LSRT Minutes
October 1, 2009
A. Housekeeping: Ruth Wattenberg proposed that future agendas take this form:.
A. Housekeeping
B. Principal's Report
C. Reports from LSRT Members on feedback they're hearing...
D. Updates/ Old Business
E. Special Presentations/Discussion
F. New Business
The agenda structure was agreed to. Ms. Lerum will compile correct email list. Every effort will be made to get minutes posted as soon as possible.
B. Principal's Report
New Teacher Evaluation System: Dr. Kim reviewed the new teacher evaluation system, called Impact. She believes the criteria and rubric are clearly delineated and promised to have a system-wide impact. Teachers will be evaluated 5 times per year, 3 times by school administrators and twice by "master teachers" whose qualifications and experience are well documented. Professional Development for teachers this year will focus on the evaluation system.
Katz: Indicated support for tying evaluations to test results.
Kim: Test scores are only a factor for English and math teachers. In those cases, test scores will count for 50% of the performance evaluation.
Lerum: Expressed that not everything has been outlined as to how the scores will be used. For example, teachers will be evaluated against an estimate of what their students' "predicted growth" should be. But we don't yet know on what basis students' growth be "predicted." So, how do test scores translate into evaluation criteria? Noone has yet said. But, in principle, Deal's teachers support using data to drive instruction.
Wattenberg: Are the tests that are used aligned to what is taught?
Lerum/Kim: Generally yes, but there are issues that still need to be worked through. The tests might overemphasize certain more basic skills and underemphasize more advanced topics and skills.
Katz : Is there a tension between the goals of the IB program and the assessments?
Albright: No, because the the DC standards/assessments establish the minimum [which we still must meet], while the IB identifies the higher standard we're working towards. The goal of teachers is "Basics, plus."
Staffing: Dr. Kim said the school year was going well, teams were working together and that the collaboration is raising the bar for all. She said it was nice not to have a split team (Last year, one instructional team had responsibility for students in two different grades.) for scheduling and planning purposes.
In order to adequately staff the teams (and not have a split team), Deal chose not to employ instructional coaches, which most schools have. As these coaches are normally the individuals who routinely attend the district's training programs, noone from Deal has been attending these sessions so far.
RIF's/Budget: RIFS taking place, communication from the District was supposed to come out by September 30th. It has been delayed, heightening anxiety for staff.
Katz: Decisions on RIF's are appropriately made by the principal, not the LSRT.
Wattenberg: Personnel decisions are the province of the principal, but it's appropriate for the LSRT to discuss the effects of different kids of program cuts on students.
Lerum: It's tricky for the LSRT to make recommendations in this area since there is a fine line between programming and people.
Dr. Kim indicated that the whole process was difficult as it is tough emotionally for both staff and students.
Meroney: It will important to communicate to parents the effect on instruction of whatever cuts are made.
Kim: The cuts are being done in a way that won't interfere with the instructional program and with the team structure. Two non-teaching positions were never filled and will be cut. The school was sent two extra teachers in the fall from the excess pool. Teaching cuts will be made in the areas where there are extra teachers.
Wattenberg: How did Deal do in the budgeting/equalization formula?
Kim: Deal was overenrolled by 20; the school always tries to hits its enrollment targets or goes over to provide a cushion. Initially, Dr. Kim said she thought she'd be able to hire an additional Spanish teacher because of the fact that we enrolled 20 more students, but with per pupil budget reduction, the additional 20 students just provided us with a larger cushion.
D. Updates
Student activities: Students will take many field trips this month, especially from Oct. 13-28.
After School: Assistant Principal Neal said that the program was coming together and she expects it to be up and running by November 1. There will be a sliding scale fee and regular clubs, academics; technology will be included; coverage will run until 5:30.
Parents: Thank you! Parents will really appreciate this.
International Baccalaureate: There will be a meeting to discuss the IB for parents next week. The IB certification team will be visiting later this month (Oct 22) to observe Deal and talk with members of the community.
E. Special Report/Discussion: Deal's Test Score Data
Mr. Albright provided an overview of Deal's recent scores. A few key points were:
1. As of last year, Deal's students reached the Adequate Yearly Progress test score targets established by No Child Left Behind in every category (e.g. black, white, Hispanic, Asian, low-income,) except for English-language Learners and special education. As a result, Deal didn't make AYP last year, and this is the reason why Deal has staffed up in the special education area.
Kim: Pulling special ed students out of their regular classrooms has been established through national studies to be a bad idea. Deal has been, and continues to eliminate as much "pull-out" as possible. Now, with our new special ed staff, the per pupil ratio for sped students is very small. That should help a lot. The special ed teachers also help any child that needs extra assistance even if they are not identified as special education.
2. But, the AYP targets will go up this year (to about 70% of students reaching proficient v. 51% last year) and in subsequent years, meaning students will have to score better than they did last year in order for Deal to make the targets this year and they will have to score even better the next year, etc.
3. If our scores remained stagnant this year, Deal might miss its targets in additional categories (e.g. English language learners, low income students, as well as race categories for Black and Hispanic students) this coming year and in subsequent years. (Eventually (by 2014), 100% of all students are required to meet the targets). In anticipation of this, a number of programs are in place to identify and help students who are behind. But, the main effort to reach and help struggling students is being undertaken through the academic team structure.
Mostoller: As a result of the reduced student load (each team has about 100 students), teachers really know who is falling behind and are really able to target them with extra support. Identifying these students and making sure they get the right kind of help is a main subject of team discussions.
McAdoo: Notes that the achievement gap between white and black students remain large. This gap becomes even more of a problem at Wilson, where classes seem very segregated as the more advanced students enter AP classes. How can we do more to close this gap?
Wattenberg: Can we find out the extent to which students are progressing once they're at Deal? Can we see what they've gained in test scores since their arrival at Deal. That might tell us something more about what's working well.
4. Discussion about additional ways deal is working to reach students who are at risk of not meeting targets:
Last summer, students at risk of poor performance in math (and students who, with a push, could do more advanced math) were identified (through a pretest) and given assistance during the summer by Deal math teachers through Summerbridge. Math faculty expects this to have a big impact.
Ms. Wylegala, an intervention teacher, will hold special classes in reading and math for kids who are behind. In reading, the program is called Reading 180. In math, it's called Accelerated Math.
Because the teams have only 100 kids, all the class sizes are pretty small. In the lowest level math class, there are only thirteen students, enabling all of the student sin the class to get the assistance they need.
Also, through team collaboration and IB strategies, there is also an effort to move students who are in basic to proficient and who are proficient into advanced. The staff is always trying to move students up, no matter where they start from.
5. Discussion on potential disruption caused by testing-
Teachers have requested that DCCAS be given in June, not April. That way teachers could teach through the full school year and wouldn't have to get the curriculum done by April.
Currently students also get tested through the BAS (Benchmark Assessment System). Each of these tales two-and-a-half hours on each of two days. The DCCAS runs over four days.
6. Consensus that this discussion needs more time, especially on "gap" issues and looking not just at the absolute test scores but at how groups of students are progressing. Also, consensus that a presentation of this sort should go to the PTA or in some other way to a larger group of parents.
F. New Business
Wilson Renovation: Matt Frumin reviewed the Wilson renovation. He indicated that the previous night there had been a public meeting at Wilson at which the DC officials with responsibility for the renovation made a presentation and took questions from the audience. He believes that the spirit of cooperation on the part of the DC officials was better than it has been.
He noted that the renovation could have both direct and indirect effects on Deal and that it would be important for Deal community to follow it closely. For example, the renovation, as currently proposed doesn't address the terrible traffic issues on Chesapeake street, which effect both Deal and Wilson students. He would like to maintain close contact with Deal as the renovation moves forward.
Addendum. After the meeting, it became clear that DCPS is strongly considering using the Deal field (with demountables) as swing space for Wilson's 9th and 10th graders during the Wilson renovation. Since then, Ms. Kim has met with DCPS officials to find out more and express a great deal of concern about the prospect. She has asked for a full explanation of why UDC can't fit all of Wilson's students and requested that Deal parents get a briefing on the situation. Ruth Wattenberg has also conveyed to Councilwoman Mary Cheh's office on behalf of the LSRT great concern about the proposal and a great desire to find other options and/or understand why other options aren't feasible. She also requested that the LSRT and/or a larger group of parents get briefed on the situation. The LSRT and Ms. Kim will keep parents posted on developments in this area.