HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-12-16 School Council - Parker Middle Minutes Town of Reading 7 RE U t I V E [
OWN CLERK
Meeting Minutes VA.
LG-.
2021 JAN 14 PM 5 42
Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
School Council -Walter S Parker Middle
Date: 2020-12-16 Time: 5:30 PM
Building: School - Parker Location:
Address: 45 Temple Street Session:
Purpose: Monthly Meeting Version: Final
Attendees: Members - Present:
Marianne Downing, Erin Gaffen, Richele Shankland, Christine Lusk, Andrew
Spinal, Sherilla Lestrade, Justin Raimo, Maya Liteplo, Kimberly Bernazzani,
Ann Ozanian
Members - Not Present:
Others Present:
Brendan Norton, Assistant Principal
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Richele Shankland
Topics of Discussion:
Christine moved to approve the November minutes. Erin Gaffen Seconded. The minutes were
unanimously approved.
SIP Review
Christine inquired if the UDL survey had been completed. It was done and reviewed with the
staff. It still needs to be reviewed with the students.
Goal to start the process of Mission/Vision. This may not be completed in the 2020-2021 school
year. The idea of having an outside consultant help with this was raised by Christine. School
admin and staff expressed they can handle it without outside help.
The goal of reducing student absences raised the following points of discussion:
1) Does the goal of decreasing absences conflict with the handbook or with the equity goals
of the school?
2) How does the culture of Parker encourage students to come to school?
3) What are the consequences/how do we respond when students we absent/late?
GradinK
In the Spring, when students went remote as a result of the pandemic the state issued a directive
that there should be"no harm grading". As a result, Parker switched to Pass/Pass incomplete for
the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year. This raised the question as to what practices
Parker does, are they harmful, and are they equitable. For example, some students get As on
assessments, but never complete homework.
• Do grades reflect engagement/learning?
• What are the criteria for success and is this clear?
Page I 1
• We need to separate learning behavior from leaming. (Le. Homework, study skills and
behavior)
• Some students have a challenge working at home.
• 85%of students make honor roll. It is perceived to be an issue to give students a C.
• Grades are not very meaningful.
• For many students the interest/goal is to achieve a certain grade, as opposed to leaming.
o There are some overachievers who are stressed about grades.
o Some students are more motivated by positive feedback.
o Kids are wired
• Do we promote a growth mindset? Would moving to a 4-point scale vs. a 100-point scale
be beneficial?
• Having students driven by grades creates a significant amount of pressure.
• Students motivated by grades often experience test anxiety. What is the purpose of
testing? How does this relate to real life? Are tests an authentic assessment of what
students are learning?
• The current report cards are more grade centric. Adding more commentary would be
valuable in indicating where a student is excelling and where a student could focus more
energy. (Le. the student who receives all As on tests but never does homework). This
would result in a mind set shift. Moving to a more commentary-based reporting would
be the first domino.
• In summary, it comes down to equity and the current grading isn't equitable. We haven't
gotten to the grading-equity.
• How would changes to the report cud impact the teachers/union? Teachers would need
to buy in to any changes. Adding conferences would be a union issue. Grading policy
changes would not be a union issue.
Handbook
The way certain things are written are geared toward the white majority.
Students we at a functional disadvantage if they don't have computers and hots spots at home.
Mr. Norton walked down the rubric that will be used to evaluate the handbook.
Mr. Norton used several sources to create the rubric.
Birch Meadow will serve as a pilot school for an equity audit in district. METCO Inc/Grant
Hightower is involved, and a team is being put together to complete the audit. Mrs. Shankland is
a part of the team.
What is Diversity, Inclusion, Equity?
Meeting Adjourned at approximately 7:00 pm.
Next meeting is January 13, 2020
Minutes submitted by Christine Lusk
This meeting was held in Microsoft Teams
Page 1 2