Intro Reflections (thoughts said by committee members at table groups)
- Talking about AAP->Special Ed, but there are 80% of kids in between
- Need a global perspective
- We don't know what the School Board will do
- Lots of push back from parents
- value of what we're trying to do even if it doesn't turn out like we want
- Decisions have been made (AAP, Math acceleration, Special Ed). We have to be comfortable with what is decided even if it's not our favorite choice
- Challenge criteria: needs to be advertised as challenge with criteria of who should really be in it. Catalog is misleading
- challenge and gen ed are taught exactly the same by some teachers
- inequality for some kids since they don't have the advocates needed at home
Shared thoughts
- Want to represent ALL students
- ALL students low v/s high, white v/s non white, different ways of expression, confidence, all offer different things
- kids - meeting needs of all kids
- communication with parents and staff
- will the school board listen to our recommendations?
Purpose
- Collectively move away from advocacy for one single position
- prepare multiple options
- provide supporting info on these options for school board
- will be another study session for school board to share theories of action
Decisions already made
- AAP at 3 sites for grades 6-8
- Special ed served in least restrictive environments
- Maintain Math Acceleration, status quo
Last SB Study Session Recap
- shared social emotional needs
- time of exploration
- time when if you shove them into tracks, that's what they believe
- different each day. one day they act like an adult, next they act like child
- Kids choosing challenge when they haven't met standards
- teacher and friend recommendation heeded without considering ability
- 9th v/s 7th grade: more sections of challenge and pre AP/IB in 9th than in 7th
- thought school board had interesting questions and were genuinely curious
- talked about fixed and growth mindset
- if keeping AP/IB how will students know what to do if we get rid of self select from middle school? No chance to try it out in a risk-free environment
- what does the data look like for those who took challenge? do they go on to take more AP/IB?
Groups will create theories of action for one of 3 models
- Maintain Status quo for AAP and 7/8 challenge and add 6th grade self-select challenge
- Maintain AAP, get rid of self select challenge and substitute "Challenge for all"
- Create 2 compromise models
Theory of Action
- Begins with a statement of causal relationship between what individuals do and what constitutes a good result in the organization. If then...
- Aligns intended theory with the realities of work within an actual organization
- Identifies the mutual dependencies that are required to do complex work
- Identifies indicators of success
Parameters
- Work within existing resources
- Budget for teacher Professional Development is available
- No additional Staff or extra $$
Each table has a folder of info to use in creating their theory of action. Each table group chooses a random Model to argue for.
Comments from reviewing this packet of info and writing theory of action
- Self-select doesn't represent the makeup of total population
- what can we do to fix that?
- how many challenge classes does each child take (x number of students takes 1 challenge class, y number of students takes 2 challenge classes, etc.)
- UW study in grid format was also presented to groups
- in one teacher's challenge class she had extra work that HiCap kids had to do, others could choose to do that work as extra challenge
- What about cohorts?
- having like minded peers lets kids have appropriate level conversations. strugglers don't feel bad if they don't understand hicap kids and hicap get good conversations
- Having like minded peers pushes kids to do more than they thought they could do
Theory of Action Presentations
- Self Select Challenge in grades 6-8 option
- greater continuum of services available
- Choice
- opportunity to take risks in safe environment
- better to take a risk that doesn't work out in 7th grade than 10th
- District
- identify barriers keepign students out
- additional suport and PD for staff for academic interventions
- can 504, IEP, ELL students be placed evenly in classes when some classes are self-select challenge? all above listed groups are put in gen-ed which might violate contractual language - union issue
- Parents
- be knowledgable about levels of rigor available to students
- help students make decisions based on academics
- don't choose challenge to be with friends or for status
- get underrepresented kids in challenge
- Elem teachers
- provide recommendations for academic rigor to parents
- differentiate curriculum
- interdisciplinary teaming
- Secondary
- differentiate
- recommendation to parents about challenge
- teaming
- teacher make sure kids in different tracks don't get less, don't get behind, don't have lower expectations based on track they are in.
- collaborate with different grade counterparts in elementary
- teach different tracks simultaneously to keep lower track moving, hard with singleton students who are hicap
- Counselors
- look at test scores and teacher recommendations to suggest challenge to underrepresented kids
- after school activities and electives should mix tracks
- cross track activities and assemblies
- Q from room: What about kids who choose challenge but keep not doing well and get weaker because they don't get out of challenge?
- Students
- select appropriate academic class
- understand no easy classes, gen ed and challenge are both rigorus
- willing to take academic risks
- Challenge For all model - no self-select classes
- District
- Provide PD for differentiation
- Teacher Collaboration
- multi access point curriculum
- challenging curriculum for all
- Parent
- District and teachers to Explain data and research for challenge for all
- communicate how all students needs will be met
- ease concerns about students being appropriately challenged.
- Teachers
- PD for heterogeneous classrooms and differentiation
- collaboration
- Students
- provide safe learning community where all students feel comfortable
- united school culture
- develop social emotional skills
- provide opportunities for all students to be challenged at their level
- challenge options within all assignments
- (editor's question: What about HiCap designated in non-AAP neighborhood schools?)
- Middle Ground group A
- 6&7 heterogeneous, 8th self select challenge
- allow parents and students to consider self select before HS
- better academic choices
- more flex in schedules
- allow growth mindset
- develop Middle School Culture
- opportunities for team teaching
- district maintains 8th Challenge
- raise rigor for all
- Qualifications for challenge
- objective data for inclusion in advanced or accelerated work
- fewer challenge classes = more flexible schedule
- higher success rates
- more inclusive - not just test scores
- parents understand assessment
- teachers need PD to support challenge
- raise rigor for all classes
- 6th heterogeneous, 7 & 8 self select challenge
- same as today
- Easy to implement
- Challenge for all
- use challenge curriculum in all classes
- flexible schedule since everyone is in same type of class
- teaming
- accommodating variety in classrooms
- Middle Ground group B
- Class within a class model for 6,7,8
- increase level of rigor
- provide opportunities for greater challenge
- culture of learning at high levels
- growth mindset and grit
- opt-in for extra challenge
- honors recognition on report card
- hicap in classroom has to do challenge option
- District
- offer lots of PD, grade level, in building, across district
- practical application of differentiation
- cluster model for hicap
- below grade level support
- block schedule
- time for teacher collaboration
- teachers
- frequent communication to parents and students
- frequent assessment of students
- standards based grading
- positive learning environs for risk taking
- parents
- stay informed
- communicate
- encourage students to take risks
- advocate
- students
- take positive risks
- curious learners
- challenge themselves
- support other learners in classrooms
- What's the challenge option in regular assignments?
- Can't do that in a lab setting. How can you have challenge within a lab class and have a non-challenge version, too? I want all my kids to be able to do the cool lab
- naturally bump up challenge where it makes sense
- not every assignment
- not just more busywork
- curriculum lends itself to challenge on some assignments
- Maybe extensions and thinking for challenge
- special ed has class within a class already
- teachers wrok together to put together that library of activities and extensions
Next Academic Subcommittee meeting won't be until a prep session before the next Board Study Session. After presenting to Board will present to Task Force
Comments and discussions after each group presented to the room:
M: what the research says is the correct option isn't the same as what option I'm having to present. I don't agree with this one. Are we as a committee presenting and recommending one model or 4? the direction we were told we were going in before was leading us to present one model, now we're doing more.
G: We were directed to recommend one model. Now the board has asked us for more than one option. Our direction has changed.
M: Well, we need to flesh out the middle ground options. Hopefully the board will at least pick one of those if they don't pick the one we wanted before.
L: I've seen the Class within a class model in action and it doesn't work, so I don't agree with my model either.
C: Should we present research to support our model?
G: I'll check with H to see if we should add research.
S: Can we include the data that was included in our packets?
C: Research would be valuable to help the school board make a decision. With each model we should include data.
L: Providing biased research won't be helpful.
M: Here I am being forced to pretend this is the model I want.
H: Start time task force presented multiple models and it worked for the board. We are going to talk to the Save Our Challenge group and to T and find something that will work for teachers and for students. We will cycle our work back through this subcommittee.
M: But the research says the Challenge for all model is the right one. The research we've seen does not support self select challenge.
H: Research can be read and interpreted in multiple ways based on our own bias.
M: The whole body of research says the same thing so it's not bias.
(Editor's note: The whole body of research presented to subcommittee is from the AMLE)
C: Shouldn't be an adult telling the student every step of the way what they should say. we want to push them farther than they want to go.
C: by 9th grade they will be prepared to choose on their own.
B: offer extension opportunities and extra challenge
J: not all kids would have access to the extra challenge
C: That's ok. parents have the mindset that my kid is this person, but teachers want to say "no, you should be doing this thing instead"
J: teachers encourage students to take risks, but what risks?
C: Instead of parents advocating for them, kids need to advocate for themselves.
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