Amy:
- This is the process to get to a vote
- It's possible vote won't be unanimous
David: I have questions to submit, it's ok to get answers later
Ken:
- This is a large process, a journey
- amendment to propose
- Propose an achievement gap task force to be made
- we will decide on one option
- Status Quo isn't quite option 3, almost
- MSGRTF is looking at so much
- we'e only looked at Academics from TF so far
Kimberly: Since board directed the formation of Challenge, the board has to be the one to decide if we get rid of it
Sandy: Actually it's the district who brought it to the board
Larry: Schedule, electives courses haven't been voted by board, administration and operational level
Ken: I would like to have the option to reject it all
Larry: option #2 would be status quo
Kimberly: I see #3 as status quo
Amy: back to process
Sandy: no question. 6th study session on topic, tree's worth of paper, feeling good about moving forward
Amy: I'm at a similar point as sandy but have 1 or 2 questions
Kimberly:
- 7 areas for questions
- 4 options but really just 2 choices - Challenge for All or Self Select Challenge
- 1. we have policy 4200 community relations
- another 2180 about parent relationships
- we were told a survey would be conducted
- to my knowledge we weren't told there would NOT be one
- feel like we haven't done what policy would do and MSFT on general grade reconfiguration wasn't synthesized into a report to us
- went through that survey raw data and 10% of comments were about challenge, 8% said keep challenge
- don't feel like we've had our community voice
- representation on subcommittee - missing voices on special ed, minorities
- we don't speak or those populations
- Hispanic parents say they want challenge
- says it doesn't marginalize them
- the report says "underrepresented populations are not choosing self select challenge", we need to not say statements like that
- I've heard union reps saying it as well
- 50% of F&R who got 3 or 4 on SBAC selected challenge.
Kimberly
- and those who score 1 and 2 on SBAC shouldn't be in challenge for all
- Those 1's and 2's will then be in academic labs and lose electives
- even kids not F&R/ELL/etc. only 50% are enrolling in challenge
- so what about the other 50%
- implementation strategies - how do we implement?
- policy 2090 program evaluation
- we don't have data specifically on our own model
- looked @AMLE and arguments on both sides
- there does not seem to be a model like ours
- I've looked in Boston, Clevelend - they've published results
- before we pull something out saying it's not working we need to hire someone from outside to evaluate how the program works
- Don't want to interpret the task force recommendation as an indictment that Challenge doesn't work
- tasked to look at the best model for MS
- trying to move to middle school model look at policy 2210
- 2210 Grade Organization - supports different classroom environments
Kimberly
- Kids excelling in one area can advocate for themselves in self select
- struggling with differentiation in elementary school. that's not closing the achievement gap
- how can that work in MS?
- you say challenge is not equitable but differentiation in Elementary school is causing inequity
- My main issues are
- Implementation
- Achievement Gap
- No Survey - haven't heard all voices
- program evaluation of our own program
- Demographics of the task force
- Implementation
- how does differentiation work? how do teachers do it?
- How do we implement it?
- Opportunity gap
- doesn't see how this connects
- Elementary to MS are we seeing another equity issue in the new model?
- With option 1 saw need for differentiated learners - lets not have to do this in another 2 years.
- what can we do if we see Challenge for all has some things we want with metrics for success?
- concerns with differentiation - have diverse populations in self select but if it expands how to teachers effectively differentiate?
- look what motivates kids - take away stigma to be smart and not smart kids - designation on report card for honors in challenge for all to recognize taking the challenge option in class.
Sandy: I like the part about not being here doing this again in 2 years
Ken:
- What keeps us moving forward?
- community voice is important
- progress we've made so far is substantial
- no problem identification
- process problems
- board needs to choose the philosophy not a Task force
- adopting AMLE closed the thinking on the issue
- composition of subcommittee appendix B
- 10 of 17 on committee were chosen in collaboration with NSEA
- report is almost the same as comments of NSEA
- our process did not include parents and students, groups like SEPAC
- need student Task force voice
- voices we haven't heard for a change this big
- needs of Teachers are also important
- trying to find the combination of things that will be respectful of the teachers
- we haven't been able to engage community members, can't move forward without them on board
- has to balance
- Research: NSEA - 2 bodies of research go back and forth. This is old research
- Balance of evidence tilts toward Save our Challenge, not the Task force and NSEA
- Task force read what they were given
- ability grouping is coming back as looking like a good option
- premature to make a change
- I'm concerned that the NSEA research is someone's opinion on a blog
- This other article says ability grouping has best outcomes for underrepresented
- we have a biased selection process for HiCap, universal screening is the best way
- without that self select is best
- in the super search process, principals used the term "Heart work" saying staff has an investment to students
- teachers request flexibility to do heart work
- no system is perfect - can always make it better
- implementation is critical
- lets not exchange one problem for another
- curious about budget impact
- interventions are expensive, like lower class sizes
- gen ed classes have lots of 504, IEP, EL and are overwhelmed
- budget question
- anxiety and bullying at JH
- how to help remove anxiety and competition
- feel some options address this
- there are still problems in one classroom - can track itself
- agree - staff sees problem that kids think they're dumb
- fixed resources, buildings
- enrichment in all classes for some teachers
- is it different by subject? intervention for math and ELA
- intervention not in science and social studies
- maybe do a different model by subject
- equity framework come before academics?
- JH is when self identity happens
- bullying happens
- kids know who is in different groups in each classroom
- emotional points
- especially among girls
- mixed ability classrooms harm girls
- smart girls are treated badly
- act smart and others tear you down
- Normal at this age
- not convinced that arguments make challenge bad
- in mixed ability classrooms I'm not convinced bullying would go away, not convinced academics would be better
- at NJH yesterday and kids are already in academic labs,
- what would increase be in Challenge for All?
- don't want kids to be impacted negatively
Heather:
- supporting students can happen in different ways
- 33 minute advisory/pride time
- after school programs for teacher support
- support class during the day
- LAP funded math
Larry:
- per student funding formula
- fixed $ buys less every year
- decrease in f&R %, growth in high $ area of district
- prioritize LAP funding
Heather
- other support class - reading support
- incoming 7th graders skill deficient is about 15-20%
- not made the decision to add additional support classes
- in TF, exploration with electives was prioritized
- in perfect world, we would add staff to support struggling learners
- know we will need more staff for more opportunities with 24 credits
- 28-32 students is a big load
- elementary 24 student average
Ken
- 7 periods - deeply concerned we are seeing the day as 6.5 hours when MS model recommends 7 periods
- could help with struggling learners and others with more time
- I'm in favor of breaking the habit of a 6.5 hour day.
- expanded day in HS could be rolled out to MS in some forms
- after school and activity bus
- will we ever get to funding for 7 periods?
- expand school day after school
Heather:
- test in for double jump
- maintain - team of teachers will decide self select or criteria
Ken: ability grouping is important in math
Kimberly:
- test in concerns me for math
- bringing new super here with community in uproar
- think a new super should be part of the decision
- a new perspective
- I hear that
- any super coming in will have previous decision
- could see it being hard on a new super to be expected to know all of this
- make sure we aren't ill prepared
- staff properly trained
- 16 months minus summer not a ton of time to do it well
- option 1 and 3 are ones TF found acceptable
- option 1 is a big change
- option 3 is a more modest change
- notion of challenge for all is unknown
- transition - start with AMLE, keep what we have for self select challenge
- blocks for 6th and 7th is a modest change
- option 3 is second choice of SOC and TF
- I'm comfortable with option 3
- the middle is sometimes ok
- I think we should only move forward with options 1 and option 3 to make a decision
Amy: narrow down choices to 1 and 3?
Kimberly: both sides have option 3 as a second choice
Larry: you can take action at study sessions, motion, second, vote
David: I make a motion to read options 1 and 3 for first reading
sandy: second
All in favor unanimous
David:
- 1 and 3 comes to 2 issues
- how did they come to this in TF?
- Equity?
- is component where opportunity gap will be addressed in Challenge for all?
- don't see it in Elem
- option 3 has 2 models
- if equity is the issue then #3 isn't as good
- if achievement gap is the issue then #1 isn't as good, how will it fix that problem?
- do we do studies to see which it is?
amy: if we vote on that we can create those task forces
Ken:
- communication with community is important
- option 1 is confusing
- self select is being taken away but that's not clear to community
- elementary parents don't know what's going on, what might happen, what we are considering
- lots of anxiety about option 1
- how will kids scoring 1 and 2 on sbac and struggling in Challenge for all be served?
- how will pace be handled for HiCap kids?
- differentiation is hard
- science has been expanded to challenge since we've been here
- program evaluation later might say
Larry: you are asking for a report on L3 and L4 students in ELL. FRL % compared to non?
David: pull 1 and 2 as well
Kimberly: how do we serve our 1's and 2's?
Heather: we have 1's and 2's now in challenge just like we have 3's and 4's in gen ed
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