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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-11-03 Birch Meadow School Council MinutesBirch Meadow School Council Second Meeting - 7:30 am Wednesday November 3, 1993 Council Members Richard Davidson Irene Bourne Jo Anne Garelick Sue Berger Denise Gallagher. Anthony Fisher Principal & Co-Chair Teacher Grade 2 Teacher Grade 4 Parent Parent & Co-Chair Parent Minutes: Before getting to the items on the agenda, Richard informed the council that our community member, James Keigley has had to withdraw from his position on our committee because of a conflict of interest. James is on the town finance committee and is, therefore, inelegible to sit on any other standing committee in Reading. Richard is working hard on finding a replacement. 1. The minutes of the first meeting were approved. Minutes will be provided to the Reading Teacher's Association and to the Superintendent's office. 2. Linda Goodemote Killiam School Council Killiam has had a council since 1989 when they were one of many schools nationwide taking part in the Carneghi initiative. Initially, this "advisory team" was too large (10 parents, 10 teachers) to be effective as evidenced by a lack in ability to define goals and complete projects. The problem was also due to the fact that the the group was unsure of their overall direction. Now that the objectives are more clearly defined thanks to the Education Reform Act, the council is now task driven which is much better. The size problem has also been resolved and :Killiam's council is now down to 9 members total. The majority of the council members have been working together for a number of years and though there was some initial dificulty in the group dynamics of a few of the grade level teams (there were also advisory teams for each grade pair - K-1, 2-3, 4-5), there have been few problems in the main body especially since it has become smaller. Linda attributes this success to the fact that there are no hidden agendas amongst the members. Part of the credit for this is due in turn to some early training the council received as part of the initiative. This training in the areas of group dynamics and decision making also had the dual effect of building relationships within the council and this has been very important. With two new members on the council at Killiam, the dynamics have changed again and there is a need to build new relationships. Birch Meadow School Council Second Meeting - Wednesday November 3, 1993 Minutes page 2 The Killiam School council's assessment plan is going to begin with a parent "screening" in order to find out what the parents are looking for from the school. The results will then be reviewed and interpreted by the staff. While other issues have been addressed, the council's discussions to date have kept coming back to the subject of curriculum. Richard Davidson suggested that a general survey or a survey of parents, teachers and the larger community done simultaneously would eliminate the perception or the possibility that the resulting improvement plan will be driven by any one segment. Linda indicated that the council feels there has been some dificulty in getting parents to come and be involed in parent education opportunities. Therefore the initial focus on parents seems waranted. Richard asked if the larger community was to be included in Killiam's assessment, citing the need to involve the other 80% of the people in community who have no direct ties to the school but who pay the taxes that ultimately determines the budget. While agreeing to the need, Linda did not indicate there was any plan to do that though their assessment is still in the planning stage. She added that the focus in the past has been school based, focusing on developing a homework and discipline pak and in following Birch Meadow's lead in the area of a publishing house. Linda shared the name of Deborah Slobodnik a Reading resident and former Killiam parent who handled the trainings for the Killiam council. 3. Discussions Questions regarding Killiam experiences There was a general feeling that we have a good group, to work with at the start and that 7 members is a good number. Richard asked for ideas as to how we could build good relationships with each other and suggested a dinner. Tony Fisher thought that the idea of an informal training in decision making or consensus building would be great with the thought that we could also strengthen our identity as a group and get to know each other better as individuals in such a setting. There was some enthusiasm for this idea. 4. Discussion (continued) of decision making process Richard suggested and all agreed that we would table this discussion until after we participated in a training but that we not waitto begin our talks on developing an assessment plan. Birch Meadow School Council Second Meeting - Wednesday November 3, 1993 Minutes page 3 5. Discussion of Needs Assessment procedures Richard handed out a publication on four techniques for assessment stressing that assessments can go on concurrently on three or four levels. The group thought an initial survey might help us establish a direction and we agreed that parents and staff would meet separately to develop some questions. Richard hoped that we could form questions that would identify and reinforce existing strengths as well as weekneses. Also, he suggested the possibility of fend-testing our questions before we jump ahead. 6. System wide focus on Alternative Assessment stategies Richard shared information on a new system wide initiative to develop alternative assessment models. There has been one meeting already with Richard Strong acting a facilitator, and there are plans for more. Mr. Strong is nationaly known for his work in education and he will be involved throughout this process in Reading. This new focus has been promoted by the teachers. It is felt that these new strategies need to be instituted K-12 or else the whole process is self defeating. 7. Other business Tony Fisher agreed to call Deborah Slobodnik to consult on the issue of training for our group. Tony will report back to Richard. Next Meeting: Monday, November 15th 1993 Time: 7:30 - 8:30 am at Birch Meadow Tentative Agenda: 1. Assesment procedures 2. Report on training possibilities