SAC
Meeting
September
29, 2006
8:15 AM
Office
Conference Room
Members
present:
Cristy
Grube
Wendy
Wagner
Roz
Wolfe
Matt
Phillips
Wayne
Shear
Kisha
Davis
Kelly
Cooke
Brent
Summerlin
Ken
DeGilio
Welcome
& Introductions….Cristy Grube, SAC Chairperson
At
8:23 the meeting was called to order.
Ms.
Wagner introduced Wayne Shear. Mr. Shear has returned from retirement to be our
assistant principal. He has served as a principal for 25 years. Mr. Shear
commented that he is delighted to be here. Our school has an excellent
reputation. It also has a real passion for teaching. He is very glad to be with
us.
The
SAC reviewed the minutes from last meeting, and accepted them as written.
Focus:
Reading Initiatives
Review
revised SIP – Wendy
The
School Improvement Plan template was revised recently by the district. Members
received the newest version for
Members
received a summary of score information from the FCAT 2006.
Question: Where does
Answer:
Professional
Learning Community…Wendy
The
PLCs have commenced for the year. It is our second year. PLCs are Professional
Learning Communities. Their meetings are the times during which teams review
data about student academic performance. Our most recent meeting reviewed
results of the district benchmark exams. The data received helped the teams
determine the areas in most need for instruction, particularly in mathematics.
We
have also administered the DRP and are awaiting the scores from that. This
information will help us look at our students' reading proficiency, and
determine what specific areas need to be targeted in classroom instruction.
We
have requested the Stanford Achievement Test for grades 1-2 as well. This data
will help us particularly with our entering 3rd grade students.
Next
week, Roz will present a session called "I've DIBEL'ed. Now what?".
This training will help our PLCs learn how to use DIBELS results to drive their
instruction.
Question: Do you examine results
per class or per student?
Answer: Both ways. We can
examine data holistically and by individual students. Teachers can use this
data to help them structure their small group instruction so that children's
specific needs can be targeted within these groups.
The
Leap Frog programs are aligned with DIBELS as well, and will give us even more
data as children are learning.
Morning
Tutorial Program…Roz
We
have begun to using SuccessMaker reading for our morning tutorial program. Our
tutoring students are currently the 4th and 5th grade students. We invited 40
students to participate; currently have approximately 25students enrolled. Our
goal is to reach 60 students. Initially, we targeted the FCAT level 1 and 2
students. Given any empty slots, we will open it to those students who scored
at level 3, but were very close to not attaining that level.
Once
we have the DRP results, we will determine which 3rd grade children need the targeted
assistance program.
Progress
Monitoring…Roz and Matt Phillips
We
are constantly reviewing benchmark data to determine the academic progress of
our students. The entire district is examining data and asking questions of all
teachers and administrators about the results. Administrators also assess the
teaching that is taking place in the classroom, and examining this information
in the light of our student performance data.
Literacy/FCAT
night – Roz
The
Literacy/FCAT night will be next Wednesday night (October 4) from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30
p.m. Parents only may attend, as there will be no child care available. Grade 3-5
parents will learn how to prepare their children for the FCAT. K-2 parents will
learn how their children are learning to read. We ask that SAC members promote
this literacy night to other parents and encourage them to come to this
evening.
Rezoning
Update…
The
district school board has decided to change the process, and to condense it
down to fewer meetings. A community meeting will take place on October 23. We expect
to have the final school board meeting by January 9. The new school will be in
the Northshore development. More information will be available for our next SAC
meeting.
Discuss
possible change of time for meetings
We
need more people to attend the SAC. The early morning is difficult for our
staff to attend. We set these up early to try to catch parents before they go
to work. As it is, our membership needs more representation from our school
community. There needs to be some outreach; it is important for individual
members to be invited. For example, each of the current members could invite a
parent to attend. It might be a good idea for teachers to nominate parents who
would be good members. Ms. Wagner will send an email to teachers, explaining
what the requirements are for representation.
Proposal:
next meeting at 4:00 p.m., then revisited with the members to see if that time
will be convenient. Members approved this proposal by unanimous vote.
Next
meeting 10/26 at 4:00 p.m.
Open
Agenda…Cristy Grube
Question: What is being done for
the top 25% of students?
Answer: Science Olympiad will
be coming soon as an enrichment program (sponsored by Mr. Phillips). We will
also have a chess program.
Question: Are these lower 25% holding
the others back? Are we focusing instruction so much on them, which we don't
provide for the needs of the higher performers?
Answer: No. We can
differentiate instruction to ensure that our students receive challenging
instruction. Every program that we have has a core lesson and small group instruction
leveled to the skills mastery of the children assigned to the group. There are also enrichment lessons for those
students who need further challenge beyond the standard.
Mr.
Shear commented that the FCAT requires high level thinking.
Question: Are all teachers
required to differentiate learning opportunities based on student ability?
Answer: Yes. We continue to
emphasize this in professional development for our teachers, and it is a
school-wide expectation for our teachers.
Adjourn…Cristy
Grube
Meeting
adjourned at 9:15.
Next Meeting: Thursday, October 26th @ 4:00 p.m. (Topic:
Math)