Oct. 27, 2015 Teaching/Learning Sub Meeting

Agenda

Quincy School Committee
Teaching and Learning Subcommittee
Ms. Barbara Isola, Chair
School/Program Improvement Plan Presentations
Tuesday, October 27, 2015, 5:00 pm
Coddington Building

Presentation Schedule:

  1. Quincy High School - Principal Larry Taglieri

  2. North Quincy High School - Principal Robert Shaw

  3. Career & Technical Education - Executive Director Keith Segalla

  4. English Language Learners - Program Director Beth Hallett

Minutes

Quincy School Committee
Teaching & Learning Subcommittee Meeting
Monday, October 5, 2015

A meeting of the Teaching & Learning Subcommittee was held on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 5:00 pm in the Coddington Building. Present were Mrs. Kathryn Hubley, Mrs. Anne Mahoney, and Ms. Barbara Isola, Chair. Also attending were Superintendent DeCristofaro, Mrs. Mary Fredrickson, Ms. Elizabeth Hallett, Deputy Superintendent Kevin Mulvey, Mrs. Erin Perkins, Ms. Madeline Roy, Mr. Keith Segalla, Mr. Robert Shaw, Mr. Lawrence Taglieri, Ms. Judy Todd; and Ms. Laura Owens, Clerk.

Ms. Isola called the meeting to order at 5:00 pm and introduced the first item on the agenda, the Quincy High School and North Quincy High School Improvement Plans. Quincy High School Principal Mr. Taglieri explained that the level of collaboration across the two high schools this year is highlighted through the parallels within the School Improvement Plans, especially as it relates to Professional Development. Mr. Shaw said that the goal for both high schools is for every staff member to have a place to plug into the School Improvement Plan. Mr. Taglieri said that MCAS testing happens only at Grade 10, but it is important for all staff to realize their part in building proficiency.

In reflecting on last year’s goals, Quincy High School had 94% of students at proficient or advanced for English Language Arts, with only 1% of students in the Warning category. In Mathematics, sizeable gains were made, particularly in the area of Special Education.

For North Quincy High School, there were declines in the previous year, which presented an opportunity for analysis of where to focus the Assessment Team and how that feeds out to the various departments. North Quincy High School showed gains in tested areas for grade 10. The gains did not extend to ELA for ELL students and Mathematics for Special Education and so for this year, the focus is to extend the efforts to reach all learners.

Ms. Isola noted that Quincy High School will be requiring all students in Advanced Placement classes to take the Advanced Placement exams. (North Quincy High School has done this for the last five years or so.) Ms. Isola asked about cost concerns for families; Mr. Taglieri said that 50% of test costs will be paid through Quincy Public Schools Budget funding and that financial aid is offered to students so that cost will not preclude participation.

Mrs. Mahoney asked if we can capture the cost of the subsidized AP testing, as it will inform the budget process. Mrs. Mahoney asked if North Quincy High School can provide their historic information. Mrs. Mahoney also asked about SAT Prep and the cost of taking the SATs and whether there are family financial issues that Quincy Public Schools helps support.

Ms. Isola said that in reading the Wellness goal, she is curious about how measurable it is. Mr. Shaw said that is the trickiest goal to conceptualize and document since there is no test of Wellness. Ms. Isola wants the goal to really be something that is impacting our students. Mr. Taglieri said that it is part of the culture and climate of the school, keeping students safe and making positive decisions. Dr. DeCristofaro said individual program evaluations will assist in determining the success of the goal.

North Quincy High School Goals for 2015-2016: (1) Students will demonstrate improvement as critical and fluent readers. This will be demonstrated by a 1% increase on the Total Average Percent Correct in the College and Career Readiness Anchor Standard for Reading over the 2015 MCAS results (from a base of 78%) as measured by Grade 10 MCAS performance and documented on the June 2016 Standards Report. (2) Students will demonstrate improvement as mathematical problem solvers. This will be demonstrated by a 1% increase on the Total Average Percent correct in Mathematics over the 2015 MCAS results (from a base of 75%), as measured by Grade 10 MCAS performance and documented on the June 2016 Standards Report. (3) Students will demonstrate an understanding of lifelong health and wellness practices. This will be demonstrated by the school’s Wellness Team and relevant departments achieving their improvement goals, evaluated according to the measures called for in the team and departmental goals and action steps. The English Language Learner, Foreign Language, Science, Social Studies, Career & Technical Education departments and Deans also set goals. (See the North Quincy High School Improvement Plan on www.quincypublicschools.com.)

Quincy High School Goals for 2015-2016: (1) The school’s Total Average Percent Correct in the College and Career Readiness Anchor Standard for Reading will increase by 1% over the 2015 MCAS results (from a base of 74%) as measured by Grade 10 MCAS performance and documented on the June 2016 Standards Report. (2) The school’s Total Average Percent correct in Mathematics will increase by 1% over the 2015 MCAS results (from a base of 63%), as measured by Grade 10 MCAS performance and documented on the June 2016 Standards Report. (3) Quincy High School will continue to provide educational activities and opportunities that enhance development of lifelong wellness practice for all students. This will be demonstrated by the school’s Wellness Team and relevant departments achieving their improvement goals, evaluated according to the measures called for in the team and departmental goals and action steps. The English Language Learner, Foreign Language, Science, Social Studies, Career & Technical Education departments and Deans also set goals. (See the Quincy High School Improvement Plan on www.quincypublicschools.com.)

Ms. Isola asked about the Quincy High School Auditorium lighting. Mr. Taglieri said that all of the bulbs were changed last year but there continue to be issues; Shelly Dein from Public Buildings is working with a contractor to find the source of the problem.

Ms. Isola asked about the North Quincy High School cafeteria tables and chairs; Mrs. Morrissey has funding in the Food Services budget to replace these items.

Mrs. Mahoney asked that the Areas of Need be put into the Facilities & Security Subcommittee for follow up.

Mrs. Mahoney made a motion to approve both the North Quincy High School and Quincy High School Improvement Plans. Mrs. Hubley seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.

Dr. DeCristofaro thanked both Principals, the Department Chairs have stepped up, creating solid Professional Development Plans to support the school goals and action steps.

Ms. Isola asked about the new schedule at North Quincy High School; Mr. Shaw said this is the 2nd year under the new scheduling system and things are going well.

Executive Director Mr. Keith Segalla presented the Career & Technical Education Program Improvement Plan. Mr. Segalla noted that there are two teams within the Career & Technical Education program: the Career & Technical Education Team and the CTE Advisory Team. Last week, the first Advisory Team meeting of the year was held with 110 members attending.

Reflecting on 2014-2015 goals, both the CTE team and CTE Advisory Team goals were all completed, with students reaching the goal of demonstrating Listening & Speaking Proficiency and teachers fully implementing the Vocational Technical Education Frameworks. The CTE Advisory Team successfully presented lessons and/or arranged for a workplace visit for all CTE majors and completed a report for presentation to School Committee last spring. Ms. Isola asked that the reflections be added to the CTE PIP before it is posted online.

For 2015-2016, the Career & Technical Education team goals are integrated with the high school Student Learning Goals: (1) Students will demonstrate Speaking and Listening proficiency by showing an ability to read, comprehend and present a current event that is related to their CTE program. (2) CTE staff will implement a Math Problem of the Day initiative, utilizing the question bank from the Accuplacer College Placement Assessment. Two of the three CTE Advisory Team goals are continuation goals from last year and the third goal is to recruit additional team members for Carpentry, Engineering, Legal and Protective Services.

Mrs. Hubley made a motion to approve the Career & Technical Education Program Improvement Plan. Mrs. Mahoney seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.

Director Ms. Elizabeth Hallett then presented the English Language Learners Program Improvement Plan. Through School Committee support, additional staff were added this year at Merrymount Elementary School and Central Registration.

In reflecting on last year’s goals, Ms. Hallett reported that the Writing-focused goal was achieved by Levels 1, 2, 3 students; more than 72% of students achieved proficient scores. For Levels 4 and 5 students, the goal was not measurable as students do not take the Writing MCAS in consecutive years. For Administrators, all have now completed the SEI endorsement course and all have been introduced to new protocols for monitoring annual progress of FLEP students and students whose families “opt out” of ELL services. On the Coordinated Program Review, Quincy Public Schools received an exemplary rating and we have hosted other districts beginning the CPR progress.

For MCAS results, ELA scores are consistent with the 2014 results by grade. For Mathematics, 95% of ELL students are proficient or advanced on the Mathematics MCAS.

For 2015-2016, ELL Vertical Team goals for Elementary/Middle and Middle/High School are very similar. These goals are reading-focused and align with the District Improvement Plan and School Improvement Plans, with an emphasis on improving foundational reading skills and comprehension of complex texts at each grade level. Meetings are underway with principals and ELL teachers on the online implementation of the ACCESS 2.0 testing.

Ms. Isola asked about technology needed for ACCESS testing. Ms. Hallett and Mr. Segalla are meeting with principals to strategize. Mobile carts will be used to supplement individual building computer labs when necessary. The ELL Administrator Team has been reconfigured to include all Principals, not just schools with highest incidence of ELL population. ELL meetings will be integrated with Principal Team meetings.

The Central Registration Team goals will successfully implement the new pre-registration process using ASPEN for the enrollment of all new students going through Central Registration; 183 new students have been registered and are currently attending school, 18 students currently in process. We are ahead of last year’s pace, 300 students total screened by Central Registration all year. The second goal is for the Central Registration to implement the Student Information Collection Tool to be shared with the ELL High Needs Team.

Mrs. Mahoney asked for clarification on Central Registration, full-time administrator, part-time assistant. Appointments are available on the two days that the entire intake team is available. Assistance is provided by other QPS staff members with language skills for other languages beyond Mandarin, Cantonese, and Albanian (regular staff members). Families sometimes bring Englishspeaking family members or friends.

Mrs. Mahoney noted that there are high populations of many different languages in Quincy, this is a daunting task. We should emphasize that 72% of students, speaking a variety of first languages, are considered proficient according to the ACCESS testing.

Mrs. Mahoney made a motion to accept the English Language Learners Program Improvement Plan for 2015-2016. Mrs. Hubley seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.

Mrs. Hubley made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:00 pm. Mrs. Mahoney seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.