Loading...
Title : Curriculum & Instruction Committee Meeting, March 21, 2019
link : Curriculum & Instruction Committee Meeting, March 21, 2019
Curriculum & Instruction Committee Meeting, March 21, 2019
There were many areas of teaching and learning covered but I won't be covering all items on the agenda. I neglected to request all the documentation for this meeting - as they require anyone to do because for some reason they refuse to attach it to the agenda - so I will request it.There were many areas of good discussion but I found the Science adoption discussion and the discussion about Policy 3232, Parent and Student Rights in Administration of Surveys, Analysis or Evaluations. (Editor's note: I'm going to pull out both for a separate thread as I may have new information soon.)
I will also note a curious statement from Kyle Kinoshita because it occurred when speaking of Honors for All (where it didn't fit). He said that elementary math in SPS is only 40% aligned to standards and that decision "predated him." What?
Policy 2015 - Selection and Adoption of Instructional Materials and Policy 202, Waiver of Basic Instructional Materials.
Staff says they wanted to edit 2015 "in order to allow for the adoption of expanded categories of instructional materials" and 2020 "in order to remove text not relevant to the waiver process."
Kyle Kinoshita said it was "critical to policy to create a new category of instructional materials" including new curriculum like Ethnic Studies and Time Immemorial (for Native American studies).
Director Rick Burke said he commended the streamlining of the policy. But he also said some issues in the RCW about curriculum materials was not in this BAR. He said that the Board and the public "need confidence that important elements will stay intact."
He said he wanted to start the process for "partial adoptions" of less than $5M to be nimble. He said this BAR needed to come back with more clarity about policy and procedure. (I note that the Board's major work IS around policy and procedure.)
He said, "We're just not there yet."
Director Mack also thanked staff saying it was clearer than before but there may be "formatting issues" that are clouding the meaning of what is being said.
Both Director Jill Geary and Director Scott Pinkham expressed concerns about getting both Ethnic Studies and Time Immemorial done before the end of the year. Kinoshita said it would be a rush at a difficult time of the year but that it could be done.
Burke countered saying he would be glad to co-sponsor a resolution on Time Immemorial to show the Board meant business but that the process in discussion should not be a hold up to that program. "When we look back historically, things like Writers Workshop and Ethnic Studies are not courses or materials but a wave of awesomeness and cultural change."
Geary tried to push back saying, "It's been hanging around and I want us to look like a Board that actually gets things done." She pushed for this to go forward to the Board for Intro and use the two weeks from that meeting to the vote at the next meeting for further discussion.
Burke said this was fundamental work that "we have to get right and it isn't there yet."
Director Leslie Harris chimed in that "adoption and curriculum is our job" and that she wanted to make sure there was a way to embed PD required when there is new curriculum.
Then there was a back and forth between Kinoshita and Mack about course catalog work versus schedule of courses.
Somehow Geary equated "getting it right" with the Board trying to take more power. I concur with Mack, Burke and Harris - this is the Board's fundamental work.
It was (kind of) left that there will likely be a resolution in support of Time Immemorial.
Speaking of TI, Gail Morris, the head of Native American issues, gave a report that they have had trainings on the curriculum but very low turnout of teachers and principals. She said subs can be provided as well as curriculum materials.
On Ethnic Studies, in December the Board approved an addition of an ethnic studies course code to the high school catalog. As well, there may be the possibility of cross-crediting an ethnic studies course with one of the high school social studies requirements. It was quite the list of work so do check it out.
At this point, I did lose track of where we were on the agenda but Director Harris, once again, asked where staff was on a feedback loop on evaluation of Honors for All at Garfield High School. Jessica Beaver of Research and Evaluation said that they had not forgotten about it, that it was a priority for spring work and that they will be going out to gather data at Garfield.
On Advanced Learning, Wyeth Jessee said that they had heard from families about customer care. He said one issue for his department is that they have frontline work (directly with families) and behind the scenes work. He said they have divided up responsibilities and one team will be answering queries, both email and phone calls. They are also working on issues around 2E students. He also mentioned home language testing implemented in partnership with the ELL department.
He noted that the Advanced Learning Taskforce meeting was going on at the same time with principals in attendance, asking their concerns around mission/vision and services.
He and Mack discussed who AL was to serve with Jessee saying that the Taskforce felt they needed to serve all students with equitable access to services. Mack agreed but said there was state law that mandated serving the outliers.
This is a spot where the district and the Board do really need to get straight on what they are talking about.
1) There should be rigor available in every school for every student who seeks it. There should be PD so that teachers can easily differentiate either the curriculum or teaching so that students can get more rigor. Many parents would be perfectly happy leaving their child in their neighborhood school if they felt the rigor was embedded in a visible fashion. There should be a commitment from principals at all schools because this kind of work could possibly involve the entire school.
2) There should be teaching and learning available to students who are working in the top 1-2%. If that means separate classes and/or schools, so be it. That is very much what other districts do. This is not simply adding rigor to the curriculum, this is working at a depth and speed beyond the ability of most students.
This is how I see it.
EOG work
Dr. Brent Jones had a large packet of work to talk about to the committee. One problem I have is trying to discern if some of this work is a one-off type of situation versus on-going work.
He had an interesting example of behavior reports (this one from Arbor Heights Elementary). It included minutes lost due to incidents, time lost by grade (double in 5th grade), day of the week (Tuesday? was the worst day for lost time), at AH white children had the most number of incidents by far (but white children are 60% of the population), more Sped students than any other group. One stat I found striking was that most of the incidents happened during classtime in class. I would have thought it in some other place like lunch or recess. But the chart on "perceived motivation" showed the main reason for behavior issues was either "avoid tasks/activities" or "obtain peer attention" so maybe the classroom isn't surprising for behavior incidents.
24 Credits and Secondary Revisioning
Dr. Caleb Perkins, Director of College and Career Readiness, said that they had allocated $2M (originally it was going to be $11M) for this work. Schools are supposed to use the money for more FTE for academic intervention specialists, counselors, tutoring services, extra teaching time for zero period, afterschool or summer school or FTE to offer more than six credit earning opportunities during the school day.
It was noted that middle schools are using Naviance in 7th and 8th grades but that even though schools said they delivered the grade level lessons, the completion rates did not reflect it. It seems that students don't understand/aren't following the steps needed to get that in the Naviance database.
As well, there was detailed updates on CTE work.
(I note that I am starting to see various people who may be running for School Board at Board and committee meetings who are generally not there otherwise. It always makes me smile that some candidates think that a sudden interest in the business of the district makes them more viable as candidates.)
thus Article Curriculum & Instruction Committee Meeting, March 21, 2019
that is all articles Curriculum & Instruction Committee Meeting, March 21, 2019 This time, hopefully can provide benefits to all of you. Okay, see you in another article posting.
You now read the article Curriculum & Instruction Committee Meeting, March 21, 2019 with the link address https://onechildsmart.blogspot.com/2019/03/curriculum-instruction-committee.html
0 Response to "Curriculum & Instruction Committee Meeting, March 21, 2019"
Post a Comment