Minutes
Teaching and Learning Subcommittee Meeting
Monday, June 11, 2012
A meeting of the Teaching and Learning Subcommittee was held on Monday, June 11, 2012 at
4:30 pm in the 2nd Floor Conference Room at the NAGE Building. Present were Mr. Paul Bregoli,
Ms. Barbara Isola, and Mrs. Emily Lebo, Chair. Also attending were Superintendent
DeCristofaro, Assistant Superintendent Colleen Roberts, Mr. Keith Segalla, Mr. Kevin Mulvey,
Mrs. Mary Fredrickson, Ms. Beth Hallett, Mrs. Maura Papile, Ms. Judy Todd and Ms. Allison Cox,
President, Quincy Education Association.
The meeting was called to order at 4:30 pm by Mrs. Lebo.
The first item was the presentation of the Screening for the Elementary Laboratory Center (ELC)
and Advanced Placement Center (APC). Mrs. Roberts reviewed the procedure and timeline of
how Grade 4 students who show evidence of giftedness are identified and assessed. All Grade
4 students take the Otis-Lennon Assessment in the fall; additional assessment information is
reviewed, including the English Language Arts and Mathematics Scaled Scores on the Grade 3
MCAS and the School Ability Index (SAI) from the Otis-Lennon. Students who document an
Advanced score on the MCAS in ELA or Math and/or have a SAI of 120 or higher are
recommended to participate in the Screening Assessment for Gifted Elementary and Middle
School Students (SAGES-2) to further measure aptitude and achievement. Parents of students
recommended to participate in the SAGES-2 screening are notified by a letter requesting
permission for the assessment and providing a packet that needs to be completed by the
parent to provide additional information to the Screening Team. Parents whose children are
not initially recommended by their school may also refer their student for SAGES-2
administration. The SAGES-2 is administered in the spring by the elementary school principals.
Results from the SAGES-2 are reviewed by the Gifted Team, who recommends acceptance to
the ELC program. Parents are notified of their student’s SAGES-2 Assessment results and
acceptance status in a letter mailed to homes. Mrs. Roberts noted that parents can appeal the
ELC acceptance decision.
Students who complete the ELC program are enrolled in the APC upon completion of Grade 5,
with their parents’ permission. Students who move in to Quincy in Grade 5 and are identified
as potentially gifted are referred for SAGES-2 administration in the spring of Grade 5. Students
who attend private schools in Quincy may also participate in SAGES-2 at this time. Mrs. Lebo
asked if the notification letters were sent out in multiple languages. Mrs. Roberts replied that
the notification letters are sent out in both English and Chinese. Mrs. Lebo requested that a
presentation about the ELC and APC Screening be scheduled for Fall 2012 in advance of
notification to Grade 4 and 5 parents regarding the administration of testing for giftedness.
Mrs. Roberts and Mrs. Fredrickson then gave a presentation about the No Child Left Behind
(NCLB) Waiver that was approved for Massachusetts in February, 2012. Massachusetts has
been granted approval to waive the NCLB requirement to measure Adequate Yearly Progress
towards 100% proficiency (AYP) and classify schools based upon NCLB Designations of:
Identified for Improvement, Corrective Action and Restructuring. Massachusetts will replace
the (Federal) AYP system and NCLB labels with Massachusetts Accountability and Assistance
Levels for all Districts and Schools, and expand the State system to meet Federal Waiver
requirements. DESE will replace the AYP Performance Target of 100% Proficiency by 2014 with
the revised goal: to Reduce the Proficiency Gap by half by 2016-17. AYP targets and
calculations will be replaced with Progress and Performance Targets (PPI) that will be calculated
with the goal of decreasing Proficiency Gaps (the distance between 2011 Achievement and
100% Proficiency) by half by 2016-17. The new DESE Accountability System will also expand the
focus on subgroup progress and create a new subgroup: the High Needs subgroup, comprised
of students who receive Special Education services, or are former or current English Language
Learners or who are from families that meet low income guidelines.
DESE will classify schools into Levels 1-5, with Level 1 being the highest, utilizing a 4-Year
Progress and Performance Index (PPI) that gives the greatest ‘weight’ to the 2012 data (40%)
followed by a 30%, 20%, 10% weighting of 2011, 2010 and 2009 data. PPI calculations will focus
on Achievement (CPI) in English Language Arts, Math & Science, Growth (SGP) for English
Language Arts, & Math and the High School PPI will incorporate Graduation and Drop Out rates.
Points will be awarded (ranging from 100, 75, 50, 25, 0) for each PPI Indicator. DESE will release
a District and School spreadsheet delineating 60% of the PPI target information (2011, 2010 &
2009 data) by mid-June and final determinations of PPI and Levels of Schools will be announced
in late August. Districts will be classified to match the lowest level school in the District; Quincy
is currently classified as a Level 3 District (matching four Level 3 schools).
Additional components of the Approved NCLB Waiver include eliminating the requirement that
School Choice and Supplemental Education Services (SES) are provided; these requirements
have been replaced with an emphasis on providing supports and interventions that are
responsive to student needs. The Massachusetts Waiver Application Approval was contingent
upon adoption of college and career-ready standards and assessments (Common Core) and
implementation of an educator evaluation system.
DESE has consolidated information for Districts and Schools on the new District Analysis,
Review & Assistance Tools (DART) webpage: http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/dart. Schools
will be able to find the DART for schools, district and ELLs, a spreadsheet that displays figures
and charts of information about demographics and achievement in Massachusetts schools.
Mrs. Roberts provided additional narration regarding how the Waiver will provide options for
flexible use of Title I and Title IIA funding to address the needs of the lowest achieving students
in the lowest achieving schools. Mrs. Roberts also noted that Quincy will be consulting DSAC
representatives, as required, regarding the use of Title I and Title IIA funds and about how
Quincy will implement components of the “Conditions For School Effectiveness” (known as the
CSE) in improvement planning. Quincy Teams will focus on CSE Indicators 2, 3 and 4, pertinent
to Aligned Curriculum, Effective Instruction and Student Assessments.
Mrs. Roberts clarified that the School Improvement Plans of the future will be impacted by the
NCLB Waiver; schools will no longer set goals to meet AYP targets. School Improvement Goals
will focus on the new Massachusetts improvement targets and full implementation of the
Common Core.
Mrs. Lebo asked if Quincy knew yet about Title I funds. Mrs. Roberts indicated that specific
information regarding Title 1 allocations has not yet been released.
Mrs. Roberts gave a brief Common Core and Curriculum Update, noting that additional
Curriculum will be piloted in Math in grades 6-8. Interested Math teachers will review new
textbooks and supplementary Curriculum and create Curriculum Maps for their grade-level
colleagues. Pacing Guides will be developed for Math in grades 4-8.
Mrs. Lebo made a motion to adjourn the Teaching and Learning Subcommittee meeting at 5:50
pm. Ms. Isola seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.