Sept.+2010


 * Curriculum Council Minutes **
 * September 8, 2010 **

Nancy Alibrandi, Val Aubry, Michael Bessette, Tina Blinn, Bill Carozza, Steve Chamberlin, Sally Codd, Mark Dickson, Liz Durant, Marcia McCaffrey, Eileen Reinacher, Chris Sousa, Dave Tilley
 * Members Present:**
 * Place and Time**: MSS 3:23 - 4:15
 * Minutes submitted by:** Nancy Alibrandi


 * Items discussed: **
 * Summer Curriculum **
 * The guiding questions for summer curriculum (What do we want students to learn? How will we know if students are learning? What will we do when students struggle to learn or already have learned the standard?) were effective in helping to focus the work. For budgetary purposes, there will be an effort to distinguish between the different types of work that take place during the summer: Curriculum Revision, Summer Curriculum, and Summer Work; Leadership Team will need to decide whether it is better to fund many requests ("mile wide and an inch deep") or to fund fewer projects and have the work be more in depth
 * General agreement that the investment (time and money) in summer curriculum work is valuable to move the district forward
 * One of the positive impacts of summer curriculum work is a tightening of curriculum to make it more consistent
 * Summer curriculum revealed that there is varied degree of understanding about what constitutes a power standard; more communication is needed; ideally a curriculum person would be available to assist groups undertaking this work, and to explain how the district's earlier initiatives in Understanding by Design and developing enduring understandings and essential questions fits in with current work with power standards/competencies, common assessments, and Professional Learning Communities
 * We need further work in clearly articulating standards in "kid friendly" language
 * Logistics**
 * We agreed that our starting time would continue to be 3:15, and that we would make a greater effort to arrive so meetings can start on time. Ending time for meetings will be 4:15.


 * Common Core Standards**
 * New Hampshire adopted the Common Core Standards on July 13, 2010. "The standards have been developed to define the knowledge and skills students should have in order to graduate from high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs. They are intended to be clear, rigorous, and to build on the strengths of current state standards, in order to ensure that all students are prepared to succeed in our global society."
 * More information can be found on the NH Dept. of Education's website: http://www.education.nh.gov/spotlight/k12_ccss.htm
 * Also at Common Core State Standards Initiative: http://www.corestandards.org/
 * State alignment to the Common Core Standards is underway
 * The future of AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) is beholden to ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act), and the reauthorization of ESEA hasn't happened yet
 * National assessment based on the common core will be created; it is expected that it will be ready in 2014, and that it will be given in the Spring [2013-2014 would be a transition year from NECAP test to Common Core test]; will include summative, computer adapted, benchmark testing
 * The Math Task Force may need to do a little "tweaking" to align curriculum with the Common Core, but not massive


 * Math Task Force Update (including new Math Task Force Wiki)**
 * Summer work included taking a second look at the power standards - revising some, deleting some, and moving some to a more appropriate grade level; looking at what should be indicators of student learning (NECAP is a school wide assessment, not an indicator of individual progress), reviewed common assessments, need a tool to organize the data
 * Created a Math Task Force Wiki to make information (agendas, notes, documents, etc.) accessible: http://hsdmathtaskforce.wikispaces.com
 * Discussed parking lot items and drafted white papers/position statements on use of calculator and math homework
 * Spent half day visiting the Impact Center at Plymouth State to look at Math Programs - Is there a significant difference between other programs and Growing with Mathematics?
 * Plan to do some piloting of programs this year and make decision by the end of the school year
 * Liz Durant suggested a "Roll out Party" for parents so they would have an understanding of the curriculum, and also an appreciation for all the meetings and work that goes into developing it


 * Science Task Force**
 * At our October meeting, Michael Bessette and Mark Dickson will report on the Science Task Force, including who is on it, and what they hope to accomplish this year - including what needs to be included in the district budget for Summer Curriculum Work and Year Two

__Proposed Agenda:__ Techpaths Update from Science Task Force Curricular Changes with Budgetary Implications
 * Next meeting: Wednesday, October 6, 2010**