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Curriculum & Teacher Support Committee Meeting Minutes Archive |
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Barre Town Middle/Elementary School –
Curriculum Committee Meeting I. Attendance:
II. Agenda:
III. Minutes of the Meeting:
Respectfully Submitted,
Barre Town Middle/Elementary School –
Curriculum Committee Meeting I. Attendance:
II. Agenda:
III. Minutes of the Meeting:
Our next meeting is Wednesday, March 17,
2010.
Respectfully Submitted,
Barre Town
Middle/Elementary School – Curriculum Committee Meeting Happy New Year!
II. Agenda:
III. Minutes of the Meeting:
Respectfully Submitted,
Barre Town Elementary/Middle School –
Curriculum Committee Meeting I. In Attendance:
II. Agenda:
III. Minutes of the Meeting:
Meeting adjourned at 9:34am. Thank you
all!
Respectfully Submitted,
Barre Town Curriculum Committee Meeting
I. In Attendance:
II. Meeting Minutes: (a) The meeting was called to order at 8:35am. (b) Today’s meeting agenda:
III. Next Meeting: Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 1, 2009 and we will go back to an 8:00am starting time. IV. Meeting adjourned at 9:55am Respectfully Submitted,
Barre Town Elementary/Middle School
I. In Attendance:
II. Minutes of the Meeting:
Our next committee meeting is scheduled for March 4, 2009. Karen Heath has been invited to give an overview of the Early Book Center here at Barre Town Elementary/Middle School. Additionally, the next meeting (and subsequent meetings) will begin at 8:30am. The meeting was adjourned at 9:35am.
Respectfully Submitted,
Barre Town Curriculum Committee Meeting
I. In Attendance:
II. Meeting Minutes:
Meeting Minutes Respectfully Submitted
by, John L. Barone, Sr.
Barre Town Elementary/Middle School
I. In Attendance:
II. Minutes of the Meeting: (a) The meeting was called to order at 8:05am. (b) Karen Heath, Literacy Coordinator, began the meeting by responding to a question that was raised by a parent about reading instruction in the 5th grade. Teachers are working with students on “Just Right Books” – teaching students to select books at their appropriate reading level. In addition, in the 5th grade, we use the Houghton Mifflin Program for instruction and supplementing with novels through teacher guided instruction. Karen reported that she visited 5th grade classrooms and observed silent/independent reading, and direct reading instruction from both the Houghton Mifflin series and direct instruction around classroom novels. Overall, teachers are balancing between direct instruction in reading, choice reading, and silent reading. In response to a question from Brenda, John Barone commented that the NECAP Release Items have been aligned and embedded into the Language Arts and Mathematics curricula for grades three through eight. The process of selecting, aligning, and collaboratively assessing the student work was explained. Additionally, as a result of the concern raised, John Barone commented on how he did focused visits into 5th grade classrooms at both Barre Town and Barre City schools and did see a variety of silent reading, literacy circles and direct instruction in reading. Mr. Crowley commented on how the 5th and 6tth grade teachers have embraced the reading instruction, the two grades are working collaboratively on reading instruction, and that teachers are experimenting with grouping students by ability level to focus reading instruction based upon students’ needs. A letter to parents has gone out explaining this endeavor. Karen Heath commented on the professional development work that teachers have been doing, specifically in the areas of reading and writing. Karen commented on an activity last Tuesday on looking at student work and using the student work to drive instruction. Additionally, professional development is happening collaboratively between the two schools (Barre City and Barre Town schools) and as an SU there is an emphasis on the integration of the NECAP Release Items and looking at student work to drive instructional and assessment practices. Karen Heath handed out a document titled, “Reading Instruction at Barre Town: An Overview.” A copy of this document is included with the minutes from today’s meeting. (c) John Barone will postpone his presentation on the ATLAS Protocol for looking at student work and the use of NECAP Release Items (aligned to the curricula) for the next Curriculum Committee meeting. Additionally, John Barone would like to do a presentation to the full Barre Town School Board. (d) A brief discussion was held to update the Bridges in Math program that is being implemented this year at Barre Town in grades K-5. The program is being implemented well and the teachers at Barre Town are working collaboratively with the teachers at Barre City on the implementation of the program. Additionally, the middle school Math teachers, from both schools, are looking at Math programs for implementation next year. Currently two programs are being reviewed based upon selection criteria that the teachers designed. (e) The next meeting of the
Barre Town Curriculum Committee meeting will be Wednesday, Respectfully Submitted, John L. Barone, Sr. Reading Instruction at Barre Town - An Overview Grades K-2
Grades 3-4 (grade 5 will be moving towards this)
Grades 5-8 (Grade 5 is still very similar to grade 6)
Barre Town Elementary/Middle School –
Curriculum Committee Meeting
Respectfully Submitted,
Barre Town Curriculum & Teacher Support
Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda Buzzell
(Chair of Committee ) , Laura Moore Meeting Organization: Meeting dates were confirmed for the first Wednesday of every month, from 8:00am-9:30am. The November meeting will be Monday, November 3, 2008 so that John Barone, the Director of Curriculum, can attend. Report on Bridges Math Program – Beth Hulbert Beth reported that the professional development happened at the end of June 2008 and was very successful. The evaluations received from teachers/professionals was overwhelmingly positive. All Barre Town teachers in grades K-5 were trained. Beth Hulbert is working toward training all long term substitutes and para-educators on the Bridges program.
All the program materials have been distributed. Meetings have been scheduled among teachers once a month which will allow team time to plan lessons. Half of the staff development meeting in September will be spent looking at assessment information for each class. Teachers will be bringing work given in the classroom to the table for discussion and assessment. Math program will require 1 hour and 20 minutes of daily instruction in grades 1-5, Kindergarten will require 45 minutes of instruction. Grades 1 and 2 could break this time up as they wish throughout the day. Schedules are due next week from teachers to show this time allotment being scheduled into the academic day. Social Studies could be the core subject that could take the cut in time to allow for this math instruction to take shape. The reason this subject would be chosen over the others is because of right now there is no assessment forecast on the horizons. John Barone did share that he and others are looking at a humanities approach to Social Studies instruction, combining this with the Language Arts subject in grades 5-8. He anticipates at least a two year outlook for working toward this. Curriculum Directors Report – John Barone Overall, last years eighth graders at Barre Town significantly declined in mathematics. At the end of their 5th grade year, this student population scored very strong; as they entered the seventh grade scores were showing they were starting to decline, and by the eight grade their scores were significantly low. The good news is this trend is not only at Barre Town, it’s nationwide. Beth Hulbert and John are working toward connecting with Barre Town and Barre City sixth through eighth grade teachers to collaborate, connect, and strengthen the middle school mathematic program. By November, Beth said material will be distributed to both Barre City and Barre Town middle school teachers for program planning – some of which will be piloted by the teachers, and then everyone will come back to the table for discussion. Beth plans on coming back to this committee in March to share an update on Beth Hulbert reported that a reason behind this decline in math performance is that currently the middle school math curriculum focuses significantly on proportional reasoning – that being multiplicative and fractional reasoning. This is disconnected to the way math instruction takes shape as a student reaches and works through middle school. Assignments in middle school focus more on Multiplicative Reasoning. Beth commented that the new Bridges math program could be a major key in addressing this problem. John also reported on NECAP release items. A memo to teachers in grades three through eight will go out by 9/22 letting the teachers know that they will be required to work into their classroom instruction the data received from these release items so to address the apparent need of students within that classroom. John said these teachers will be receiving support material as well. Tim Crowley brought up a good point about how the school will know whether or not the teachers are addressing the needs of their students by using this information. He said that when the teachers come to the tabled discussion in September, they will be sharing information about how things are going in the classroom; they will be bringing their student results to the table to help facilitate a direct discussion around this information. The NECAP assessments are expected to take place between October 1-23. Intervention and RTI report from Ted Riggen As a reminder, RTI is the acronym for Response To Intervention. This is a regular education effort, not special education. However, these responses usually direct the conversations to Special Education needs if necessary. Ted reminded the group that the current RTI model is a 3-tier model:
Ted recognized on behalf of the Barre Town School, and the Board, that our school has very few tier two opportunities and that we will be looking into ways to broaden this opportunity. Ted also made reference to the 90/90/90 study, and how children of poverty are still a targeted group of children who are not meeting the standards and so much attention is being focused on that population – not only, but much. Barre Town School is in the process of identifying the number of children in this population through data produced from the free and reduced lunch population. An avenue that Barre Town is taking on giving opportunity in the classroom to these children to be able to get the attention they need from the teacher, and to be around a greater population of students who are able to perform in the classroom (aka who are meeting the standards) is to only give each grade level teacher a small amount of children in this population. This will allow the teacher to focus more on the student, and be better able to assist them throughout the year. This process allows us the opportunity to for several players to become more invested in the success of a child, like school administrators, and can provide data which would be very helpful for a particular child’s needs. Questions like:
…can be asked to and brought to the table for discussion, and help identify strategies that can happen for ultimately the success of the child. Laura Moore expressed concern around the labeling of this population, stating that it would ultimately be in the best interest and success of every child to have this attentive, directive approach to their individual success. Ted concluded with that an understanding and underlying connection that the difficulty in success that schools are having is with the children in poverty population. Tentative agenda for the next meeting:
Brief look/report from John on NECAP data
Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher Support
Committee/ Student Success Foundation Joint Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, Chairperson; Laura Moore, Chairperson, David Harrington Brenda Buzzell and Laura Moore called the joint meeting to order in the BTMES second floor conference room at 8:00AM. The Curriculum and Teacher Support meeting was rescheduled from June 4, 2008 to join the Student Success Foundation Committee in respect to an agenda that brought together the distinct work from each committee. * Intervention-Delivery and
Implementation This led into a discussion of the goals of the Federal No Child Left Behind Act. Tim Crowley noted that this law references that schools will use research based programs to target core instruction in meeting the need of all children before intervention is needed. He also spoke of Response To Intervention (RTI) that also is directed to core instruction. David Harrington echoed Tim’s observation that core instruction should be the focus of effort to ensure all children attain success. Discussion on core instruction strategies ensued. Brenda inquired about the use of Fundations, a research- based program that is designed as whole class instruction to be taught in Grades One, Two, and Three as supplement to the reading curriculum. Fundations teaches children the structure of words to develop word attack skills and improve reading. It also correlates this phonetic approach to writing and spelling. Karen Heath mentioned that some teachers are inquiring about the training and she is looking into the possibility of two classrooms piloting this program. She also spoke about the success that the middle school students are having using the VALLI initiative. *Length of the School Day
*Other The next Curriculum and Teacher Support meeting will be on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 8:00AM in the second floor conference room at BTMES. The meeting adjourned at 9:30 AM.
Respectively Submitted, Brenda Buzzell,
Committee Chair
Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher Support
Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda Buzzell,
Chairperson; Laura Moore Brenda Buzzell called the meeting to order in BTMES second floor conference room at 8:00 AM. * Health and Family Consumer Science
Curriculum: The procedure for informing parents about the unit will follow the same procedure as for the Puberty unit in sixth grade that is recorded in the April 4, 2008 committee minutes. If parents decide to exercise the option to not have their child included in this unit’s instruction, the four topic alternatives of an independent research project were discussed. Members thanked Sarah for a very thorough job of developing the detailed scope and sequence and appropriate alternatives for these two Family Health and Science Units in grades six and eight. *NECAP Results: Paul explained that intervention is described as three tiers. The first tier is within the classroom, the second tier is with individual and small groups and then tier three is for students with defined disabilities. He noted that intervention through the VALLI project has been introduced for the middle school faculty and students. Brenda suggested that there is research based tier one programs that schools use in whole classroom instruction to complement the reading program. These programs such as Wilson Fundations that is specific to K-3 and other strategies in instruction have proven to improve student learning for children in all sub categories. Discussion of strategies including research based interventions ensued. Paul and the administrators will explore strategies to improve student learning and discussion will continue at the June meeting. The next meeting will be held on
Wednesday, June 4, 2008 at 8:00 am in the upstairs conference room.
Respectively Submitted, Brenda Buzzell, Committee Chair
Barre Town Curriculum
and Teacher Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda Buzzell,
Chairperson; Laura Moore Brenda Buzzell called the meeting to order in BTMES second floor conference room at 8:00 AM. * Health and Family Consumer Science
Curriculum: Sarah Chap explained that the program is based upon You, Your Body, and Puberty Curriculum published by Human Relations Media. She presented the scope and sequence, materials and resources that are used in the sixth grade. The handout of the scope and sequence included the four lessons on Puberty and the fact that girls and boys are taught in separate classes for specifics on their body changes. This handout also included a statement of the teacher’s position on sensitive issues and topics that are not included in this unit. Discussion ensued and consensus was reached on the following:
The committee suggested that students are asked to complete an anonymous evaluation of the class following these units in 6th and 8th grade and survey students in grades 5-8 as to whether they would be more comfortable having all four lessons presented separately to girls and boys. The possibility of a question and answer format about this class at an Open House was also suggested. The committee thanked Sarah and expressed that the curriculum is being presented well with sensitivity to students and parents. The concerns are that parents should have all information before the lessons are presented in order to decide if it is appropriate topic for their child and to also be a tool to provide a means to openly discuss issues with their child based upon what is taught in class. *NECAP Results: The next meeting will be held on
Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 8:00 am in the upstairs conference room.
Respectively Submitted,
Barre Town Curriculum and
Teacher Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda Buzzell,
Chairperson; Laura Moore Brenda Buzzell called the meeting to order in BTMES second floor conference room at 8:05 AM. This meeting was rescheduled from March 5, 2008 due to a two-hour delay to the start of the school day as a result of a snowstorm. * Health and Family Consumer Science
Curriculum: Grade Six: Personal Development &
Relating to Others; Introduction to Food preparation and Safety; Puberty
Education Ted further explained that each year parents receive a general letter at the beginning of the program stating that parents of sixth and eighth grade students will receive another letter two weeks before the units on Puberty Education and Personal Choices and Relationships are started that will explain in detail what will be covered on these topics. Parents then have the opportunity to contact the teacher and /or principal for specifics on the content being taught to discuss if this is appropriate for their child. If after examining the material and discussing it with the teacher or principal, parents who find this not acceptable for their child may request that their child is removed from the unit of study and assigned to an independent study time on another topic. This complies with the Vermont Statues: Title 16: Education. After further discussion, it was agreed that the Curriculum committee would review the scope and sequence and content of the Growing Up Curriculum. Members also asked to review any materials and other resources that are incorporated into these units. This will be done at the April meeting. It will also be determined at this April meeting if the letters that go home to parents, are clear as to how a parent may proceed if he/she wishes that his/her child NOT participate in the unit. *Everybody Wins: * Math Curriculum: Bridges outperformed
Investigations in the five areas identified for comparison. One of these involves using two of the six snow days at the end of the school year as math professional development for all K-5 teachers. Since the state requires 175 school days and Barre Town has 180 days in their schedule, she would like to use the last two snow make –up days as math professional development for teachers. The other four snow days are scheduled as make-up days for students. Karen Heath noted that 6-8 teachers could use these days as professional development to continue with the adolescent literacy project, VALLI. Committee members agreed that this might be an excellent use of these days. Brenda noted that exchanging two of the six student snow days for teacher professional development days is a Board decision and that it would have to come before the full board as an action item. She asked Beth to provide all board members with the handout and for Beth to come and discuss this at the board meeting on March 19th. The next meeting will be held on
Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 8:00 am in the upstairs conference room.
Respectively Submitted,
Barre Town Curriculum
and Teacher Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda Buzzell,
Chairperson; Laura Moore Brenda Buzzell called the meeting to order in BTMES second floor conference room at 8:00 AM. This meeting was rescheduled from January 2, 2008 due to school having been closed that day as a result of a snowstorm. * Results of Tech. Survey &Tech.
Standards
He noted that reasons to celebrate at Bare Town are:
There was discussion on methods of accountability, assessment of skills and methods to encourage more use of technology in all classrooms. Tim Crowley noted that based upon Al November’s work, it is important to develop an attitude to demonstrate to teachers what can be done and excite them to integrate technology GCE into their classrooms. It was also noted that a scope and sequence of technology skills based on the GCE be developed on a supervisory union level. Laura Moore noted that this should be done under the direction of the Technology and Curriculum Coordinators. This same technology presentation will be presented to the Barre Town Board and also to the SU Board in future meetings. *Vermont Reads-VALLI-Update *Continue Work in Other Disciplines The next meeting will be held on
Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at 8:00 am in the upstairs conference room.
Respectively Submitted,
Barre Town Curriculum and
Teacher Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda Buzzell,
Chairperson; Laura Moore Brenda Buzzell called the meeting to order in BTMES second floor conference room. * Impact of Full Day Kindergarten Ellen Sulek and Susan Koch, kindergarten teachers, stated that with the rise in kindergarten expectations, the full day session is beneficial to the children’s academic skills. They noted the social and language skills of children entering kindergarten need developing as compared to previous years. Children appear with more challenging behaviors and lower readiness skills. Brenda commented that this is consistent with state data of only 44% of children entering school with readiness in defined areas. She noted the statewide Building Bright Futures Council 's initiative is that every region will work on the indicator “children are ready for school.” There was discussion of children’s readiness skills in regard to societal changes. The teachers feel that the Responsive Classroom model works well with this age group to help with these skills. They also stressed the need to stay within our ideal class guidelines for kindergarten. Discussion ensued of communication of readiness skills to parents and the need for better communication with private early care and education providers. Veronica Eldred and Patty Young commented that the children entering first grade appear much more ready to begin academics especially in written language followed by reading and math readiness. Socially, first grade children show improvement in problem solving and transitions from one activity or place to another. Children’s endurance of the full day academic schedule is improved along with overall behavior issues as many are now targeted before first grade. *New Math Program Since Beth has access to Investigations, another research based math program, a teacher in each grade will also pilot this to allow for comparison. Discussion ensued on the advantages of children within a Supervisory Union working with the same materials within a curriculum and of the professional development benefits of teachers who share a curriculum specialist and have the same schedule for PD days within the SU. The next meeting will be held on
Wednesday, January 2, 2007 at 8:00 am in the upstairs conference room.
Respectively Submitted,
Barre Town Curriculum and
Teacher Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, Chairperson; Laura Moore Brenda Buzzell called the meeting to order in BTMES second floor conference room. * DRA -results Paul explained that nine educators from BTMES attended a Department of Education conference on Response To Intervention, which is being piloted in seven VT schools. RTI is a scientic research based intervention program for grades K-5. This group will follow up with a meeting on December 6th Educators also visited Founders School in Essex Town to learn more as to how this Grade 3-5 school intervenes and successfully works with teachers to increase students’ skills and attain AYP. * NECAP”S –possible restructuring * Kindergarten Curriculum/Program
* Develop December’s Agenda The technology survey was also discussed, as a future agenda will look at the technology standards as they are included in the overall curriculum. Committee members agreed to break briefly from the meeting at 9:30 AM today and attended the judging of the Harvest Soup Contest sponsored through the Farm to School Grant. The Times Argus covered this event and the winners will be on the local cable station. The meeting adjourned at 9:50AM. The next meeting will be held on
Wednesday, December 5, at 8 :00 am in the upstairs conference room.
Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher Support
Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda Buzzell,
Chairperson; Laura Moore Brenda Buzzell called the meeting to order in Tim Crowley’s office at BTMES. * Health and Family Science Class
Grade Six – Personal Development
and Relationship With Others which includes bullying and harassment:
Kitchen Safety, including nutrition and cooking: Puberty Education. It was further noted that since the focus of the class has changed, sewing will no longer be offered, but this may be included in the after school program for interested students. * Spanish Program Implementation * After School Program The next meeting will be held on
Wednesday, November 7 from 8:00-9:30 am in the upstairs conference
room. NECAP testing and the relationship to student stress will be
included on the agenda.
Respectively
Submitted,
Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher Support
Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda Buzzell,
Chairperson; Laura Moore * Local Action Plan
Brenda Buzzell asked that concrete examples of constructed responses especially in analysis and interpretation for grades K-5 be included for the Board’s presentation of the plan. Karen Heath explained these responses to the committee. Nancy Pope questioned how this plan met the needs of high achieving students. Karen spoke to diffentiated instruction to meet all students’ needs and it was noted that this plan was developed to target the areas of improvement that the NECAP demonstrated were specific to Barre Town students. *Review Procedures for Piloting Math
Program K-8 The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 3, from 8:00-9:30 am in the upstairs conference room.
Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher Support
Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda Buzzell, Chairperson; Laura Moore, David Harrington Administrators: Paul Moccia, Tim Crowley, Ted Riggen, Tommy Waltz Teachers: Karen Heath Community Members: Kim Canavan, Nancy Pope, Bonnie George, Mark Scott, Sandy Cherrier Student: Nolan Benoit (student principal of the day) *Tri-State Expectations Ted Riggen provided all with a copy of an article that went home to parents detailing the development of the Vermont Learning Standards. He explained that these were developed many years ago in Vermont by a large number of people throughout the state. As a result of No Child Left Behind and Act 60, Vermont joined New Hampshire and Rhode Island to create grade level expectations, which reference the VT Framework of Learning Opportunities. Children take the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP), which assesses these expectations. The committee walked to the main lobby where Ted explained two displays of students’ standard based work in writing and art. These were examples of the process and quality of work by our students to meet or exceed the Vermont standard for the specific grade level. *Adolescent Literacy Institute The discussion of standard based work with the use of the NECAP to direct instruction was continued as Karen Heath and Paul Moccia explained a new initiative with Grades Six, Seven, and Eight to address among other skills, analysis and interpretation across the curriculum. The VT READS Institute At The University of Vermont has accepted BTMES into the VT Adolescent Literacy and Learning Institute known as VALLI. This research supported program is a three year commitment that works with Language Arts and content area teachers to help them use and teach specific strategies that successful learners use when confronted with difficult reading material. Committee members received a hand out explaining this program. Mark Scott commented that an organizational structure to allow teachers to disperse this information to their colleagues would be beneficial. Karen and three teachers representing Language Arts, Social Studies and Science will be in the first cohort with the program expanding throughout the three years to other cohorts. Teachers in the cohorts will receive training and modeling of these strategies in their classrooms. They will be able to attend at no charge many other professional development conferences and may receive 1-6 graduate credits from UVM. VALLI is supported through grants at UVM and BTMES’ monetary contribution will be funded through our federal Title II grant. Nancy Pope inquired about the development of next year’s Action Plan. Ted stated that this would be a two-day process on August 13 and 14 at Norwich University. Laura Moore will attend and Ted invited other interested committee members to also be present these days. The Action Plan will address analysis, interpretation and problem solving skills. There was a brief discussion on professional development days and the possibility of bringing more professional learning through the monthly teacher meetings. *After School Committee Tim Crowley reported on the progress of the YMCA organizing a state licensed after-school program. The YMCA is very knowledgeable and successful with starting and sustaining after school programs in many VT schools. They are hoping for a starting date of January 2008. Brenda Buzzell commented that the YMCA’s Live Y’ers after school programs offer exciting enrichment opportunities as well as physical activities and homework time in the varied established programs of other school districts. Tim explained the next steps including a survey letter to parents. Once a contract with the YMCA is developed, he will bring it to the Finance Committee for review. Brenda thanked everyone for the commitment and work within the committee this past year. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 5, 2007 in the second floor conference room at BTMES.
Respectively Submitted,
Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher Support
Committee Meeting
Board Members: Brenda Buzzell,
Chairperson; Laura Moore Brenda Buzzell called the meeting to order and noted that Mark Scott commented on the minutes of April 4, 2007 concerning the wording” distinction" on NECAP scores as they are reported to parents. He feels that this is misleading and may be sending the wrong message to parents. He would prefer "Highly proficient" or something similar but understands, as Dr. Riggen noted, that we don't control the wording. However, he feels that the public should be able to give serious input to the creators of this evaluation instrument. *After School Committee Tim Crowley reported that the after school committee is learning as much as possible about the different after school programs available and the state licensing requirements. At the April 23rd meeting, they heard pertinent information from Ruth Matthews, After school Systems Director, State of Vermont, Child Development Division Lea Hatch, State Licenser, Child Development Division, Ginny Burley, Director, Community Connections, and Tim Rollings, YMCA. At the next meeting, on May 14th, Barbara Christie-Garvin, Coordinator, VOOST & Washington County Youth Service Bureau and Kadie Schaeffer, VT Youth Development Corps will be present to explain their programs. This committee formed following the results from the After School survey that showed many parents were supportive of a licensed after school program. Brenda mentioned that the state has developed core competencies for after school programs and specific trainings for providers who work in after school programs. There are also providers/student ratios, and required hours of trainings for providers in licensed after school programs. The Board has stressed that any program should be a self sustaining program. Tim reported that the YMCA is very interested in coming and starting a program, in which they would take care of the licensing requirements, start up funds, hiring of personnel, etc. He will report as more information becomes available. C.O.P.S. Tim stated that the C.O.P.S. (Capitalization, Organization, Punctuation, and Spelling) Initiative would be rolled out to grades 7-8, 5-6 and 4 at assemblies on Friday, May 4th. This pilot, developed with teachers, will start with the fourth quarter of this present year. Students will be accountable for C.O.P.S. on all written work of a paragraph or more in all subject areas by all teachers. Committee members were very receptive of this initiative to promote excellence in all written work. *Continued Discussion of NECAP Results
Paul Moccia reviewed the results in relation
to AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) and discussed implications of our
scores. There was discussion of the “children with disabilities”
category. It was noted that disabilities is a wide term that may reflect
differently in this sub category of the NECAP. Schools may fail in this
one sub category and thus not make AYP even though the other sub
categories show passing if not higher scores. A sub category is counted
in the AYP score if there are 40 or more children in the specific
category. Paul is checking with the two Vermont schools that made AYP in
this category and noted that consistency among the teachers’
expectations was one factor that showed positive results. However, it
was noted that one of these schools is a Grade 3-5 school as opposed to
BTMES K-8 structure.
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday,
June 6, 2007 in the second floor conference room at BTMES.
Respectively Submitted,
Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher Support
Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda Buzzell, Chairperson; Laura Moore Administrators: Paul Moccia, Tim Crowley, Ted Riggen, Tim Crowley, Tommy Waltz Community Members: Mark Scott, Sandy Cherrier, Kim Canavan, Sheila Cross, Bonnie George, Patty Meriam, Nancy Pope Teachers: Barbara Shipman * Spanish Curriculum Tim Crowley and Barbara Shipman made a presentation on the format of next year’s Spanish program. Two handouts were distributed. One covered the background of Foreign Languages for previous years and an outline of the goals, challenges, and plans for the new Spanish program. The goal is to integrate Spanish into the daily life of the school. This immersion program will include:
A second handout was an outline of the 7th and 8th grade curriculum using the Realidades Textbook, which is also used in Barre City and Spaulding High School. These students will have Spanish classes three times per week with the goal of entering high school on Level II. Students will also be encouraged to use technology to communicate online with students in other Spanish speaking areas. The high school will be notified that another goal will be to have high achieving Barre Town Spanish students use technology to participate in a high school Spanish class.
* NECAP Review Paul described some terminology and discussed “Curriculum Mapping” which will used by teachers to layout content, skills, assessments, and resources. Paul’s emphasis was that grouping, schedule, time, and space affect the curriculum. Paul will be piloting the use of new software “Curriculum Mapper” with some science teachers to see how the program can be used as a tool for organizing the curriculum year.
Other issues were raised. Laura Moore
questioned how statistics and NECAP results could be used to map teacher
success and expose opportunities to identify where support system need
to be applied. Brenda Buzzell cautioned that classes may be selected and
assigned to a teacher who has success with a specific population of
students and that students’ overall growth should be looked at as well
as how a class meets assessment results in determining teacher success.
She also mentioned that a group of teachers from Barre Town and the SU
district had recently attended a conference with Dr. Donald Deshler on
adolescent literacy strategies for struggling readers. They also
listened to a panel discussion of the many intervention methods that are
available to school districts statewide. Nancy Pope questioned how
professional development plans are created for teachers. It was agreed
that because of the length of discussion that both of theses topics will
be on future agendas as will a follow up of Barre Town’s NECAP scores
and how they relate to AYP.
Respectfully submitted by Patricia L. Meriam
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Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher Support
Committee Meeting
Board Members: Brenda Buzzell,
Chairperson; Laura Moore * Writing Rubric – C.O.P.S. Tim Crowley mentioned that this will be piloted this fourth quarter. He stated that the challenges to implementation are being addressed. These include:
* Reading Binder Karen Heath presented this binder with copies for members to look at. She reviewed the contents, explaining that teachers in Grades K-3 use this in their Literacy curriculum. It is a combination of self selected and guided reading combined into a readers’ workshop method. The components also include working with words and writing. The method includes a focused lesson on the skill, guided practice on grade level and a chance to apply the skill independently on a student’s own reading level. Discussion of different teaching methods and materials followed. Karen explained that she works individually supporting new teachers and consults with all teachers including this as part of professional development. Mark Scott commented that the essential principles be distributed as helpful hints to parents at conferences, open house. etc. He described this as practical means for parents to work with their children. Ted and Karen commented that this could be prepared and distributed. * Reading Intervention Follow-up Laurie Gossens explained that 12 first grade students began in Reading Recovery, two exited early so that others took their place. The second round has these two students and 10 more. The December, 2006 POA (Primary Observation Assessment) Results for Kindergarten, Grades One, and Grade Two were reviewed. Brenda Buzzell asked if we are using our resources for reading intervention to best serve the students in all grades who are in need of help. NECAP scores were discussed in relation to reading intervention. Sandy Cherrier questioned comprehension intervention in the middle school. Laurie pointed out that we presently have no funds to have a formal reading intervention program in other grades. Paul Moccia stated that the scores for skills were being segregated so that direct instruction would be tailored to help students. There was discussion of reading intervention on all levels. The committee recognizes the benefits of one to one intervention, but stressed the need to reach out to all. Teacher training was discussed.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, April 4,
2007 from 8-9:30 AM in the Barre Town second floor conference room.
Respectfully submitted by Brenda Buzzell,
Committee Chair
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Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher Support
Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, Chairperson; Laura Moore * Spelling for Writers
Program Tim Crowley explained how he is working with staff to develop a system for students in the middle school to be accountable for their grammar and mechanics on all written assignments of a paragraph or more in all academic areas. COPS is a checklist that students will use to assess their capitalization, organization, punctuation and spelling of all courses. He discussed finding a balance between teacher preferences and consistency for students. *Teaching American
History Grant Proposal *Wellness: Nutrition and
Fitness Policy Laura Moore requested the CC additionally review B,” Instructional Program Guidelines”, #4. CC added the word “regularly” so it reads “ No child may be removed regularly from recess for more than 10 minutes for academic reasons.” Minutes of Jan 3 meeting were discussed. Patty raised her objections as expressed in her 1-8-07 email to the committee. The CC agreed to make the changes as specified, with the addition of removing the paragraph that stated a “consensus was reached…” The remainder of the agenda,
the Reading Binder, was tabled. The next meeting will be
Wednesday, March 7, 2007 from 8-9:30 AM in the Barre Town second floor
conference room. |
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Barre Town
Curriculum and Teacher Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, Chairperson; Laura Moore, David Harrington * Reading Assessments
* Review of proposed
budget and discussion of Foreign Language The remainder of the agenda, the Reading Binder and the Spelling for Writer’s Program, was tabled. The next meeting will be
Wednesday, February 7, 2007 from 8-9:30 AM in the Barre Town second
floor conference room. Respectfully Submitted, Brenda Buzzell, Committee Chair
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Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher Support
Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, Chairperson; Laura Moore * Literacy Council
There was discussion of the present Literacy programs in our school. It was noted that Grades 4-8, use the Houghton-Mifflin Program, while grades K-3 are objective driven and have a Literacy Notebook and the Pinnel and Fountas phonics. Pinnel and Fountas phonics is also used on the elementary level. Committee members were in consensus that it is crucial to have a basic guideline of specific skills in each grades for every teacher to work from. We will examine our reading program in depth at a future meeting. Tim introduced his plan for insuring student accountability in writing for grades 5-8. This will be a list of criteria that each student will self check on written work in any subject area. The criteria will include organization, presentation, sentence structure and capitalization. The teacher will also check for these criteria and a separate grade will be given for content and for writing mechanics. It was noted that national research shows that students are lacking basic writing skills. This is a means to insure that skills students learn in Language Arts are carried across the curriculum. A different format will be created for the elementary grades so that students’ efforts in writing will be consistent. * Spelling Think Tank
The next meeting will be
Wednesday, January 3, 2007 from 8-9:30 AM in the Barre Town second floor
conference room. Respectfully Submitted, Brenda Buzzell, Committee Chair
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Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher Support
Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, Chairperson; Laura Moore * Freshman Academy -
Jeffrey Maher “ What will be different next Fall?” Jeffrey sited an example in the literacy proponent. He explained that all students would encounter argumentative literacy across the classes. Teachers will be consistent in their approach and the messages that they are giving students. Students will be held to accountable standards in all classes with the teachers meeting regularly to determine the best approach. Mark Scott stated that he would like to see some charts on the goals of this group. He said that some of his high school kids’ teachers are sending progress reports electronically on a weekly basis and he feels that this is wonderful. Tim Crowley stated that colleges are using the freshman academy approach. He also reiterated that this approach is being used at Barre Town in our middle school to encourage all students to be successful. Teachers meet regularly to review the progress of students and also encourage parent involvement. Karen Heath asked how the specialists could be helpful. Jeffrey said that they would be part of the planning process. The next staff development days will be used for planning time for the committee. Ted commented that this Freshman Academy might involve more planning and communicating between the sending schools and the high school. * SHAC Grant Proposal -
Susan Barnard & Jesse Shapiro * Barre Town Action Plan
- Ted, Laurie, Tim
Committee members had received the plan before the meeting and recognized that although this is the focus of the plan, all students will be supported and encouraged to attain academic success. Karen Heath mentioned that the coordinated spelling instruction piece was left out of the action plan. She did a survey and has the results of how teachers are teaching spelling in the lower grades. She will be meeting with two consultants next week to look at the surveys. They will draft a proposal for how to teach spelling in the classroom in a consistent manner. She will report the results back to this committee. * Reading & Recovery
Intervention Program - Paul Moccia Members commented that appreciated receiving information pertinent to today’s meeting through e mail. Brenda thanked Sherri for sending this electronically to all committee members. The next meeting will be
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 from 8-9:30 AM in the Barre Town second
floor conference room.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sherrie L. Clark, BSU Office
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Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher Support
Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, Chairperson; Laura Moore, * Update on September POA Results - Laurie Gossens Kindergarten - Letter ID
Grade 1
Grade 2
Twelve students are scheduled to begin Reading & Recovery. When 20 weeks are up, it is determined if there are another 12 students who need it. Students exit when they meet the requirements. Some exit sooner than the 20 weeks. Brenda reminded the committee of the Board’s goal to provide support so that all children succeed. (90/90/90). The committee questioned whether intervention is serving the greatest need, as Reading Recovery is only a first grade intervention program. Tracking has been done and Tommy Walz will try to find out how children who slipped back in reading skills in the other elementary grades performed in the 1st grade. The question was raised: Can we do something with the present intervention money to make a difference? - Where should priority be for 2nd round for all grades? This needs to be answered/addressed as the budget is being prepared for 2007-2008. Laurie explained the language of the levels of support: Tier 1 - classroom support, direct instruction, Tier 2 - pullout or more of what’s in regular classroom. Reading & Recovery is supplemental to the classroom as it is a more intense level of instruction outside the classroom, and Tier 3 - special ed. * School Improvement
Conference - Laurie Gossens & Ted Riggen * Physical Education -
Update on New Bikes in Curriculum - Sue Barnard Sue reported that Grades 6, 7, and 8 will include biking on the new bike path as part of the Physical Education Program for this Fall and Grade 5 will participate in the Spring. She has secured many federal and state grants to fund this program. Fifteen new bikes have been ordered at $218.00 each through Pierre Couture. Pete Richardson will put these together for $25.00/piece. The school will have a total of thirty-five bikes. Phil Joyal will conduct an after school activity on bike riding. Bike Storage was an issue, however, things were moved/changed and they are now to the right of the stage. A bike stand was purchased with a grant from EPSDT (a state program for health related activities). There was also $1500.00 from a Safe Routes to School grant. The Bike-A-Thon raise $3,000.00, donations from the Kiwanis ($1,000.00) and Rotary($1,000.00) clubs and other state grants have all contributed to the biking program. Some money will be used to purchase more helmets and other monies will be reserved for repairs. First grades and multi grades will walk the Bike Path to the Rock of Ages Visitors Center this Friday for the International Walk to School Day. They will picnic, enjoy apples and the accordion music of Irene Brown before walking back to school. The rain date is April 13th. Ted Riggen reported that composting is being done mercilessly -- there has been approximately 3,300 pounds of it collected this school year. * Agenda Items for
2006-07 Middle School –Goals, Issues
– how are we educating the whole child in relation to academics and our
present culture? Committee members would like
to receive any reports /information to be discussed ahead of time so
that The next meeting will be Wednesday, November 1st from 8-9:30AM in the second floor conference room. Respectfully Submitted,
Sherrie L. Clark, BSU Office
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Barre Town
Curriculum and Teacher Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, Chairperson; Laura Moore * First Week of School
Report - Ted Riggen & Tim Crowley Staff meetings are now 1.5 hours and they have been scheduled for the whole year with the schedule posted on the website. Mini trainings have been added using Tech staff. These trainings will be held monthly for 15-30 minutes. New policies will be presented and explained to the staff at these meetings. The media policy was discussed yesterday. Staff has been asked to show evidence explaining their goal when briefing parents before they put on an event. Brenda Buzzell requested a
copy of the handbook for Board members who do not have children in
school. The parent/student meetings prior to school went very well. Grades 5-8 were scheduled for one night to accommodate parents with children in multiple grades. They had a 95% turnout of families. It was also the first year that Grade 4 held a Parent Night Tim told parents/students that the written response to literature (25 book standard) must be done in their very best writing composition. The teachers are aware of this and will not accept anything but their best. The Board has asked for our school to model the 90/90/90 Project to promote success for all students. * Technology Curriculum -
Tim Crowley * Crops by Kids - Paul
Moccia * AYP Update - Paul
Moccia * Wellness Policy Review
- Brenda Buzzell The next meeting will be
Wednesday, October 4, 2006 from 8-9:30AM in the Barre Town upstairs
conference room.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sherrie L. Clark, BSU Office
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Barre Town
Curriculum and Teacher Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, Chairperson; Laura Moore Brenda thanked all members present and those unable to attend today for their dedication and time commitment to this school year’s committee. * Wellness Policy As It
Relates to Curriculum - Sue Barnard & Martha Ide
Goals for Instructional Program Guidelines:
Goals for Curriculum Guidelines:
* POA & DRA Results -
Implications to Reading Intervention Program * Next Meeting: Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office Edited by, Brenda Buzzell, Committee Chair
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Barre Town
Curriculum and Teacher Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, Laura Moore * Garden Project Update -
Paul Moccia * Reading Recovery
Research Results - Paul Moccia & Laurie Gossens * Technology Curriculum &
Ethics Update - Tim Crowley
Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office |
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Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher
Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, Laura Moore * Reading Recovery Follow-Up
- Paul Moccia & Laurie Gossens * NECAP Results - Paul
Moccia * Technology Curriculum &
Ethics Update - Tim Crowley
Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office |
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Barre Town
Curriculum and Teacher Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell * Follow-Up on Budget
Vote - Brenda Buzzell * Report Card Technology
- Lauren Demers & Rob Stalling (Tech Team) Brenda asked if Barre Town staff could start e-mailing the school bulletin daily instead of making so many copies for everybody. They will start doing that. * Deanna Bailey Brenda congratulated Deanna for bringing this grant to our district and commented that this information with a picture should be sent to the Times Argus and the WORLD. Deanna and Tim agreed and will follow up on this. * Follow-Up on the Garden
- Paul Moccia * How Technology is Being
Integrated into the Curriculum - Tommy Walz Brenda asked how the school regulates web sites. Tom answered sites such as MySpace.com are blocked. Technology allows for some sites to be automatically blocked while others are blocked as the tech team learns about them. This is why adult supervision is always present when students are using computers. Sheila stated that parents would like to know what their children are doing with computers. Brenda suggested a specific Technology Open House, or at Parents’ night, etc. Students’ work could be exhibited and the computers available for students to show their parents what they do when using them. Tommy said he was considering this based on a model night from years ago. All agreed it was a good idea. Tim brought up that we
should consider re-evaluating the Tech Ed course. It may need redefining
and incorporating ethics into which sites are acceptable/helpful to
students. Discussion will continue on this.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, April 5, 2006 in the Barre Town School 2nd Floor Conference Room from 8:00-9:30 AM. Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office |
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Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher
Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, William Kirkland * Reading Recovery -
Laurie Gossens / Paul Moccia Phyllis Wiggin explained the 100-word paragraph write portion of Reading Recovery. Brenda asked for an example and Phyllis passed around the sample booklets showing the difference between the levels and test samples. The points that the committee understands thus far are:
Brenda emphasized that the committee knows that reading intervention is needed but wants to know if can it be done in a more cost efficient manner, targeting all reading intervention needs, including comprehension. Administrators and all present agreed that this skill is one that many students often need improvement in as they progress through the grades. She further stated that intervention should be available for all regular education students who demonstrate a need all the early elementary grades. Brenda wanted to know if anyone was slipping through the cracks? Are we dong the best with our money for the children? Paul and Laurie have contacted the person at the Department of Education and will report on other available reading intervention programs at the May meeting. The committee will be able to compare these to our present program. * Results of the Barre
Town Report Card Survey Some parents talked about their child’s report card. Sheila Cross questioned that her child had 4’s in the 1st quarter and now in the 2nd quarter had 3’s with no comments stating what had changed. She feels that teachers should be encouraged to add comments to explain that situation. Ted thought that was a good question and is looking into it. The parents would prefer to see only the quarter that is being graded; not all four quarters. Paul explained that it was the SMS system that does not allow us to change that. It was suggested that we could interview the teachers to see how they feel about the report cards now that they have been working with them. Paul said that it was possible to set up a meeting with some of them. Paul stated that we are in the process of developing the grades 6-8 report cards. He is working with the specialists. The scheme is the same and they are field testing grades 1-5. By April they will have all the information needed for changes. They will draft up the grades 6-8 report card then. PASS assessment will be coming up in the spring of 2007. This testing has not been done in 3 years. It will be a science assessment for grades 4 and 8. The results of the October testing should be out sometime in early March. Paul has alerted principals to be on the lookout for those test scores. This committee will learn the results at a future meeting. * The Garden
Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office |
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Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher
Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, William Kirkland * Reading Recovery -
Laurie Gossens / Paul Moccia Brenda said that the Curriculum group needs to be accountable to the public. Do we need to spend as much as we do per student? Is there another program that is just as effective at a lesser cost? Nancy Pope said that out of the 24 kids, that some need very, very little help to those that need a lot of help. Some of those that need very little help could be in a group of two students. She feels that Reading Recovery is so expensive and that it is out of proportion. She feels that with full-day Kindergarten that the children should be doing better. Laurie provided the POA (Primary reading Assessment) scores from this December’s testing of the present kindergarten class. These scores were very impressive as to the high number of students meeting or exceeding the standard measured in text, letter recognition, writing vocabulary, and sentence dictation. She said that we could look at the scores at the end of the year to see if the results continue to indicate a high level of reading skills in this present full day kindergarten program. We also reviewed these same scores as a result of this year’s first and second grade classes and found that there are more children in these classes that could use extra help to meet the standard. The committee asked for a breakdown of how many of these students not meeting the standard in first and second grade were in the Reading Recovery Program when they were first graders. This information will be provided at the February meeting. Bill Kirkland, Sheila Cross and Tommy Walz spoke on the importance of having a reading intervention program that works. Brenda stated that the committee fully supports reading intervention, but that we are looking at the results of our current program in relation to effectiveness and cost in regards to the full day kindergarten and if we should be providing intervention not only to first grade students but to other regular education students. Ted asked if there were any other programs that serve students who need it. Paul said that he is aware of other programs. He is not prepared to say that any other program would meet the same needs or are more cost effective. He and Laurie will research other programs and report back to the committee by the May meeting. Laurie will also bring sample books that illustrate the reading levels that the standards address. Ted feels that the higher the standard, the better the kids will do. * AYP Paul gave some background and data of select groups and where they were on the charts. Everyone received a handout from this presentation. Ted wondered if the Board wanted to hear Paul’s AYP presentation before the test scores were in? It was decided that they should inform the Board with an explanation of AYP and then report on the assessment scores when they become available. The committee recognized that our school uses these scores to determine what we are doing well and how we can improve instruction. * Results of the Barre
Town Report Card Survey
Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office |
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Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher
Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, William Kirkland After the presentation, there was a very lengthy discussion. This reading intervention program is for first graders and presently has the staff, which is equivalent to one and one half teachers to serve 24 students per year. Children receive 30 minutes of individual instruction daily for 20 weeks. After the 20-week intervention, most students perform within the average range of achievement. Those still experiencing difficulty will then receive special education services Karen Heath among others stressed the effectiveness of the program. It was questioned as to whether full day Kindergarten will demonstrate that fewer children will need intervention in first grade? Brenda wants us to look at what’s in place now. Will we need to intervene with 24 kids next year as we now have a full day Kindergarten? Out of 93 kids in Kindergarten, whom will the teachers serve if there are not enough students requiring this intervention? Laurie Gossens stated that there is no data yet but it will be available in January, as kindergarten students will be assessed this month. Phyllis Wiggins said that in the past if all students had been served, the Reading Recovery teachers would have been able to check–up on students that were discontinued earlier in the school year, provide small group or individual support to students that had not been served such as IEP students or students that were retained. In addition the Reading Recovery teachers have modeled lessons in the classroom for other teachers. This model had been encouraged by Marc Hall and Linda Redmond in the past. The students served in this manner are not counted in the Reading Recovery total. Since the Reading Recovery program was cut from 4 positions to 3 positions in 2003, these opportunities have not been available. During the 2004- 2005 school year the program was understaffed and a whole group of 8-10 students were not able to be served because of having one less position. These unserved students are currently in the second grade. Laurie said that they do use flexibility for Special Ed students in place of Reading Recovery above first grade. Paul Moccia suggested that board members, teachers, parents can look on the website for data statewide. He believes that would be helpful. Paul stated that literacy and writing results would be published in February. He feels that many schools won’t make AYP and that the margin will be very close. He feels that if the Reading Recovery program is removed, that those 24 students will end up in Special Ed services, which is more costly. Nancy Pope asked the question - are there other programs that are more cost effective for the community? She believes the program works, but wonders if there is any other way to provide reading intervention. There are other programs out there but the administration and staff feel that Reading Recovery is the most effective due to the extra training the teachers get which is included in the consortium cost. This program is one-on-one which they feel that is more effective for the students than two or more children in a group with one teacher. Phyllis Wiggins spoke about how the program tracks children with reports that are done at the end of each year and that the program also provides Staff Development at no extra cost that is beneficial to teachers. Phyllis explained that in addition to staff development for the Reading Recovery teachers, Susan Lynaugh also provides support to classroom teachers in grades K-2 through modeling lessons and providing workshops without an additional charge to the district. Paul said that starting up a new program would be costly. He said that costs would be reduced by having larger groups of kids but does not know what the end result would be. Annette Bisson-Rossi said that she would feel bad about dropping this program and that kids will be scarred. In past years, first grade teachers have had a strong group but most often there are 24 kids that need the program. Needs vary yearly. Brenda stated this is not about dropping a program but examining it in light of the entire educational support system, which includes a full day kindergarten. Alan Sholk said that he worked here prior to the Reading Recovery program. In pre-school, teachers do an extensive screening. They get a pretty good idea who will need services which is generally one-quarter of the class. The students have changed so much over the years; they come in Kindergarten knowing a lot of their letters and sounds. But he feels that we will need some kind of a program for those children who don’t have that knowledge when they start school. He feels that we would need to replace the program with something. He does not feel that full day Kindergarten will change the numbers of students that may benefit from the program. He wonders if it is worth it to cut one teacher from the program. Laurie Gossens said that overall student enrollment has dropped but that special education has increased and so has the free and reduced lunch group. There are more and more kids that need special ed such as kids with autism. It was noted that Reading Recovery is not for children who require special education services but is an intervention program for children who can benefit from concentrated one to one instruction for a short period of time. Mark Scott asked what the committees’ role is on this and wanted to know what the Board expects from this group. He thought that this committee was about effectiveness, not costs. Brenda stated that the Board is very sensitive about the cost of this program and is looking for ways to reduce the cost and while maintaining a quality reading intervention program. The taxpayers will be asking those kinds of questions. Phyllis Wiggins invited any board member, committee member or parent to attend training or look in on a lesson when she is doing Reading Recovery. The consensus was that this
is an effective program, but to what extent can we afford it.
* Responsive Classroom
Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office |
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Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, William Kirkland, David Harrington * Calculators & Their
Classroom Use * Community Garden
Project It was decided that Barre
Beautiful folks will contact Paul and he will relate information to Ted
Riggen. Paul will also work with Deanna Bailey, science specialist and
others in the school community to determine how we can integrate the
garden as an outdoor lab into the curriculum. This will be a thoughtful
process aligned to the state grade level expectations and include
appropriate teacher training. * Faculty’s Response to
Cost Efficiency of the Deliver of Services * Responsive Classroom
The next meeting will be
Wednesday, December 7, 2005 in the Barre Town School 2nd Floor
Conference Room from Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office |
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Barre Town Curriculum and Teacher-Support Committee Meeting Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, William Kirkland Brenda Buzzell asked for approval of the September 7, 2005 minutes. Mark Scott asked for a change in the last paragraph to read: “Mark asked for the committee to explore what interdisciplinary approaches teachers are using in their classroom.” A corrected copy will be sent to Brenda Buzzell for posting on the website. Consensus: All agreed to the change. * Report on the Garden
and Harvest Project - Deanna Bailey * Action Plan - Ted
Riggen * Report on the October
Testing - Paul Moccia * Report Cards - Paul
Moccia * Budget Building as it
Relates to Curriculum - Brenda Buzzell The next meeting will be
Wednesday, November 2, 2005 in the Barre Town School 2nd Floor
Conference Room from 8:00-9:30 AM.
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CORRECTED MINUTES Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell, William Kirkland Brenda Buzzell asked for approval of the change of the meeting time from 8:30 - 10:00 AM to 8:00 - 9:30 AM. Consensus: All agreed to the new time change. The new title for this group will be Barre Town Curriculum & Teacher Support Committee (per David Harrington and the restructuring of committees). Efforts of this group will focus on curriculum and teacher support. * Welcome & Introductions
* Update on All Day
Kindergarten - Laurie Gossens * Curriculum Specialists
Goals: Deanna will be working to align our seventh and eighth grade curriculum to the state standards. This includes aligning our assessment with the State Cluster of Science Expectations and outline what is specifically taught at each grade level. Deanna will also continue to do discovery workshops to model inquiry based science methods. . Beth spoke about the increased demands of the Tri State Grade level Expectations. She stated that the kindergarten teachers could now fully implement the math program in the full day program. Teachers in grades one and two can follow up and build on what is introduced in kindergarten. Grades one through six will continue to work on problem solving skills. She is planning to try parent workshops in the fifth grade and host a Family Math Night. More details will follow. She has also solicited input from the high school teachers as to what they see is lacking as our children transition to high school. Karen ‘s focus will be on grammar, usage and mechanics. She hopes to create a document that insures that all teachers are consistent with expectations at grade levels. * Tour of the
Kindergarten Classrooms Brenda remarked that people had asked about the new curriculum booklet published by the Secretary of State’s office to teach about Vermont. It is called, “Vermont History, Facts and Fun” and will be available free to all schools teaching Vermont history. We will look into getting a copy to all teachers. Nancy asked about this year’s Action Plan. Tim stated that it would be available for review at the next meeting. Mark asked for the committee to explore what interdisciplinary approaches teachers are using in their classroom. The committee will also continue to examine the methods of assessment/report cards. Paul will get copies of a case study on standards and assessment to all. Members should read this before the next metering. The next meeting will be Wednesday, October 12, 2005 in the Barre Town School 2nd Floor Conference Room from 8:00-9:30 AM.
Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office |
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Barre Town Curriculum Committee Meeting - Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - 8:30 AM – 10:00 Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell Brenda Buzzell asked for approval of the May 1, 2005 & June 1, 2005 Joint Curriculum meeting minutes. Approved unanimously. * Class Size Discussion -
Teacher Placement Next Year
There was discussion about these possibilities with all agreeing that class sizes of 20-21 students were preferred over 24-25 students. Consensus:
It was noted that the Board will be discussing and setting new teacher/student ratios with the 2006-07 budget. * Curriculum Wrap-Up /
Action Plan Report There was discussion on the proper use of calculators. John supplied all with a booklet concerning calculator use. He spoke with Beth Hulbert and feels that calculators are used in approved and appropriate ways. They are not meant to replace a student’s knowledge of basic facts and concepts. Beth will continue to make sure this is happening. * Future Goals Laurie Gossens gave a summary of what is in place for the full year year kindergarten program, which will begin this fall. She explained that as two present Reading Recovery teachers will become full time Kindergarten teachers, they would be training two existing teachers in Reading Recovery. John Tapper was thanked for all his efforts and good work and told he would be greatly missed.
Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office |
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Barre Town Joint Curriculum Committee Meeting - Wednesday, June 1, 2005, 5:00 - 6:15 PM Board Members: Brenda Buzzell, Jeff Gagne, Kerri Lamb Brenda called the meeting to order at 5:15 PM following a lite dinner that was available to the members. * Determine what
technology is available to children in K – Grade 8.
* Discuss Grade
Expectations and how they are being met and Determine expectations for
teachers’ use of technology in K – Grade 8
Question: Why go backwards? -Cost savings - old
expectations we had were much heavier laden than those of the State. Keyboarding Question: Is it supervised? Shouldn’t it be? Keyboarding needs to be a concerted effort at a particular grade level so they can use it every day. The Technology group decided on 3rd grade as having students know the keyboard. They feel that the teachers are supervising it but how closely is the question. John Tapper will speak with teachers and get answers on that. Laurie Gossens stated that she feels it is not developmentally appropriate for Third graders to be starting keyboarding skills. This group is also learning cursive. The State expectations put keyboarding at grades 3-4. John Tapper stated that we want to get the kids started as early as possible. Others felt that these children should be supervised while practicing so that they are applying the correct posture and techniques so that they will not cause injury to their wrists. The consensus was to try it at the 3rd grade level and see what happens. They will be able to practice the keyboard for 15 -20 minutes per day. Jeff asked about the use of calculators in first grade. John explained that should be used to reinforce students’ work and help with complex mathematical problem solving. Students are not allowed to use these to take the place of learning basic math skills appropriate to this grade level. John will address this issue with teachers.
Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office |
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Barre Town Curriculum Committee Meeting - Wednesday, May 1, 2005, 8:30 AM – 10:00 Board Members: Brenda Buzzell, Bill Kirkland Brenda Buzzell asked for approval of the April meeting minutes. Approved unanimously. * Discussion of
Curriculum Director Position John Tapper spoke about how busy the position is; that it is not “doable” by one person. The grantwriting piece brings in lots of federal and state dollars and cannot be overlooked. Dorothy spoke of the “history” of the positions at BSU. The Special Services Director used to do the grantwriting and some HR functions but when that position was not filled a lot of those duties fell on to the Curriculum Director. The Special Services Director position is still budgeted for. BSU tried to fill this position as an HR/Grantwriter position but the Board did not approve it. When John Tapper gave notice that he was leaving, Dorothy then thought that his position and the open Special Services Director position could be combined as one salary in order to save money and title it as Assistant Superintendent. The SU Board requested that each board should hold discussion on these positions. There are now, in fact two open positions in the BSU office and both of them need to be filled. Discussion ensued about these positions. The committee reviewed the grade expectations and assessment in regards to No Child Left Behind and the Tri-State Standards. It was also noted that due to many retirements, we would have new teachers unfamiliar with our school’s curriculum, instruction and assessment procedures. Consensus: Maintain the Director of Curriculum Director position we currently have and have it focus on Curriculum Instruction & Assessment, not a catch-all position. This person would be at the schools more. It was also the consensus that the curriculum specialists are extremely valuable. They are able to model procedures and provide support for classroom teachers in math, science and language. They also help to coordinate the curriculum between the grade levels and schools, aligning it to the grade expectations. * Joint Meeting with Tech
Committee * Math & Science
Specialists Consensus: Have Beth bring
the mobile lab unit and kids to the next board meeting for a
demonstration The next meeting will be
Wednesday, June 1, 2005 at 8:30 in the Barre Town School 2nd Floor
Conference Room from Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office |
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Barre Town Curriculum Committee Meeting, Wednesday, April 6, 2005, 8:30 AM – 10:00 Board Members: Brenda
Buzzell Brenda Buzzell asked for approval of the March meeting minutes. Approved unanimously. * Grade Expectations * Update on Math Program
* Joint Meeting with Tech
Committee * Help With Hiring ELA
Curriculum Specialist * Update on Health
Committee Work
Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office |
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Barre Town Curriculum Committee Meeting, Wednesday, March 2, 2005, 8:30 AM – 10:00 Board Members: Brenda Buzzell Administrators: Ted Riggen, John Tapper, Tom Walz, Laurie Gossens Community Members: Nancy Pope, Kim Canavan, Bonnie George, Suzanne LeCours Recorder: Sherrie Clark, BSU Brenda Buzzell asked for approval of the February meeting minutes. One change to paragraph 7 should read “Keyboarding should be a part of…” instead of “Keyboarding could be a part of…” . * Results on Budget Vote
- * John Tapper asked the
committee for their support / ideas regarding hiring a Language Arts
Specialist. This position is currently contracted out and would be
funded through the Consolidated School Grant that we now use to pay the
consultants. The salary for this specialist would have no impact on the
budget and in future years could be funded in the same manner that the
Math and Science specialists are paid – through the federal grant. * John Tapper also asked the
committee for their support on having a 3-day orientation/training for
all new hires before the start of the school year. We currently require
new hires to complete a half day unpaid training, He suggested that they
could be paid a stipend, a summer wage, or each could receive continuing
education credit for the training. Next meeting will be
Wednesday, April 6, 2005 at 8:30 in the Barre Town School 2nd Floor
Conference Room from 8:30-10:00 AM.
Respectfully Submitted |
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Barre Town Curriculum Committee Meeting Wednesday, February 2, 2005, 8:30 AM – 10:00 Board Members: Brenda Buzzell, Sheila Cross Brenda Buzzell asked for approval of the January meeting minutes. No changes or additions made. The minutes will be posted on the website. The Committee reviewed the Curriculum & Instruction Policy, which will be presented to the Board for first reading. It was noted that the committee had not seen the whole document. The second page was missing from the original policy. Minor wording changes were discussed. It will to go back to the Policy Committee for review. Full Day Kindergarten:
Technology Proposal
(David Harrington): Suggestions: Keyboarding should be a part
of the technology project incorporated into the fourth grade. Whole Child: Review of NSRE Math
Scores: John Tapper handed out the Grade Expectations for Vermont’s Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities for the Committee to look over for discussion at the next meeting. Next meeting will be
Wednesday, March 2, 2005 at 8:30 in the Barre Town School 2nd Floor
Conference Room from 8:30-10:00 AM.
Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office |
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Barre Town Curriculum Committee Meeting Wednesday, January 5, 2005 Board Members: Brenda Buzzell, Sheila Cross, Chris Conti Administrators: Ted Riggens, Tim Crowley, Laurie Gossens, John Tapper, Tom Walz Parents: Suzanne LeCours, Mark Scott, Maria Conti-Reilly, Nancy Pope, Kim Canavan, Bonnie George Recorder: Sherrie Clark, BSU
Brenda Buzzell opened the meeting with everyone introducing themselves. She asked for approval of the December meeting minutes. No changes or additions made. The minutes will be posted on the website.
All Day Kindergarten: This committee had sent a resolution to the Board following the June, 2004 meeting recommending an optional full day kindergarten program be established. This program has been included in the budget and this was now discussed at length with pros and cons -
John Tapper explained that this is an optional program. He believes this program can do more for the child. Most schools in the area are already offering a full day kindergarten. Children are expected to know more by 1st grade, as there are now higher standards that must be met. Teachers feel rushed with the current program and are always playing catch-up. Laurie Gossens shared two handouts. These were the Cost of Full-Day Kindergarten and What’s New? (not only pertaining to kindergarten). The bottom line for start up for the full day program stated $175,741 but has since been lowered to $150,000.
Discussion ensued regarding costs. Will it double in a year or two? Brenda stated that the finance committee has looked at maintenance costs and that there are items that will help with this cost. These include savings in transportation and collaborations with private preschool providers to realize more ADM (Average Daily Membership) monies. Tom stated that kindergarten appeared to be more cost effective than other alternatives. Questions asked:
Much discussion followed which included offering programs to parents, trying to increase volunteerism in classrooms, and other creative methods in the structure of the day for k-grade. Some Answers:
The next meeting will focus on educating the
whole child. John asked members to check the website,
Next meeting will be Wednesday, February 2, 2005 at 8:30 in the Barre Town School 2nd Floor Conference Room from 8:30-10:00 AM.
Respectfully Submitted, Sherrie L. Clark, Barre Supervisory Union Office
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BARRE TOWN CURRICULUM COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES - December 1, 2004 The Barre Town Curriculum Committee met on December 1, 2004, at 8:30 a.m. in the second floor conference room at Barre Town Middle and Elementary School. School Board Committee Members Attending: Brenda Buzzell, Chair; and Sheila Cross. Community Committee Members Attending: Suzanne LeCours, Mark Scott, and Bonnie George. Administrators Attending: John Tapper, Ted Riggen, Tim Crowley, Laurie Gossens, and Tom Walz. Approval of Minutes The committee approved the changes in wording to the curriculum and instruction policy. 5.J. to read”…community service learning opportunities with the proposed curriculum…” and adding 5.K.”maintaining a balanced school experience that will benefit the whole child.” Ted noted that we had agreed to adding “…and grade level expectations…” to 5.B. at the last meeting. Sheila will bring these changes to the policy committee meeting. The minutes from November 3 were approved and Brenda will forward them to Teija to be posted on the Barre Town website. Report of Report Cards NAEYC Accreditation and
the Cost of Collaboration with Local Providers What does it mean to
educate the “whole Child”?
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BARRE TOWN CURRICULUM COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES - NOVEMBER 3, 2004 The Barre Town Curriculum Committee met on November 3, 2004, at 8:30 a.m. in the second floor conference room at Barre Town Middle and Elementary School. School Board Committee Members Attending: Brenda Buzzell, Chair; and Sheila Cross. Community Committee Members Attending: Suzanne LeCours, Mark Scott, Bonnie George, and Kim Canavan. Administrators Attending: John Tapper, Ted Riggen, and Tim Crowley. Curriculum and
Instruction Policy Revision Examine and Determine
Relevance of the 11 Essential Questions The committee agreed that these were valuable questions for our members to be aware of and to use when discussing curriculum. Report Cards (5th Grade)
Other Meeting adjourned at 10:10
a.m.
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 1, from 8:30-10:00 a.m. in the upstairs conference at BTMES. |
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BARRE TOWN CURRICULUM COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES - OCTOBER 6, 2004 The BTMES Curriculum Committee met on October 6, 2004 at 8:30 AM in the upstairs conference room of the school. Those in attendance included, School Board members-Brenda Buzzell (committee chair) and Sheila Cross; School Administrators-Tim Crowley, Ted Riggen, John Tapper, Tom Waltz; community members-Suzanne LeCours, Mark Scott, and Kim Canavan. Guest was Pat Fitzimmons, Science Curriculum Specialist. - Review of the committee charge: We reviewed the 1998 Curriculum and Instruction Policy. There was feeling that the Policy Committee might want to revisit this policy and let us know if it needs to be rewritten. Sheila will bring this to the attention of the Policy Committee. John gave the committee information on the upcoming NECAP Assessments and how this fits into a bigger plan. Tim reminded the committee that a guiding document for the committee is The Eleven Essential Questions. There was interest in revisiting this document to see if it would be useful for us. Tim will bring this to the next meeting. - Reaction to the Action Plan: There were questions about the evaluation portion of the plan. Tim explained how teachers are chosen for evaluation. Brenda had a question about our collaboration w/local agencies on drug and alcohol prevention. This led us to a discussion about how this kind of information goes to kids. Tim told us that grade 6, 7, and 8 get this as part of the family and consumer science curriculum. The committee approved the Action Plan as presented. - Pat Fitzimmons gave us a wonderful presentation as to what is happening in the K-6 science program. The committee learned about the many ways that our children are using an inquiry based science program. We also reviewed the PASS assessment scores that show our children have improved from 51% of students achieving the standard in 2003 to 60% achieving the standard in 2004. This is 14% above the state average score. (Please see Pat's handouts for more information) Mark raised concerns that the science curriculum address natural resources in particular to using our land at BTMES. Although this is being done somewhat, the committee agreed that this should be a priority. - Report Cards: John explained report card developments. We will examine the 5th Grade report card at our next meeting, as this card will be the first one that is aligned to grade level expectations. The next meeting will be
Wednesday, November 3 from 8:30-10:00AM in the upstairs conference room
of the school.
John Tapper, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, Barre Supervisory Union, Barre, Vermont .
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