MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2007

Members of the Board Curriculum Committee met on Monday, October 8, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. in the Education Center’s Dining Room. Present were Curriculum Committee Members Mary M. Katona, assistant to the superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and Richard Agretto, director of special education; and Board Members Rosario Amato, Michele Cann, Joseph Craig, Judith Dexter, Dr. Craig Haytmanek, William Heske, Charlene Koch, Loretta Leeson, Diane Rowe, and student representative Robert Sawyer. Also in attendance were: Dr. Joseph A. Lewis, superintendent of schools; Robin Lutcher, director of information technologies; Frank Arbushites, coordinator of academic computing; Kathleen Bast, coordinator of Literacy/ELA, 6-12; Dr. Dean M. Donaher, director of special programs and athletics; Dr. Joanne LoFaso, coordinator of Literacy/ELA, K-8; Eric Smith, supervisor of science; Julie Victory, supervisor of mathematics; and representatives of the press.

Mrs. Rowe called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.

LAPTOP REPORT

Mrs. Lutcher apologized for the reports being presented to the board at the last minute but explained that she had not received the information until today. She explained that the one titled “High School Evaluation Project Report” from Lehigh University was complete but the one titled “Evaluating S.K.I.L.L.S. 21 in the Early Years, an Analysis of One-to-One Computing” would not be complete for approximately two weeks. Mrs. Lutcher then noted that these are very important reports and asked that the board be given more time to review them. She then suggested that the reports be discussed at the November Board Curriculum Committee Meeting. The board agreed with her suggestion.

Mrs. Koch noted that, at a recent state conference she and other board members had attended, one of the speakers suggested that districts use computers to teach Literacy. The speaker would also like to see teachers instruct their students on how to verify the accuracy of information they obtain from a Website. Mrs. Lutcher replied that the district is already defining benchmarks for students by grades. They are also currently working with principals and teachers regarding instructing students on how to evaluate the validity of information they retrieve from a Website.

SAT REPORT/ADVANCED PLACEMENT POSSIBILITIES

Mrs. Katona introduced Mrs. Tatalias from College Board who explained that the documents that were provided to the board contained the reported results for the district and the two high schools for those students who took the SAT test prior to graduation this past school year. She noted that this is the second class that has taken the revised SAT test, which now includes a writing score. As with the class of 2006, nearly 1.5 million students in the class of 2007, representing 48 percent of the graduation class took the SAT. Nationally, scores in all tested areas dropped slightly in comparison to the 2006 scores. The math scores of the national class of 2007 dropped by three points over last year’s score to 515. The national critical reading score fell by one point to 502. Within this second cohort to take the writing test, the national mean dropped three points to 494. College Board notes that, while it is too early to identify any established trends in writing, when we consider this year’s decline, coupled with the drop in critical reading scores, we should be especially mindful of making efforts to support teachers of reading and writing.

Mrs. Katona noted areas for improvement as well as areas that our students outperformed their counterparts nationally and statewide. Two such groups of students were our top ten percent and our African-American students.

Mrs. Katona then noted that the district will continue to offer support to all of its students and will work toward its goal of increasing by 20 percent the participation in Advance Placement (AP) testing. The district will also encourage greater participation among all tenth and eleventh grade students in the PSAT. Mrs. Katona noted that those who take the PSAT’s in grades ten and eleven tend to score better on the SAT’s.

Mrs. Dexter again requested that the district look into offering preparatory classes to students after regular class time.

Mrs. Leeson inquired as to how many students took AP courses. Mrs. Katona responded that she would get this information for Mrs. Leeson. Mrs. Leeson also asked the administration to look at courses to see why we do not have more students scoring 3+ on the tests. Mrs. Victory responded that this information is part of the AP audit. She noted that anyone teaching AP courses had to write a syllabus, which had to be approved by College Board. This is a move in the right direction to make sure that teachers are capable of teaching AP courses.

In response to Mrs. Dexter’s request, Mrs. Tatalias will supply the district with brochures and DVD’s on how to get information to students and parents on why AP classes are important for students to schedule.

PROJECT 720 UPDATE

Mrs. Katona and Dr. Donaher presented an updated overview of Project 720. Dr. Donaher reminded the board that Project 720 is named for the number of days a student spends in high school from the beginning of ninth grade to the end of twelfth grade. He also noted that the district has been approved for a grant of $89,000 for this project.

Dr. Donaher then listed the goals of Project 720:

1. Implement a rigorous college and career preparation curriculum for all students.

2. Evaluate school district policies and systems to strengthen the academic infrastructure and increase student achievement.

3. Implement a highly personalized environment that provides consistent advising, mentoring, and the development of individual plans to guide the high school experience.

4. Provide continuous professional development to establish and build a learning community for staff and partners.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Mrs. Katona also distributed to the board the following information:

1. 2006-2007 End-of-Year Read 180 Analysis Summary

2. Read 180 Enterprise Edition Information

3. Regional Academic Standards Academy Update

COURTESY OF THE FLOOR TO VISITORS (15 minutes allowed)

Mr. Michael Stauffer, 909 Cayuga Street, Bethlehem, spoke regarding the mentor program, noting that he feels that it is an invaluable program. He also asked the board to consider the students when voicing their opinions. He suggested, “What happened in the past, stay in the past, and noted that it is time to move on.”

Mr. Stephen Antalics, 737 Ridge Street, Bethlehem, spoke regarding the accountability of school board members to tax payers, and he also inquired as to the status of the Laptop Accountability Report.

OPEN FORUM

Mr. Craig noted that he had attended the PSBA Conference and sat in on discussions regarding No Child Left Behind. He wanted the administration to be aware that all other districts across the state seemed to be having the exact same questions and problems that our district is having.

Mr. Craig also noted that he would like the administration to consider modern dance classes as part of the physical education program in our schools.

Mr. Craig would also like our administration to contact the Parkland School District’s administration for information on how they do their staff development program.

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

Minutes Prepared By:

Charlotte L. Zimmerman

Administrative Assistant to the Assistant to the Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction