Curriculum and Philosophy Committee Minutes
3/28/06

 

 

1)      Attendance- Dr Hanson, Greg Kann, Patty Lovejoy, Kim Casey, Townley Chisholm

                Sally Oxnard, Tom O’Malley, Peter Stackhouse

2)      Time commitments for testing

                  Mandated NECAP- Fall ’06- Reading and Math for  6,7,8 and Writing in 8^th

                  Pilots                        May ’08 Science  grades 8 and 11    (Implement in May ’08)

                                                   Fall ’06  Reading, Math and Writing for grade 11

 

                  Mandated NHEIAP – May ’06, Reading and Math- grade 10

                                                      May ’07 ?? possibly- or transition to Fall ’07 NECAP 

 

                  NWEA- (not mandated)  Fall ’06 reading, language, math grades 6 to 10

                                                           Spring ’07  ditto                                      6 to 9

                                  Pilot                  Spring ’06  science                                 6 and 9

 

        The NECAP involves 8 blocks of 1.5 to 3 hours for 8^th

                                            6 blocks of 1.5 to 3 hours for 6^th and 7^th

                                            science pilot 8 and 11 = 2 to 3 hours

                                            4 segments of up to 90 min for 11^th grade

        The real upheaval however  is moving all the students around so that every student including those who need modifications, have the best possible testing experience. Mr. O’Malley chose to test students in their pods which seems more comfortable for them.

 

 

        The NWEA costs us $18,000 for the COOP schools.  It consumes 60 minutes per test, 3 hours per student, or 3 class periods spring and fall. It is easier to organize than the NECAP. It is all done on computer, so we cycle the students through the computer labs. Fewer students needs accommodation as it is a graduated test.  We use the NWEA to get to know the 6^th grade students, to group them for parts of their lessons- grammar or  spelling  etc.  The test also produces goals for each child.

        We  are still planning to look at how students did on meeting their individual goals. Mr. Stackhouse will report on that at the next meeting.

 

3)      NECAP scores – recently received from Fall ’05 for the CMS. – outstanding scores !!

           Remember that the fall data show what the student learned  the preceding school year. Gradations are Proficient with Distinction (4), Proficient (3), Partially Proficient (2) and Less than Proficient (1).  The scores are all posted on the website. The essence is we did significantly better than the state norms in almost every parameter except for with respect to students with IEPs, where our scores match the state norms.

 

4)      other topics briefly discussed- a)  we are NOT changing our policy on weighted grades at the High School, weighted grades remain for the GPA for college applications, and for class rank for college applications, but not for calculating the top ten for graduation. b) Our new online courses will be examined to be sure they are acceptable for college entrance. That is in the development process.

 

5)      agenda for next meeting-  4/18/06- A)  reading and math curricula as used for the students with IEP’s.  research and relationship to Orton Gillingham methods??  B) f/u on NWEA scores and how students did re meeting  own goals – top third, middle third, bottom third. Or some similar process. C) Resisting narrowing of the curriculum as addressed in the NYT article- continuing electives and diverse options such as foreign language, art, and music at the CMS vs need for some students to spend more time on reading etc.

 

Attachment #1 (pdf) NECAP Preliminary Results

Attachment #2 (pdf) NECAP Preliminary Results - Subgroups

Attachment #3 (pdf) Standardized Assessment in ERCSD

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Sarah C. Oxnard, MD