Instructional Issues Council

October 23, 2008

Notes

  1. Welcome and Introductions:
  2. Present: Theress Pidick, Becky Rosenau, , Amy Hemp, Laurie Grosselfinger, Keith Mills, Carmen Sanjurjo, Susana Cordova, Beverly Baldwin,Jackie Arriaga, Pat Sanchez, Deb Graham, and Karen Fernandez
  3. Excused:, Michael O’Brien, Wendy Lanier
  4. Guests: Kipp Bentley, and Megan Marquez
  5. Reviewed Minutes from 9/30/08
  6. Follow Up/Status
  7. Laurie reported that there was not yet a final decision on the late start PD and that she would update us at our next meeting
  8. Susana shared that the specialists/coordinators have updated the ILP so that it becomes the first step to RtI. The second page of the document allows the teacher to input the intervention he/she is trying and to mark the progress being made. It is part of the SIT team process and is currently posted online and will be ready for use in the spring of ’09.
  9. Keith shared that his Art teachers attended the ECE training that was provided by the district. Some concern was expressed about the time out from class, but needs are being met to support specials teachers in teaching ECE students.
  10. SBPR and School Net Presentation
  11. Kipp Bentley and Megan Marquez presented on the SBPR and School Net
  12. SBPR – (elementary only) As part of this effort, DoTS originally generated a custom report b/c the “canned” version of Infinite Campus (IC) was not meeting our needs. However, several concerns were raised b/c it was a timely process, labor intensive, schools had to provide lead time to DoTS to get the results and they couldn’t run their own reports, etc.
  13. DoTS is currently engaged in a pilot using the “canned” version that schools can access on their own. It is not available in Spanish so side-by-side guides are being developed. They hope to get feedback and determine next steps. If this is successful, they’ll add additional schools in Spring “09.
  14. School Net is an instructional management system that the district has purchased to support teachers and principals in a one-stop shop to access student data and curriculum resources.
  15. Currently the demo. version is in place and the planning team will undergo training in November
  16. The system is a full student profile that is not new information, but information in a new, more useful format
  17. It will eventually be linked to curriculum (eg. pacing and planning guides) to support teachers
  18. Pilot in Spring ’09 with a larger pilot in Fall ‘09
  19. Nov. ’09 it will go full scale to all teachers after the 1st trimester
  20. DoTS is determining the time impact for training. They determine how to support the navigation of the new tool and more importantly help teachers know what to do with the data. The goal would be to make this a job imbedded tool that could be used in conjunction with data teams)
  1. Current Issues:
  2. Time Impact of initiatives
  3. Concerns about the support vs. the gotchas
  4. The 3 common expectations have been clearly stated for principals and teachers.
  5. Looks fors are there to support teachers in implementing the core instruction and support students’ learning
  6. Planning Guide Implementation
  7. Inconsistent message across networks as to what “must” be taught
  8. The big ideas/essential learnings must be addressed, as well as the pacing and planning maintained
  9. Schools Sharing Facilities (MOVE to next meeting)

Pieces for Follow Up:

Task / Date and Status
  1. Laurie Grosselfinger will update the IIC on the plans for the Late Start time
/ Laurie will update IIC on November 20th
  1. Common message on the use of the Look Fors
/ Letter to be sent out from the CAO
  1. Consistency of planning guides across networks
/ Laurie will check with the ISs about the expectations being expressed in schools and will report back on November 20th

Ideas for upcoming meetings:

  • ELA (Nov.)
  • TNLI Schools (influx after Oct. 1)
  • Resources/support we offer to teachers
  • Alignment to best practice
  • ELA-E and ELA-S classrooms (language expectations)
  • Magnet School access to Spanish Speakers (Jan.)
  • TNLI School effectiveness (Jan.)
  • Look at Data
  • No Evaluation Dept.
  • Structure impact many not be addressed – solutions that are possible
  • Update on transition program (Jan.)
  • Guided Reading update (Feb.)
  • Survey how this is working (benchmark books)