled, “Performance Tracker” by alterNet. This program allows the district to “drill down” more specifically with our standardized testing data. Last November all district administrators were provided an inservice on how to use the software, with the hope that eventually the data management system will be utilized by all BASD teachers at the classroom level.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

 

Minutes Prepared By:

 

_____________________________________________________________________

Charlotte L. Zimmerman

Administrative Assistant to the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction