December 20, 2012 at 7:00 PM - Bethel Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  Dr. Smith, Superintendent, will be selected by the Board as the temporary Chair for the purpose of overseeing the election of officers.

Rationale:  This action is required by State Statue.  Dates can be changed at later dates to meet the requirements of the business of the Board.

Rationale: 

• Memo from Lt Commander Mark Dwinells USN (Ret) to Board of Education members announcement/invitation to the Military Ball in February.

Rationale:  Gifts to School System

Bethel High School
Ingersoll Automotive continues to support the Bethel Public Schools. On December 3, 2012 they donated 10 new laptops to Bethel High School for students in need.

Congratulations to all of the high school fall sport athletes who made high honors or better for marking period one, and thereby received All SWC Academic Team recognition:

Girls Soccer: Elisa Navarro, Tori Bonagura, Emily Mills, Yvonne Palacios, Melanie Ravo, Lauren Bradshaw, Bianca Kaluta, Katerina Kappes, Alexa Perrefort, Caitlin Peterson, Danika Wagener, Alexandra DeLuca, Danielle Goddard, Heidi Kelm, Jennifer Palacios and Hanna Sato.

Boys Cross Country: Michael Vaghi, Josh Tamburino, Jonathan Fritch, Shane Kenney, Michael SanGiacomo, Erik Thode, Erik Weiss, Ian Folan, Michael Fusaro, and Marko Pilipech.

Girls Cross Country: Romana Pilipech, Maura Leaden, McKenna Leaden, Caroline Bruno, Hannah Bertozzi, Desire Campbell, Kilwienny Gomes, Victoria Maceira, Megan Wade, and Nikki Shaner-Bradford.

Football: Sloan Austermann, Abishek Panigrahi, Abraham DeFeo, Chandler Gray, Ian Budding, Matthew Novoa, Matthew SanGiacomo, Nick Silva, Brendan MacIntyre, Arthur Basso, Thomas Carraturo, Anthony Rodriguez, and Jack Whalen.

Field Hockey: Madeline Kroot, Olivia Fargiano, Julianna Suske, Kelly Tyra, Phoebe Ziegler, Eloise Gagnon, Lindsey Jenkinson, Julia Morton, Paige Piera, Lucy Soutter, Amanda Demming, and Amanda Nunes.

Boys Soccer: Brian Bornn, Ignacio Alday, Griffin Teed, Henry Wyard, John Jerolimo, Joseph Liquori, Brett Jenkinson, and Derrek Magro.

Volleyball: Katherin DeFazio, Brooke Ferraro, Abigail Heinmeyer, Elizabeth Galliford, Elizabeth Garrison, Kerri Earle, Morgan Schmid, Danielle Spinella, Kiana Yup, Shelby Bellamy, Casey Conway, Julia Garcia, and Victoria Palmer.

Cheerleading: Jordan Kawulicz, Brianna Paiva

Congratulations to BHS Senior Harper Stevenson on being selected to perform in the All-Eastern Honors Ensemble

The 2013 NAfME All-Eastern Honors Ensembles will perform at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, Hartford, CT, April 4-7, 2013.  More than 780 of the most musically talented high school students in the Eastern region of the United States have been selected to perform in the 2013 NAfME All-Eastern Honors Ensembles.

Rationale:  Ms. Yonsky, Director of Fiscal Services, will upate the Board on the staff's participation in the CIGNA Health Assessments.  CIGNA is raffling off an iPad for staff members that have participated.

Rationale:  Presentation of the 2012 Awards of Excellence for Educational Communications.

Honorable Mention:
Special AV Project - Bethel High School Art Show
Special AV Project - EMT @ BHS

Rationale:  Dr. Smith will brief the Board on the district's response to the events of the Newtown Tragedy of December 14th.

Further discussion of security measures in Bethel take place in Executive Session.

Rationale: 

Topic:

NWEA Assessments

Importance of this topic to the Board:

NWEA assessments are computer adaptive assessments that are administered to all Bethel Public School students in grades 2-11.  MAP computerized adaptive assessments provide educators with detailed information to help meet each student’s academic needs.

Key Points of the Briefing:

• NWEA’s MAP assessments are computerized adaptive tests called Measure of Academic Progress, or MAP.
• When taking a MAP test, the difficulty of each question is based on how well a student answers all the previous questions.  As the student answers correctly, questions become more difficult.  If the student answers incorrectly, the questions become easier until the computer finds the appropriate level of challenge.
• Upon completion of the assessment, teachers have instant access to detailed reports on their students’ strengths and areas for growth.
• Understanding each student’s academic level gives teachers the opportunity to target instruction in order to better meet their needs.
• We are using the MAP tests in the area of mathematics, reading and language usage.

Summary of the Briefing:

Using NWEA’s computerized adaptive assessments allows teachers to target instruction to meet individual student’s needs. You can find additional information by visiting www.nwea.org.

Rationale: 

Topic:    Smarter Balanced Assessments

Importance of this topic to the Board:   Critical

Key Points of the Briefing:

• SBA will be implemented in the 2014-15 school year; they will be pilot tested in 2013-14.
• SBA will replace the CMT and CAPT; there are stark differences in the make-up of SBA.
• SBA will measure students’ achievement of the Common Core Standards in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11.
• The format of the test will be explained; it includes computer adaptive testing and performance tasks.
• The rigor of the Smarter Balanced Assessments will be explained and contrasted with the CMT and CAPT.
• If there is time, the BOE will experience an actual performance assessment.
• We have done and will continue to do extensive training on the Common Core Standards and on the expectations of SBA.

Summary of the Briefing:

The Board of Education will understand the basics of the Smarter Balanced Assessments and what they mean for our district in terms of curriculum, instruction, technology readiness, and formative and summative assessment.

Action Requested of the Board of Education: 

None. 

This is a critically important informational session for the Board to make them aware of the challenges ahead for the district.  There are, and there will continue to be, budgeting implications related to changing curriculum, building stronger instructional skills, supporting teachers in classrooms, buying new instructional materials and texts, and assuring that we are technologically ready to administer the Smarter Balanced Assessments in Bethel.