October 17, 2013 at 7:00 PM - Bethel Board of Education Regular Meeting

Presenters:                 Linda A. Pica, Director of Special Education & Pupil Services
                                    Frances Peters, Transition Specialist 

Topic:  Recognition of the Community Partners who support our High School Community Based Transition Services Program


Key Points of the Briefing:

The following individuals, businesses, and agencies are recognized for their contributions and commitment to the Bethel Schools’ Community-based Transition Program. 

• Press Release - Helmsley Project

Key Points of the Briefing:  There were major changes to the grade 6 math program: 

Expressions and Equations

• Write and evaluate expressions with whole number exponents using the order of operation

• Write and evaluate algebraic expressions to represent real life problems
• Determine if a value is a solution of an equation
• Solve one-step equations
• Represent constraints with inequalities and recognize they can have infinitely many solutions
• Solve one-step inequalities
• Graph inequalities
• Solve problems using the Distributive Property

• Calculate the area of a Trapezoid
• Find the distance between points with the same x- or y- coordinate
• Draw polygons in the coordinate plane given vertices and find lengths of sides
• Find the surface area of prisms and pyramids  

The Number System

• Describe quantities with positive and negative numbers
• Compare and order integers and understand absolute value

 
Statistics and Probability

• Display data on histograms and box-and-whisker plots

  The following were removed from the 6^th grade math curriculum: 

• Simplifying fractions
• Adding and subtracting fractions
• Converting improper fractions to mixed numbers
• Converting mixed numbers to improper fractions
• Rounding decimals
• Probability
• Powers of ten

Summary of the Briefing: The curriculum changes made to the grade 6 mathematics program reflect the very significant demands of the Common Core State Standards on math curriculum K—12.  Please see the above list for the particulars.  These changes are also part of the adoption of the resource Big Ideas Math.   

Key Points of the Briefing:   

There were major changes to the grade 7 and Accelerated 7/8 math program: 

Equations and Expressions

• Solve linear inequalities with two-steps
• Write linear inequalities with two-steps
• Graph linear inequalities
• Describe slope as the proportionality between a given point (x, y) and the origin. 

Geometry

• Calculate the surface area and volume of pyramids
• Classify angles as adjacent, vertical, complementary and supplementary and use the various angle types to calculate unknown angles 

Statistics and Probability

• Understand representative samples (random sampling) and populations
• Compare two populations from random samples 

The following were removed from the 7^th grade math curriculum: 

• Order integers (now 6^th grade)
• Understand and write ratios and rates (now 6^th grade)
• Convert metric and customary units (now 6^th grade)
• Graph points on coordinate plane (now 6^th grade)
• Utilize the order of operations to simplify expressions (now 6^th grade) 

The following were the major changes added to the 7/8^th grade math curriculum (a combination of the changes in 7^th and 8^th grade):  

Equations and Expressions

• Solve a linear equation in one variable with no solution or a solution of all real numbers
• Solve a linear equation by clearing the denominator
• Solve linear inequalities with two-steps
• Write linear inequalities with two-steps
• Graph linear inequalities
• Apply the properties of integer exponents 

Geometry

• Describe transformations in the coordinate plane (translations, reflections, rotations, dilations)
• Classify angles as adjacent, vertical, complementary and supplementary and use the various angle types to calculate unknown angles
• Determine angle measures in triangles and parallel lines cut by a transversal
• Calculate volume of cones and spheres
• Calculate the surface area and volume of pyramids 

Statistics and Probability

• Understand representative samples (random sampling) and populations
• Compare two populations from random samples 

Number System

• Approximate irrational numbers
• Evaluate square and cube roots
• Determine a side length in a right triangle using the Pythagorean Theorem 

Summary of the Briefing: The curriculum changes made to the grade 7 and Accelerated 7/8 mathematics program reflect the very significant demands of the Common Core State Standards on math curriculum K—12.  Please see the above list for the particulars.  These changes are also part of the adoption of the resource Big Ideas Math.   

Key Points of the Briefing:   There were major changes to the grade 8 math program: 

Equations and Expressions 

• Solve a linear equation in one variable with no solution or a solution of all real numbers
• Solve a linear equation by clearing the denominator
• Solve a Systems of Equations with two variables using elimination, substitution, or graphing
• Apply the properties of integer exponents 

Geometry 

• Describe transformations in the coordinate plane (translations, reflections, rotations, dilations)
• Determine angle measures in triangles and parallel lines cut by a transversal
• Calculate volume of Cones and Spheres 

Statistics and Probability 

• Create a linear model using a Scatter Plot 

Number System 

• Approximate Irrational Numbers
• Evaluate cube roots 

The following were removed from the 8^th grade math curriculum: 

• Operations with rational numbers (now 7^th grade)
• Creating and interpreting graphs (box-and-whisker, histogram) (now 6^th grade)
• Using proportions to solve problems including percents (6^th and 7^th grade) 

Summary of the Briefing:  The curriculum changes made to the grade 8 mathematics program reflect the very significant demands of the Common Core State Standards on math curriculum K—12.  Please see the above list for the particulars.  These changes are also part of the adoption of the resource Big Ideas Math.   

Key Points of the Briefing:  The major changes in these documents are the following: 

1. Mathematical Practice Standards have been aligned to chapters in Go Math and added to pacing guides in all six grade levels.
2. Focus areas are highlighted on the curriculum document so teachers are completely clear.
3. Pacing has been adjusted to allow for more instructional time in the focus areas.
4. Essential Questions have been added for each chapter on the pacing guide.
5. Common Core Claims for Mathematics have replaced mathematical communication and reasoning standards in the former documents.
6. Assessments have been sharpened, and data collection is more organized. 

Summary of the Briefing:   These revisions make the curricula in grades K through 5 for which Go Math is the major resource much more closely aligned with the Common Core and the mathematical shifts. 

Key Points of the Briefing:   

The Spanish and French Grade 8 curriculum was updated inorder to accomplish the following:

1. to align the ACTFL World Language standards with the Common Core;
2. to align our district power standards with the ACTFL standards;
3. to include specific, highly engaging instructional tasks for each mode of communication (interpretive, interpersonal, presentational) in each unit of study;
4. to include performance tasks and other integrated performance assessments for each unit of study;
5. to update the assessment rubrics and classroom resources used to assess and teach.

Summary of the Briefing: The curriculum changes made to the grade 8 Spanish and French program are powerful because they include performance assessments and engaging in-class presentational mode activities that will better prepare our students to use the target language more effectively.  The alignment of the ACTFL with the Common Core is also very important to the quality of our World Languages program.

Topic:  Curriculum Updates for Freshman and Sophomore English Curricula 

Key Points of the Briefing:

The changes in the grades 9 and 10 curriculum documents were driven by the Common Core Standards and by the College & Career Readiness Standards. As a result, there is a greater emphasis on: 

1. collaborative work groups (and the skills needed to run them effectively);
2. the reading of many differing perspectives on a topic;
3. reading a text through a variety of lenses (feminist, historical, cultural, and so forth);
4. the synthesis of information across sources and texts;
5. the analysis of multiple sources or works by the same author or on a particular topic; and
6. the increase in the use of informational (non-fiction material).   

For example, in the Of Mice and Men section of the Freshman curriculum, students work collaboratively in groups to share and compare self-guided research on historical and cultural information related to the novel. They also read biographical perspectives of those living in the Dust Bowl and explain how what they read specifically relates to the novel. Students then examine a character's perspective through a specific lens, such as the feminist lens or a political lens. 

The Sophomore curriculum reflects the demands of the CCSS/CCR also. Here, too, there is an increase in the use of informational material, the use of collaborative work groups, and the focus on argumentation, evaluation, and synthesis. In the Lord of the Flies section, for example, students are reading a variety of nonfiction pieces, such as "What is the Age of Responsibility?" and "How Old is Enough?" to defend their positions on what standards should society use to determine when an individual should be treated as an adult.  The process will also include the review of a 2005 Supreme Court case to determine what evidence was used and how it was used to decide the case, and so forth.   Media literacy is also continuously reinforced such as when students compare Picasso's Guernica to a selected passage from Golding's Lord of the Flies.  

The texts continue to be challenging (none were removed), the use of academic language continues to be reinforced and expected, while more nonfiction texts has been added purposefully and strategically to units. The English department intends to do more of this throughout the school year, as the teams meet in their PLCs to evaluate and revise the curriculum as needed based on student needs and the expectations that have been set. 

There are also shifts in instructional practices to assist students with the transition, including the use of the gradual release of student responsibility instructional model, purposeful grouping, and scaffolding of instruction. We continue to emphasize the use of text-dependent questions and use of smaller complex texts for in-class analysis. These are key to assisting students adjust to the changes. 

Key Points of the Briefing:

1. The CAPT no longer exists for social studies (Interdisciplinary Task), English (Response to Literature), or for mathematics.  Only science will be tested with CAPT; the other academic areas will be tested by NWEA and by a beta version of SMARTER Balanced Assessment in 2014 and a complete version of SMARTER Balanced in 2015.   
2. We removed the specific references to English and social studies, and substituted “reading and writing” since we know these components of the Common Core will be assessed by the State using SMARTER Balanced. 

Summary of the Briefing:  Due to the demise of the CAPT as an assessment tool for reading, writing, and mathematics, we wanted to update the policy for parents and students who will still need to take additional remedial coursework if they do not demonstrate academic performance at the level needed for graduation.       

Key Points of the Briefing: 

1. Due to the teacher evaluation statutes, Professional Learning is now front and center in terms of teacher and administrator professional growth, development, and evaluation. 
2. The policy was completely re-written and describes in detail many of the mandated changes to “staff development”—especially changes that state Professional Learning is much more than “inservices,” but is also the work of Professional Learning Communities or any school group working to solve a professional problem of practice. 
3. The policy describes how Professional Learning activities are developed based on student learning and behavioral data at the school and district levels; how the building-based Professional Development Committees and the Professional Development Council bring proposals forward, and how they are responsible for evaluating the activities. 
4. The newly amended statute 10-220a and the teacher evaluation statures make it clear that there must be ONE committee for the planning of professional learning activities and for developing and monitoring the teacher supervision and evaluation program.  In Bethel, we will maintain a Professional Developing Council and a Teacher Evaluation Task Force, but these groups will meet as one body two to three times a year to be certain that we are complying with the statute’s expectations for coordinating professional development and teacher supervision/evaluation. 
5. The new policy refers to the Learning Plans that teachers and administrators are expected to develop for themselves based on their needs.  These Learning Plans are an integral part of each certified person’s summative evaluation. 
6. The Appendix lists the mandated topics for districts.  However, the guidance I received was that we must monitor this list yearly and address the topics on an “as needed or as documented in our data as a need” basis.  It is critical, however, that if the statutes (such as teacher supervision and evaluation statutory language) states we must address such topic yearly that we do that without fail. 

Summary of the Briefing: The Board’s support of Professional Learning is pivotal to the improvement of student achievement in the district.  The policy on Professional Learning epitomizes many changes driven by the new teacher evaluation statutes.   

Key Points of the Briefing: 

1. Due to the teacher evaluation and school reform statutes over the past two years, there have been many revisions to Bethel’s teacher supervision and evaluation program. 
2. The policy describes the Board’s commitment to teacher supervision and evaluation beyond the mandates associated with PA 12—116. 
3. The new policy delineates specific expectations we have for Bethel teachers, and references the August 2013 publication entitled Teacher Supervision and Evaluation Program. 
4. This policy was completely re-written as bears no resemblance to the previous policy. 

Summary of the Briefing:   The Bethel Board’s support of teacher supervision and evaluation, and the importance the Board places on this process in order to continuously improve student achievement, are made clear in this revised policy.  

Key Points of the Briefing: 

1. All students in our school system must have a minimum twenty minute lunch period. 
2. All students in our Kindergarten through grade five schools must have a 20 minute recess and at least a 20 minute lunch. 
3. The statute does not account for inclement weather which may inhibit outdoor recess, and the schools provide indoor recess in any case. 
4. Teachers and other school employees may not take away recess time from students for any disciplinary reasons or for instructional or homework makeup time. 
5. Students in grades K through 12 may not be given physical activity (such as running the track) to do as a form of discipline.  

Summary of the Briefing:  The new statute PA 13—173, An Act Concerning Childhood Obesity and Physical Exercise in Schools mandates increased recess time and states unequivocally that recess cannot be taken away for disciplinary or makeup work reasons.      

Key Points/Elements:  

1. The use of trained detection dogs cannot be done unless the Superintendent expressly authorizes this activity. 
2. The administrative regulations for this policy detail how the search of school property, such as a locker, can be done with trained detection dogs. 
3. The principal will be present during this search (by the police and the dogs), but no one else other than the police are present. 
4. The need for a search will be based on the dog’s signal, and then the search will be conducted with the same strictures as detailed in the rest of the policy. 

Summary:   This policy has been revised to include the use of trained detection dogs in the Board’s search and seizure policy.