NCC Minutes...
...September 26, 2007
by Debbie Hencey
October 02, 2007
The NCC met on Wednesday, September 26, 2007, at the Franklin Community Center at 12:15 P.M. Twelve members were present along with Kelly Gentry, Curriculum Leadership Institute (CLI) consultant. Members Barbara Crim, Katy Karhoff, Patricia McKee, Alan Roberts, Deborah Schaub and Craig Stokes were absent. Two new members, Lea Ann Franklin (Certified personnel outside the regular classroom) and Cheryl Robinson (Parent/Community), have joined the NCC following the expiration of one year terms for Linda Roberts and Roger Horn. All new members will be serving three year terms as stated in the, Policy for Governing Academics, approved by the board October 9, 2006.
Each member present received an agenda, SAC Members 2007-2008, Appendix A, NCC and SAC* Dates 2007-2008, SAC Schedule 07-08, Decision Making Framework Scores/ Grades / Reporting, and minutes from the May 10th meeting.
Introductions were made of all members present. Notebooks were organized as new handouts replaced outdated information from 2006-2007. Sections were reviewed to be sure everyone had all information under the same label in their notebooks.
Nicki Traul assigned members to all Subject Area Committees (SAC). This list will be posted on the Northeast website. Math and Spanish SACs have been implemented. Reading and Career/Technical will begin.
Minutes from May 10, 2007 were read. Randy Rivers announced changes being made concerning modifications that are allowed to be used during state assessment tests (which were addressed in the fourth paragraph on page 2 of the May 10th minutes). Randy Rivers had recently attended a QPA (Quality Performance Assessment) Advisory Committee meeting in Topeka where he learned that new rigid guidelines will be made concerning what modifications can be made on state test. Practice tests were similar to real tests, changes will be made. Formative assessment questions will still be used with new directions on how they must be used. Math SAC will be writing formative assessments this year. These assessments can be used throughout the year but cannot be crammed right before state tests. The Kansas State School Board will be decoupling AYP (Annual Yearly Progress), which comes from No Child Left Behind, from school Accreditations. Schools that do not make AYP can still be accredited but they must report this.
SAC reports: The Long Range Plan was written in June. Discussion took place about the curriculum which looks useful but will still need to be rearranged and adjusted. Administrators will monitor and follow up to see that curriculum is being used as written, which will reduce variance in what teachers teach. In the end this will help all teachers including those new to the district. The new math curriculum has already had positive feedback from a veteran teacher who is new to the district.
The Math SAC will meet twice this year, at the end of each semester and make note of any changes needed.
The Reading SAC will have its first meeting on Thursday, October 25, 2007. The Reading SAC will not have an easy job as there are no pre-requisites or ordinary steps. SAC members will cover all areas—Reading teachers, Special Ed., Library and Media.
Language Arts SAC is not yet active. However, the new Write Source books are in and have been distributed to classes.
Science and Social Studies SAC are not yet active. There will be new state tests which will be two part tests. Science will cover physical and life sciences. These tests will be administered in grades 4, 7, and 10. High school students not meeting standards will test again junior year. Social Studies will cover U.S. History and American Government and will be administered in grades 6, 8, and the first semester of senior year. The Kansas Department of Education has a web site which publishes flip charts to show what kinds of questions will be on the test to help educators with the assessments. Nicki will be printing a list for the Jr. High and High School teachers.
The Spanish SAC has written curriculum for High School as if a student has had no background in Spanish. Spanish I and Spanish II will be offered as they are required for the Board of Regents scholarships. The eighth grade Spanish class will be exploratory in nature.
Career/Tech SAC will meet on Thursday, September 27th for the 1st time. Kansas has new technology and equipment standards; however there are no business or computer application standards. Eighth grade has a Technology assessment in place as they must show the state if students are technology literate or not. Changes may need to be made as the state sets new standards. SAC may need to go to the NCC to decide what courses should be for Computer Tech. and etc.
Lengthy discussion took places as to ways to help develop the Career/Tech standards. Pittsburg has a Business Education Alliance that helps schools figure out what is needed from graduates to help bridge the gap between school and jobs using such activities as job shadowing and mock interviews. There is also the Kansas Career Pipeline, which is a website which helps prepare students for the jobs they’ll want by showing which classes are required from early on. Discussion also included keyboarding and computer application; what needs to be learned and starting in what grade from K-12, also how to incorporate these skills into other classes such as using spread sheets in math. These skills need to be repetitive from year to year.
The Fine Arts and P.E. SACs are not yet active however, Dance, Dance Revolution, has been purchased for P.E. classes.
PDC/Staff Development: Nicki Traul informed the NCC that the Elementary is using RTI (Response Team Intervention), building wide reading groups from 8:30 A.M. to 10:00 A.M., individualized instruction, training and preparation for group leaders and DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators for Basic Early Literary Skills). Three DIBELS tests are given each year—at the beginning, around Christmas, and at the end of the year. Progress monitoring is done more frequently. Bench mark students are progress monitored once a month, while below bench mark students are monitored twice a month and low students weekly. Individual Reading folders will be made for each student that will follow them throughout elementary years, so that they can be placed into groups at the very beginning of school.
Discussion followed about informing parents about DIBELS and progress monitoring, and how to best get this information out.
The Middle school will be having Technology training for staff on October 12th. Jr. High has acquired Write Boards and Lap Tops.
The High School has an ELMO (projector) for every classroom. The High school will also have training on October 12th.
Power School has been installed and teachers are asked to enter a good description for every assignment per grade level curriculum along with above and below level grades. Pacing guides were sent out to teachers.
Lengthy discussion took place about professional development and how to make time for it. The board was not comfortable with late-start due to the issue of custodial care of the students, which was proposed as a convenience to parents. Research indicates that teacher collaboration increased learning in students better than extended school hours. More communication is still needed between the school board, teachers, and the community.
The 21st Century Grant was implemented in the elementary school this year. It is a 5 year grant that allows up to 20 High school tutors to tutor up to 3 students each for 2 hours per night. Eventually enrichment activities will be added with 1 tutor for up to 15 students. Students are provided with a snack and transportation home. It was written into the grant that during the 3rd, 4th and 5th year, the administrator will go into the community and recruit volunteers to help out with the program.
The Jr. High has implemented the WIN (Work in Now) program. This program is to encourage children to get their work turned in. If they have unfinished work, then they are required to stay after school and finish it. If a student has transportation, they may leave when they are finished, otherwise they must wait for the activities bus at 5:30.
The High school has a similar program, with the exception that students have the option of staying after school or coming in early the next morning to complete work. This allows students with jobs or sports activities to better accommodate their schedules.
Third grade has established a recess study hall. Fourth grade has something similar and fifth grade will adapt to WIN at semester. These are some of the examples of the changes being made within the district and are not to punish but to change the culture and develop good work habits.
Discussion took place about mastery and grading. For future meetings, members need to think about where they stand on issues such as extended day, retention, summer school and what grade is considered mastery-70%, 80%, etc., also to be considered is if Jr. High should have an exit exam. If there was an exit exam and a student failed what should be done—should a student be retained or placed in a transitional eighth grade class. Children falling behind in early grades need time and resources to catch up. Academic honesty was also discussed.
On the agenda for the next meeting which will be held on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at the Franklin Community Center in Franklin, KS, will be: (A) Mastery and Grading—Decision Making Framework, (B) Student Organization, Academic Honesty, and (C) Mandatory Summer School (D) a report from Career / Tech
Discussion took place about mandatory summer school and extended day school which are allowed by law but should be a last resort. Some felt that a jump start summer school that took place in July would be better for children. Challenging children was also addressed. Nicki will bring an article about challenging students.
Randy Rivers passed the Table of Contents from, A Repair Kit for Grading, 15 Fixes for Broken Grades, by Ken O’Conner. A copy of this book has been ordered and will be passed out to members before the next meeting. The issues covered in this book will also be found on your Decision Making Framework handout. Please read the book and decide your personal opinion on each topic in order to be prepared for discussions at future meetings.
Discussion took place about how the community doesn’t always accept changing grade cards. Also, how much input should staff have in grading decisions. Would it be a good idea to ask them when they haven’t read the background information? NCC members need to decide what their hot spots may be.
NCC Minutes...
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| Date | Subject | Posted by: |
|---|---|---|
| 10/04/2007 | I missed the first meeting but am... | Barbara Crim |
