Oct.+2011


 * Curriculum Council Minutes **
 * October 5, 2011 **

Nancy Alibrandi, Val Aubry, Bill Carozza, Steve Chamberlin, Sally Codd, Mark Dickson, Chris Kelley, Dave Tilley, Trish Walton
 * Members Present:**
 * Place and Time**: MSS 3:15 - 4:15
 * Minutes submitted by:** Nancy Alibrandi
 * Also Present:** Matt Krogman, Kate LaClair


 * Items discussed: **
 * SOPPADA / American Studies** - Matt Krogman & Kate LaClair
 * [[file:SOPPADA1_american-studies-2011-2012-LH.doc]]
 * Want to reorganize tenth grade Social Studies and English classes
 * Currently called American Studies; the intent of an American Studies course is a team-taught course where literature and history content is integrated; right now the curriculum is somewhat linked between departments, but the main collaboration is for quarter projects
 * Want to create a team-taught Honors American Studies course; also a separate honors-level American Literature and honors-level American History course; this would increase flexibility in scheduling (there are students who are strong in one subject area but not the other who would like to take an honors-level course; students wouldn't be forced into taking an accelerated course in both areas if they didn't want to)
 * Would also have a general-level American History and American Literature course available; the name of the courses would all be the same but on the students' transcripts there would be an honors designation for the honors course
 * Want to do a true American Studies course which is team taught with content integrated; 2 teachers and a small enough group (22-28 students) to be in one room for 90 min. each day
 * Connections made by having an integrated curriculum is valuable for students; would like to do this for all students but resources are limited
 * What would it take to make this available for all students? Need more physical space - double sized room with foldable walls; need more teaching time (fifths); need common planning time for teachers; philosophically want an integrated course for all students; in previous years have moved closer to similar content and material among courses; often the same books, but pace is different; the quarter projects are different; smaller classes coming up so may be more opportunities for integration; need to investigate ways to offer this to all kids
 * Need to find a way to measure student engagement; if team teaching an integrated course is more engaging for students, does it save the district money in other ways (e.g. less remediation)
 * Action: Recommended to Leadership Team**


 * SOPPADA / Comp 11 -** Kate LaClair
 * [[file:SOPPADA2_Comp-11-change-2011-2012-LH.doc]]
 * In order for students to take English electives in their junior and senior year they have to pass Comp 11; if they fail the course, they have to remediate or take it again in order to be able to take other courses
 * The philosophy behind the course was that it prepares students for the writing they will do in the future
 * Comp 11 focuses on different modes of writing; they have moved writing an analytical literary essay to the reading courses they offer
 * English Department wants to remove the requirement that Comp 11 be a prerequisite course; it would still be a required course (it's a good college prep course), but do not want it to be a prerequisite for taking other courses
 * All juniors take it in the fall now; want to switch to offering it both semesters, then students could remediate the next semester if they needed to; they would like students to be able to take it whenever - it has been difficult for students to schedule, they have to double up on courses one semester
 * Action: Recommended to Leadership Team**


 * SOPPADA / Reading/Writing Electives** **-** Kate LaClair
 * [[file:SOPPADA2_Comp-11-change-2011-2012-LH.doc]]
 * want to open some of the electives that were only offered to juniors and seniors to sophomores;would need teacher approval to take; two reading electives could be too much for some students
 * Action: Recommended to Leadership Team**


 * Summer Curriculum / High School Competencies** - Chris Kelley
 * [[file:SummerCurrHMHS.doc]]
 * Teachers completed competency template for one course as part of the summer checkout procedure; a group reviewed templates using guidelines that were developed during the 2010-2011 school year; group suggested revisions and gave templates back to department heads; discussions within departments and continued work on competencies for all classes/courses; making revisions over time; discussions on grading practices next
 * Feedback from students is that they appreciate that the competency format is consistent from class to class - it's easier to understand; future PD will look at the Common Core Standards and how they align with competencies


 * 'Competencies' vs. 'Power Standards'** - Chris Kelley
 * Some confusion about our use of the terms 'competencies' and 'power standards
 * Some people in the district would like us to use the term competency at all grade levels; currently we use competencies for grades 9-12; and power standards for PreK-12
 * The movement behind competencies was that the state 4 years ago mandated competencies for credit; we got approval to implement competency requirements year by year with the incoming freshman class
 * We currently use the term 'competency' to denote something that is required in order for a student to graduate
 * If you fail a 'competency' it means you don't get credit for the course; what are the stakes at earlier grade levels? the consequences are not the same
 * Kids aren't held at the same level of accountability at the elementary level; in elementary, it's the teacher who is figuring out why the student isn't learning; over time a gradual release of this responsibility/accountability
 * In 9th grade, the accountability steps up -students have to take responsibility for what they are not achieving
 * Some at the Middle school want the teeth of the competency at their level
 * Education is high stakes; Does it help make education more meaningful? families want high expectations
 * Competency is a floor, not a ceiling - it is the minimum requirement
 * Action:** Chris Kelley will talk to the competency committee to see if they want to discuss this with the Curriculum Council


 * Preparations for the Oct. 7th PD Day on the Common Core** - Steve Chamberlin
 * Steve outlined the plans for the October 7th Professional Development day
 * Information for the day can be found on the Curriculum Council Wiki:


 * Other Summer Curriculum / Harold Martin** - Bill Carozza
 * PLC Steering group met - created fall assessment timeline; weekly grade level team meetings will be focusing on Literacy; organized WIN times - protected time to do literacy work 3 days where special education staff, reading staff, and Instructional Assistants help to work on **W**hat **I**(kids) **N**eed (WIN)
 * New Reading Task Force formed; Student Support Task Force met
 * Second grade teachers met to talk about NECAP (it's a test of what students learned K-2); looking at lessons to to teach students how tests are structured
 * Other summer curriculum work was completed, but we ran out of time to hear about it

November 2, 2011
 * Next Meeting:**

__Future Agenda Items:__
 * Science 7-12
 * Reading
 * Revisit Curriculum Review process in relation to Common Core