Handouts: Agenda - HW draft policy - new HS classes and books - new ES science
Susan Guthrie (SG)
Virginia Pollard (VP)
Diane DiBonaventura (DD)
Melissa Gilbert (MG)
Chris McGinley (CM)
Steve Barbado (SB)
Nancy Acconciamessa (NA)
Jack Maguire (JM)
Mike Kelly (MK)
Wagner Marseille (WM)
XX: Principal of Penn Wynne – rep for elementary principals
Elementary Science Kit Resource - SEE ATTACHMENTS
Hasn’t been revamped since 1999
Process was started by Joey - did a survey; before Nancy got here
10 teachers were on a committee
Teachers reviewed text books and kits using a national rubric
Narrowed it down to Foss and STC
Then looked at modules and chose some kits
Nancy took over - FOSS and STC presented to teachers
Teachers looked at kits and manuals more and refined picks
A special ed and gifted teacher were also solicited for input
2 parents from each school came in - saw presentation - filled in survey
Chose a combination of the two (see attached handouts)
MG: does this integrate with math
NA: already did curriculum alignment
Average cost of replenishment is $100 per year per class per activity - comes out of building materials budget for replenishment - current costs are about $80
We currently have FOSS and STC in action now
These kits will be rolled out a few at a time
This year we did 4th grade ecosystems kits
Teachers felt the kids were better prepared for the PSSAs
DD: discussion of Penny (award winning teachers)
SG: looking at teacher training - is there training for the gifted and learning support teachers
NA: yes, the training will include how to make adaptation and extensions; these teachers will be involved in the teacher development
SG: will there be more of an effort to integrate the SE and gifted in the curriculum
CM: they aligning the gifted program with the regular curriculum - everyone is in the room at the same time
SG: very excited about the communication home piece
DD: how much of a school week is this going to take? Are they completing the modules?
NA: the plan is to do one kit next year. Following year the second kit, the third year the last kit
SG: at the end of the 3 years they are doing 3
CM: yes, we always ask them to do too much. We need to make sure that we paint a coherent picture so teachers understand how many minutes for each activity
DD: will there be staff development to help them manage this time
XX: teachers need to understand that they do not need to budget 80 minutes for literacy; literacy may be spread out over activities and throughout the day
DD: has someone really mapped out the day with all of these new programs?
CM: they are constantly doing this; teachers are also collaborating to fit it all in; get a lot of feedback from teachers
DD: just want to make sure that someone is thinking about it
DD: with "Journeys" it builds, one unit on the other
NA: the literacy components are being aligned with the literacy curriculum
VP: is there an opportunity to let the board see all the kits
NA: goes over the cost of the kits - we are starting with the physical science kits
MG: are we phasing this in because of the money?
CM: no - we don't want to overwhelm the teachers
MG: you can really see the improvement with the changes - would like to get this in as soon as possible
Audience: make sure kids get the point of the lessons - not just play with the kits
Audience: with the 5th graders, the teachers will really need to coordinate with the math pullout
Audience: talks about science literacy vs. stories about science; talks about the crazy biography on Magnus
Audience: one of the programs (STC) had fabulous magazines to go with them – can we get those?
SG: this is a good opportunity to align the HSA's with the curriculum
DD: are we recommending moving forward with this
High school electives - Jack Maguire – SEE ATTACHMENTS
Revamping senior English - it was English 4 -
Teachers were choosing most of the materials - enrollment followed the teacher, not follow the course
Now there are 3 courses:
Reading and writing non-fiction -
Modern and contemporary literature - ww2 to the present - will be about 2/3 of the kids
Literary traditions - was British lit - more inclusive of other traditions
DD: in the big picture - required to take English 1, 2, 3 then one of these 3
JM: there are also electives
MG: can you take 2 of these?
JM: this could cause a staffing issue; hadn't talked about that; will look at it
DD: can someone that is not a senior take these?
JM: no, not at this time, taught at a senior level; also changing the English 1 and 2 to match up with the keystone exams
MG: the traditions course still favors British lit; there is a level where we are reinforcing that British literature is the center of all civilization
JM: the 9th and 10th grades are world literature courses - but as we re-do we will have a more genre based curriculum
MG: the course description privileges British
JM: the concept of a "tradition" is taught using the British
JM: AP comp and AP lit would replace these courses
DD: are there actually textbooks
JM: a textbook in literary traditions
DD: is there anything we should know about in these books?
Discussion of reading and writing non-fiction
Course has a number of videos also
New AP psych book
MG: why aren't we using e-books? Need to have discussion about this
JM: nearly every AP psych class uses this book
Homework – SEE ATTACHMENTS
Hands out 3 docs - new AR, new policy, old AR
Took some of AR and moved it to policy
There is a discussion about the sentence regarding whether or not homework is part of the grade authenticity because an issue when homework is part of the grade
It will up to the teachers to determine the grading for homework
Teachers will be required to communicate to parents how homework will be graded
How much of the grade is homework varies greatly from teacher to teacher
They are going to leave it up to the teachers - will add a statement that the teachers should strive to make it consistent across courses
SG: policies for late work are all over the map; heard about late work being stressful for kids
WM: that is a major inconsistency; teachers are torn between requiring a deadline
CM: haven’t had conversations with the teachers yet
SG: in the days of the holistic child, this is stressful; send the wrong message to the kids; doesn't allow the kids to prioritize
Audience: there are teachers giving 0 credit for one day late; research distinguishes valuing responsibility and valuing knowledge
MG: there is also a question of maturity
DD: nothing wrong with an assignment teaching responsibility; there is a difference between an extenuating circumstance and just not doing the work
WM: comfortable saying there needs to be some consistency
MK: the intent was to read the policy next week
This conversation is for another forum - may be in the AR
Audience: what happens when there is an impasse between the teachers and parent - should be mechanism for the parents to go to someone else - some parents are afraid to take it up with the teacher for fear
DD: when you have a disagreement - Principal is always the next step
Changes to the AR:
There are many changes to the AR based on discussion last Friday, and other discussions around the district - see new draft
No more midnight/weekend HW deadlines
SG: in the parent/guardian section; why are we using the word "may"?
WM: his parents didn't speak English and didn’t go to school
SG: to her, may sounds optional
There was discussion about "may" last Friday
Audience: a number of parents felt that the HW contract was between the teacher and the school; an obligation on the part of the parent is unfair
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