October Minutes
Curriculum Coordination Committee
Minutes of the October 2009 Meeting
The meeting of the CCC was called to order by chairperson Stacy Shumake-Henn at 4:00 P.M. on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 in the ITV room. Members present were Barb Bode, Steve Dennis, Krista Eisenhauer, Jimmy Feeney, Melissa Heithoff, Pam Heithoff, Steve Heithoff, Stacy Shumake-Henn, Deb Jones, Brenda Siems, Sue Vanis and Lori Widger.
The agenda for October was read. Sue Vanis made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Lori Widger. Motion passed.
The minutes of the September meeting were read. Deb Jones made a motion to approve, seconded by Sue Vanis. Motion passed.
Old Business
In old business, Mrs. Shumake-Henn reported on the approval of the local language arts standards. The language arts teachers adopted the state standards as Elgin Public Schools standards and revised the sections that the state didn’t cover that the teachers felt were important to include such as grammar. Teachers should continue to work with rough drafts and make any changes necessary. When they finish, copies will be given to the CCC for approval and then sent to the Elgin school board to adopt. The SAC committee will have one year from the approval date of the standards to update if necessary.
Mr. Feeney and Mrs. Bode gave more information on the John Bailor prep test for the ACT exam. It gives students the mind set and mechanics needed to take the ACT their junior-senior years. It is very user friendly and helps students develop strategies for taking the ACT test. There are 14 short vignettes offered online to prepare students for different sections of the ACT. ESU 8 can purchase the John Bailor at a reduced rate of $300 per year. It was discussed to offer it to students twice during their sophomore through senior years. It could be offered to the seniors during the fall semester and the spring semester for sophomores and juniors. It was discussed to possibly rotate class periods such as done for the CTBS testing so as not to take students out of any one class too much.
Mrs. Bode discussed the need for college preparation courses in the high school. It was discussed to possibly do 9-week courses during a student’s junior year pertaining to test preparation (ACT), scholarship work, and resume/cover letters. This would alleviate some of the many questions students and parents have concerning college preparation and give them the information in a timely manner instead of when it is too late to make preparations.
New Business
In new business, questions were raised on the purpose for using the Ekberg Online Testing system. The state department is in the process of reorganizing and some districts are not sure if we need to continue with the Ekberg system. Some Northern Tier schools have already decided to drop the online system. It was decided that more information on this matter is needed before making a decision on whether to continue or not with the Ekberg system. Mrs. Bode, Mr. Dennis and Mr. Feeney will look into contacts to get more information on the need for the Ekberg system.
Also in new business, a concern of the lack in numbers of students in certain classes was brought up. Students are involved in many more areas and are being required to give more time in activities then in the past which in turn discourages them from taking extra classes or being involved in extracurricular activities. Mr. Feeney discussed making changes to the schedule for next year. It was suggested to possibly offer all study halls during the same period of each day. This would make all teachers accessible for help with homework as they would be in charge of study hall and not teaching a class. It was also brought up that this study hall time would be useful for class or extracurricular meetings instead of during students’ lunch period or before/after school. Meeting days would be designated to only one or two days per week as to not take away students’ study hall time. Some classes could also be offered as year one and two classes so we are not ending up with only a few students in some of these. Mr. Feeney suggested to relook at the schedule in December for the 2010-2011 school year. Teachers could look over it and make minor changes to it in the spring. Mrs. Bode will be checking into the number of classroom hours needed to meet accreditation.
Mrs. Bode discussed the need for coming up with a set of guidelines for enrollment in a college credit course. College credit courses are a privilege and students enrolled in them need to be held accountable. Mrs. Bode suggested only having students complete one extra online course per semester.
Saturday School was also discussed and the reasons for assigning a student to Saturday School. It was stated to make sure to have tried all possible avenues before assigning a student Saturday School. It was discussed to use Saturday School as a tool and not a “solve all” to help students who are struggling in areas.
The last item of new business was a question on whether to continue the after school tutoring program that was put into place last January. All members were in agreement that it was beneficial to students to have reteaching in standards right after the standard had been taught in place of waiting until summer which had been done in the past. It was discussed that there was no funds budgeted for such a program. It was decided that more information needed to be gathered on the after school tutoring program and then to discuss it with the Elgin school board. Mrs. Bode made a motion to put this on the Elgin school board agenda, seconded by Mrs. Shumake-Henn.
The next meeting was set for November 4th, 2009 in the ITV room at 4:00 P.M. Supper will be served by Barb Bode and Stacy Shumake-Henn after the meeting. The CCC meeting was adjourned.
Submitted by Krista Eisenhauer, Secretary