BETHLEHEM AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

MEETING MINUTES

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2005

 

 

Members of the Board Curriculum Committee met on Monday, June 13, 2005, at 6:00 p.m. in the Superintendent’s Conference Room at the Education Center. Present were: Curriculum Committee Members Anthony Villani, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and Richard Agretto, director of special education; and Board Members Joseph Craig, Dr. Craig Haytmanek, Charlene Koch, Loretta Leeson, Diane Rowe, Julie Venanzi, and Margaret Williams. Also in attendance were: Michele Kostem, associate superintendent; Stanley Majewski, director of business affairs; Robin Lutcher, director of information technology; Mia Fernandes, coordinator of literacy; Eric Smith, supervisor of science; Julie Victory, supervisor of mathematics; George VanDoren, coordinator of English language arts; and representatives of the press.

 

COURTESY OF THE FLOOR

 

Nothing to report.

 

OPEN FORUM

 

1.     Mrs. Koch informed the board that she was just notified that the Secretary of Education has resigned his position.

 

2.     The board and the administration discussed the possibility of having to allow home-schooled students to participate in extracurricular activities.

 

3.     Mrs. Leeson inquired if a task force has been considered for the Broughal Middle School construction project. The board and the administration discussed this possibility and agreed to invite interested parties to attend all Board Facilities Committee Meetings where the Broughal Middle School construction project will be discussed.

 

4.     Mrs. Leeson discussed an article from the Sunday New York Times which she distributed to board members regarding improving student test scores.

 

5.     The board asked Mrs. Lutcher if the new laptops will be switching to Intel. She replied that they will be switching at no additional cost to the district.

 

MATH UPDATE

 

1.     Mr. Villani and Mrs. Julie Victory, supervisor of mathematics, discussed a handout entitled, “Comparison of Mathematics Honors Programs: Traditional vs. Integrated Programs.” The information included was compiled after reviewing performance data of the high school honors level mathematics students from the 2003-2004 and the 2004-2005 school years. An attached chart reflected a comparison of those students who are presently seniors at the two high schools and chose either an integrated pathway for their mathematics study or a traditional pathway.

 

2.     Mr. Villani discussed the fact that, as per a request by several board members, the Curriculum and Instruction Office mailed out a survey earlier this school year to recent graduates of Freedom and Liberty High Schools. The survey was intended to gather student opinions pertaining to overall preparation in the area of mathematics for continued mathematics study in their educational pursuits. Mrs. Victory developed the survey and the accompanying letter. Mr. Villani distributed copies of the letter and the actual survey which was mailed to 3,848 graduates from the past four graduating classes at the two high schools. He noted that 502 graduates returned the surveys (247 returns from Freedom High School graduates and 255 returns from Liberty High School graduates), which represents a 13 percent return rate.

 

3.     In addition to the mathematics survey, Mrs. Victory also distributed an article on a collegiate mathematics study entitled, “A Collective Vision: Voices of the Partner Disciplines.” The article outlined a national study which was conducted by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) on the state of collegiate mathematics programs and their plans for collegiate mathematics programming through the first decade of the twenty-first century. The study’s findings are quite interesting in the light of the direction that the district has chosen for its mathematics programming over the past six years.

 

4.     Mr. Villani introduced Ms. Robin Marcus, Dr. Steve Kramer, and Mr. Joseph Merlino of the Science/Math Partnership of Philadelphia (GPSMP), and Mr. Dennis Ebersole of Northampton Community College, who are completing an independent research project for the district on the GPSMP Math Initiative. They presented a PowerPoint presentation explaining all the data that has been collected thus far and explained that the survey is not complete due to the fact that they are still compiling information from the end of this school year.

 

Mrs. Leeson made a proposal that the administration put Algebra 1 into the high school math program.

 

Dr. Lewis and Mrs. Victory explained to the board that the administration is planning to pilot a more traditional math text in both high schools for the 2005-2006 school year. A section of the ninth grade Academic Integrated Algebra, Geometry, and Statistics (IAGS) 1 in each building will use a book that is predominantly algebra, with geometry and statistics included. The administration is also looking into the feasibility of piloting books two and three in the series with Academic IAGS 2 and 3.

 

SCIENCE UPDATE

 

Due to the lateness of the meeting, the science update presentation by Mr. Eric Smith, supervisory of science, was tabled to the September meeting.

 

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