PERA JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

Keeneyville Elementary School District 20

The Joint Committee convened on March 8, 2016 at 8:30 AM

Present: Jana Stevens, Mike Glosson, Deb Guzan, Maggie Etherington, Kim Orellana, Joanne Champagne, Craig Barringer, Emmie Pawlak, Michael Connolly, Marjorie Cave, John Gustafson joined the meeting at 8:55 AM and left the meeting at 1:42PM.

Agenda Item / Action Taken
Welcome / Meeting Convened at 8:30 with the group reviewing core beliefs and group norms.
Members of the group were assigned a "most responsible role" to monitor how the committee honored each group norm by use of a +/Delta.
The group reviewed minutes from the February 9, 2016 meeting and approved with noting the FAQ document will need to be reviewed by the group prior to being posted. The group will revisit the FAQ document.
Teacher Professional Development Update / The JC reviewed staff feedback from the March 4th Institute Day.
Special Education teachers continue to struggle with how best to integrate growth into the evaluation model. Teachers commented on needing for more time but have valued the time they have had to work across the district as grade level teams.
DECISION: The group will develop talking points from the feedback we have received to share with the staff.
Review on the status of the piloting process / The Joint Committee reviewed feedback from pilot teachers. Common themes in the responses included:
§  Setting targets was difficult. Many felt like they were "blindly throwing darts" at a board. Teachers noted the because the pilot was in the middle of the year they had knowledge of their students. At the beginning of the year this may be more difficult.
§  The Joint Committee discussed the need to ensure more teachers had opportunities for vertical articulation and data sharing at the beginning of the school year.
§  The pilot teachers felt that the interval of instruction was a sufficient amount of time. It was also noted that the flexibility in the interval of instruction was positive.
§  The pilot teachers did not find the planning pages useful. Pilot teachers indicated that they were confusing and that the conversations with administrators were far more valuable.
§  The pilot teachers felt that the student roster was helpful, again it was noted that the planning pages were confusing. There are redundancies in the student growth plan template
§  Mid point check in was found to be useful as it helped the teacher and administrator address issues and accountability. It was noted that the intention for the mid point is that it does not need to be a formal meeting, but could be submitted electronically if everything is going well.
§  Pilot teachers commented that the reflection meetings were useful and sparked good conversation.
Suggestions for improvement provided insight into how to simplify forms and process from the pilot teachers perspective. The Joint Committee will spend time working to simplify the documentation process.
DECISION: By consensus, the Joint Committee decided that the planning pages will be in as an appendix for reference and not used as part of the process.
DECISION: Revisit and revise the student growth plan template to address redundancies.
Review Status of Teacher Evaluation Plan / The committee worked in smaller groups to complete section of the teacher evaluation plan. Subgroups reviewed Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Next all members reviewed Chapters 1-4. The group reconvened and took the following action:
DECISIONS: Chapter 1: Approved ; Chapter 2: Approved ; Chapter 3: Approved ; Chapter 4: Approved ; Chapter 7: Approved (noted that a sub committee will need to reorganize appendices and ensure alignment of language.); and Chapter 8: Approved.
DECISIONS:
Chapter 5: Additional changes need to be made to timeline table. Final consensus will be established once those changes are made.
Chapter 6: The sub committee working on this needs more time to revise the Student Growth Plan forms. Then they will edit and align language in the chapter to support those changes.
Chapter 9 and 10: Descriptions entered and edits made by a sub committee. Consensus would be sought at next meeting.
DECISIONS: Some work and decisions related to approval sections of the evaluation plan will be done electronically, prior to the April meeting.
Parking Lot Items / DECISION: Pilot #2: Upon return from Spring Break, the Joint Committee will communicate with teachers through staff meetings and/or email and provide teachers with documents and an explanation of the student growth process. Teachers will be invited to try the student growth planning process prior to the end of the school year in cooperation with their building administrator.
Talking Points / Talking points were formed and +/Delta feedback was gathered for review at beginning of next meeting. The Committee:
·  Approved the February 2016 Joint Committee Meeting Minutes;
·  Reviewed the survey results from the March 4, 2016 in-service;
·  Reviewed feedback from the Pilot Teachers and based on this feedback revision were made to the Student Growth forms;
·  The Joint Committee reached consensus on the following sections of the Keeneyville Student Growth Plan:
·  SECTION 1: PERA JOINT COMMITTEE
·  SECTION 2: TEACHER EVALUATION PLAN -STUDENT GROWTH COMPONENT
·  SECTION 3: ASSESSMENTS
·  SECTION 4: STUDENT SAMPLE
·  ECTION 7: STUDENT GROWTH CONFERENCES WITH TEACHER AND QUALIFIED EVALUATOR
·  SECTION 8: PERFORMANCE EVALUATION RATING
·  After Spring Break, teachers will receive a copy of the revised Student Growth Plan documents to use during an optional second pilot period.

PERA Joint Committee Meeting adjourned 2:25 PM