Board of Education Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes (draft)

October 16, 2008

ATTENDANCE: Shirley Mosby, Chair; Bruce Kimmel

OTHERS: Ken Martinelli, Thomas Suich, Brien McMahon

CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Mosby called the meeting to order at 7:38 p.m.

DISCUSSION

Science Curriculum

Mr. Kenneth Martinelli greeted the Committee and introduced Thomas Suich, a biology teacher from Brien McMahon.

Mr. Martinelli then distributed a packet of information to the Board members present. He explained that the packet contained information on one of the standards for science from the CALI model on enzymes as an example. The Connecticut Standards give a manageable list of subjects that the students are to master. Mr. Martinelli then reviewed the information key and the overview of the packet. He explained that Brien McMahon was ahead of the other schools because the data team was already assembled and meeting. After the focus questions have been given to the students, the team can perform the pre and post formative assessment, collect the data and then have the teachers teach to the standard. The goal is that this will be happening throughout all the areas by the end of the year. This process has been started in Grades 6-10 in science for the first half of the year. More meeting with teachers have been scheduled to work on the second half of the year. Once this is completed, the program will be ready to implement next year.

Mr. Kimmel then had several detailed questions about the teaching method when the textbook emphasizes a different aspect of biology from what is listed on the Connecticut Standards. Mr. Suich explained that the data teams had worked on the curriculum and selected that major points and already written the labs for the material. He then reviewed the step by step process with the Committee. He said that currently, the students were showing about 80 to 90% retention. Mr. Kimmel asked how the teachers would address the 20% that did not demonstrate retention. Discussion about this then followed.

Mr. Daddona explained that the accountability plan would be built into the middle high school programs while the elementary program would focus on language arts. Mr, Kimmel had several questions about the teaching plan for Grades 4 & 5.

Honors Biology

Mr. Martinelli then reviewed the information distributed in the 10th Grade Honors Biology Course. In terms of achievement, the biggest concern was the chemistry preparation for the 9th grade students. A summer packet had been developed by the teachers to review the chemistry portion of the AP Biology course for the students who are going into the AP Biology. Mr. Martinelli then reviewed the comprehension percentages for both Brien McMahon and Norwalk High.

Mr. Suich then gave a brief overview of how the students are doing at McMahon. Mr. Martinelli pointed out that the accelerated learning has allowed students to take the AP courses earlier, rather than when they are almost ready to graduate. Mr. Kimmel asked what was being done to address the students that were receiving the Ds. Mr. Suich explained that the students who had D’s have managed to move their grade up to Cs and he felt that it was more a question of test taking abilities and time management. Mr. Martinelli said that he would be reviewing the student selection process with the eighth grade teachers also to help determine why these students are struggling. Discussion then followed.

New Course Proposal for Anatomy and Physiology.

Mr. Martinelli said that when the survey was done for new electives, Anatomy and Physiology was one of the top requests from the student. At that time, the staff was looking for some half year courses rather than a full year course. Now, that the other courses are in place, Mr. Martinelli said that this stand alone elective could be added for those students who are interested in an eventual career in medicine or health care. It would require the purchase of textbooks for both schools.

Mr. Martinelli said that the staff had discussed giving the students more experience in the bio-medical field. The second handout is the Bio-Medical Academy. Mr. Martinelli said that this would be a joint project with NCC and Norwalk Hospital.

Mr. Suich explained that an academy is just a school within a school. There is a strong demand for nursing and nursing assistants in this area. This program would help direct students towards that program. The career center helps a number of students succeed at the Nursing Assistant program last year at NCC. This program could also be utilized for EMT training. The one course missing from the curriculum is Anatomy and Physiology.

Mr. Daddona said that the new State requirements for the High Schools would be three lab sciences: biology, chemistry and physics. He then asked if the course will have a lab course attached. Mr. Martinelli asked how the State was defining a lab science. He said that when he had asked the State, they were unsure of the definition also. Mr. Daddona said that there would be a major cost to each District in terms of testing and also would have a major impact on the graduating students. Discussion about the current CAP requirements then followed.

The discussion then moved to the fact that there had been a directive that no new proposed courses would be approved. Mr. Martinelli said that adding the course would not affect his budget. Mr. Kimmel requested that Mr. Martinelli include the list of towns that offer Anatomy and Physiology with the request. Ms. Mosby said that she liked the fact that this was geared towards the areas where there was a high demand. If the District doesn’t have it, it puts the students at a disadvantage.

Ms. Mosby thanked Mr. Martinelli and Mr. Suich for their presentation.

Mr. Daddona then reviewed concerns about the Title One funding that could be cut next year, funding for the literacy specialists and professional development programs. He then reviewed the funding for professional development and explained that next year, there would be fewer professional development programs because of budgetary restrictions.

The Committee then thanked Mr. Martinelli and Mr. Suich for their input.

STUDY HALLS

Mr. Daddona then reviewed what Brien McMahon had done in terms of study halls. He pointed out that the first and last periods were open ended. He explained that all freshman were required to take six and a half credits. This means that freshmen will be on campus full time for all seven periods. Sophomores and juniors must take six credits. That would schedule them for a study hall. Seniors are required to take five and a half, which is where more study halls are seen. It would be possible for a senior to not have a Period One class. In this case, a senior might not need to report to campus until Period Two, however, this would require an open end pass with parental approval. Mr. Daddona then reviewed the details of the scheduling process for both Brien McMahon and Norwalk High School.

Mr. Kimmel pointed out that two years ago, the number of study halls had been a concern because there were people who felt the high schools did not have enough electives. He said that at the time, it was not clear that at McMahon, students who were not doing well in a particular class were receiving tutoring in their mandatory “guided” study halls.

Mr. Daddona then explained that Norwalk was considering whether the schedule should be changed to eight periods and how this would affect the amount of instruction time in the classroom. Mr. Daddona then pointed out that if the State requires mandated testing, a situation where a student passes Algebra I but fails the State proficiency test could easily happen. The State Board of Education has raised the requirements to 25, which will also impact the amount of courses for the seniors.

Ms. Mosby said that she liked the idea of the students having guided study halls because those students who were struggling would receive the extra help they needed. Mr. Kimmel stated that he still had strong concerns about students who were in two study halls. Mr. Daddona then suggested a way of generating a report that would narrow down the figures and focus in on the problem area. Discussion about this followed.

The discussion then moved to upcoming curriculum changes, particularly Chemistry 5, which was scheduled to change this year. However, with the budget constraints, this will not be done this year.

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. KIMMEL MOVED TO ADJOURN ** MS. MOSBY SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting adjourned at 9:07

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Committee Minutes