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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015_10_14 Board Minutes� DA 0III L LS S C 0 0 L D � S IIU.... III � C IIU.... III BOARD OF TRUSTEES -- BUSINESS MEETING DISTRICT OFFICE BOARD ROOM -- 7:00 P.M. 690 JOHN ADAMS PARKWAY WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2015 Vice Chairman Warden called the meeting to order at 6:36 p.m. and asked for a motion to amend the agenda due to information received earlier today. Trustee Lent made a motion to amend the agenda to include I.C. 74-206 (c) Property in Executive Session, remove Action Item c. Award Bids for Surplus Property, the bid opening is not until tomorrow October 15th, include Approve Eagle Rock Property Purchase as Action Item d. and Employee 2015- 2016D as Action Item e. Trustee Zollinger provided the second. Motion carried 4 ayes, 0 nays. Trustee Haws made a motion to go into Executive Session pursuant to Idaho Code §74-206 (1) (b) Personnel and (c) Property. Trustee Zollinger provided the second. A roll call vote was taken: Lisa Burtenshaw — N/A Deidre Warden — yes Dave Lent —yes Larry Haws —yes Bryan Zollinger — yes EXECUTIVE SESSION Superintendent Boland and the Board of Trustees met in Executive Session regarding personnel issues and a property matter. Trustee Haws made a motion to return to Open Session at 6:52 PM. Trustee Zollinger provided the second. Motion carried 4 ayes, 0 nays. BUSINESS MEETING Present from the Board of Trustees: Present from the Administration: Lisa Burtenshaw, Chairman George Boland, Superintendent Deidre Warden, Vice Chair Carrie Smith, Director of HR & Finance Dave Lent, Trustee Debbie Wilkie, Recording Clerk Larry Haws, Treasurer Bryan Zollinger, Clerk Chairman Lisa Burtenshaw called the business meeting to order at 7:00 PM. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Compass Academy Student Representative Cayden Pincock. 10/14/2015 D91 Board Minutes Page 1 of 5 ADOPT AGENDA Trustee Warden then made a motion to adopt the agenda as amended. Trustee Haws provided the second. Motion carried 5 ayes, 0 nays. REPORTS/INPUT/INFORMATION a. Student Reports Chairman Burtenshaw shared that over the past couple of weeks she and Superintendent Boland had made visits to the high school leadership classes to talk with the students regarding what knowledge, skills and attributes they feel students need to be successful beyond high school. Chairman Burtenshaw stated that the board would like to keep the lines of communication open between students, the administration and the school board. Student leaders were asked to comment tonight on the contrast between school spirit and school culture. Written comments, if provided, are attached. • Idaho Falls— Nicholas Stubblefield reported. • Emerson — no report. • Skyline — Hattie Austin reported. • Compass — Cayden Pincock reported. Questions for the Board: Why Brain Honey/Buzz vs. Blackboard as the district's learning management system? Why PowerSchool? Are there other programs that are more efficient? What's with all the technology updates when logging onto the network? Why SAT over ACT for the college entrance exam? Supt. Boland shared that this was a decision made a couple of years ago by the State Department. Chairman Burtenshaw and Superintendent Boland will follow-up with the IT Dept. to provide answers for the questions regarding technology issues. b. Superintendent's Report - written comments are attached. c. Patron Input — written comments, if provided, are attached. Suketu Gandhi provided comments regarding secondary math growth for students and ISAT-II (SBAC). A written report was also provided and will be shared via email with the superintendent and board members. d. IFEA Report —Angela Gillman, Interim President, reported, written comments are attached. e. Education Foundation Report — no report. f. FY15 Audit Report —Judy Brower, Wipfli/Galusha Higgins Judy Brower and Ryan Ballain, Galusha, Higgins & Galusha, P.C. Certified Public Accountants, provided copies and reviewed findings of the Idaho Falls School District 912015 Audit Report. Judy stated there were significant changes in the audit report this year because of reporting for state pension plans. Judy indicated the changes only affected government -wide financials. Judy shared that since Idaho has 10/14/2015 D91 Board Minutes Page 2 of 5 continued to fund pensions every year it isn't as much of a concern here as it is in some other states. Judy stated it is nice to see the district getting some of the needed construction projects done and staying on budget. A discussion was held regarding the one-time payment for full time employees as per the Negotiated Master Contract. The audit report will be posted on the district webpage for review. g. First Reading— 2016-2017 School Calendar Superintendent Boland provided handouts and reviewed two calendar options for the 2016-2017 school year. Both calendars include a week off at Thanksgiving, two weeks and a day off at Christmas/New Year and a week off for Spring Break. Students are also in school for a week after Spring Break in order to prepare for state testing. Option 1 has an Aug. 29 start date and is probably the best calendar for instruction. It mirrors the 15-16 calendar, with the first trimester ending before the Thanksgiving break, has an even number of days for each trimester and meets the state requirements for hours of instruction (I.C. 33-512 (1)(a)). The last day of school would be June 2. Option 2 has a start day of Sept. 6, the Tuesday after Labor Day. The first trimester would end the week after Thanksgiving with students taking finals after the holiday. With a teacher workday, days off for parent -teacher conferences and the Christmas holiday instructional days are limited in December which would require some other adjustments in order to meet the statutory requirements for instructional hours. The last day of school would be June 9. A discussion was held regarding the state assessment window in the spring, alignment with District 93 and internal dates that would be added in later. Both calendars options will be posted on the district webpage for review until the second reading on November 18th with a final decision expected on December 91h h. Other Items Board Committees/Community Conversations Discussion was held regarding the upcoming Community Conversation Meetings, Oct. 15th at Hawthorne Elementary and one on October 201h in the Bush Elementary area. Trustee Zollinger stated that he has a host identified in the Bush Elementary area and would know for sure tomorrow if the Oct. 201h date will still work. Trustee Warden shared that she and Trustee Zollinger, as the Board Facilities Committee, will be touring Idaho Falls and Skyline high schools, this Friday, Oct. 16th, before going to Rigby and Madison high schools to see their facilities. A discussion was held regarding facility needs at the secondary level. Supt. Boland stated that a feasibility study to develop options at the secondary level would be a good place to start. CONSENT AGENDA Trustee Warden made a motion to accept the Consent Agenda as presented. Trustee Haws provided the second. No further discussion. Motion carried 5 ayes, 0 nays. Items approved included: a. Approval of Minutes September 9, 2015 Business Meeting September 23, 2015 Work Session 10/14/2015 D91 Board Minutes Page 3 of 5 b. Payment of Claims i. September 2015 Payment of Claims $2,850,914.66 ii. Representative Organization President Leave Invoice $248.50 c. Staff Actions Emergency Hires: A hiring emergency exists, as declared by the Board of Trustees, for the following positions: Ryan Cook Teacher to New - Health Eagle Rock Middle School Kayla Rodriguez Teacher to New —Special Education Idaho Falls High School Kelsey Matthews Teacher to New — Physical Science Skyline High School Adriannne Priest Content Specialist — School Counselor Eagle Rock Middle School Charles Finance Content Specialist—Technology Education Taylorview Middle School d. Student Travel Skyline HS Jazz & Symphonic Bands Disneyland Performance & Recording Session Anaheim, CA April 27 — May 1, 2016 e. Other Items i. Surplus Property for Disposal A non -working mini fridge, in the Federal Programs Dept., will be discarded and removed from inventory and an old TV that is no longer needed at the district office. ACTION ITEMS a. FY15 Audit Report Trustee Zollinger made a motion to accept the FY15 Audit Report as presented. Trustee Warden provided the second. No further discussion. Motion carried 5 ayes, 0 nays. b. District Employee Vendor Approval Trustee Warden made a motion to approve the bid from Word Expressions, Julie Loftus a district employee, in the amount of $40.00. Trustee Lent provided the second. No further discussion. Motion carried 5 ayes, 0 nays. c. Employee 2015-2016C Chairman Burtenshaw recused herself from voting on Action Items c., d. and e. as she was not in attendance during Executive Session. Trustee Haws made a motion to accept the superintendent's recommendation for Employee 2015-2016C. Trustee Warden provided the second. No discussion. Motion carried 4 ayes, 0 nays. 10/14/2015 D91 Board Minutes Page 4 of 5 d. Approve Eagle Rock Property Purchase Superintendent Boland reviewed previous discussions regarding the acquisition of the old Eagle Rock Seminary building and property adjacent to Eagle Rock Middle School. This property would be sufficient to house the west bus lot and allow the district to abandon the current lot that we pay rent on. The district's offer of $94,200.00 was accepted, with closing costs the total is $94,418.00. Trustee Zollinger made a motion to approve the purchase of the Eagle Rock Property in the amount of $94,418.00. Trustee Haws provided the second. No discussion. Motion carried 4 ayes, 0 nays. e. Employee 2015-2016D Trustee Warden made a motion to release Employee 2015-2016D from contract effective Friday, October 16, 2015. Trustee Zollinger provided the second. No further discussion. Motion carried 4 ayes, 0 nays. The next board meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 15, 2015. A brief discussion regarding travel to Coeur d'Alene, for the Idaho School Board Association's Annual Convention on November 11- 13, was held. Trustee Warden made a motion to adjourn. Trustee Lent provided the second. Motion carried 5 ayes, 0 nays. The meeting adjourned at 8:51 PM. 10/14/2015 D91 Board Minutes Page 5 of 5 Wilkie, Debbie -1391 From: Cayden Pincock<pinc.cayd582@echo.ifschools.org> Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 9:00 PM To: Wilkie, Debbie -D91 Subject: Here are my notes that I had for tonight:) Hellol My name is Cayden Pincock. I attend Compass Academy. When my partner and I were assigned posed this question we both look at each other and had no idea what the difference was. We spent some time thinking of the differences that we though there was and then we though that instead of using the answer we though of we went and asked 60 students what they felt the difference was. Rough 15 Freshman, 15 Sophomores, 15 Juniors, and 15 seniors were asked. Some of the common differences that we noticed as we asked our class mates were; Spirit is how you feel outside of school, Culture is how you feel while you are at school. Spirit is where we have an assembly, have a good time, and learn any major school wide news, culture is were we apply the newatchanges that were told at the assembly. Spirit is were we build and strengthen relationships with the other students, culture is where the relationships we have built makes us a family. My partner and I felt that the difference between School Culture and School spirit was how we acted around the other students. Were we build bonds,relationships , and all get focused on a common goal through school spirt and school culture was being able to work with anyone that went to our school well because we all had the same goal we were working on and the same attitude about the school. The biggest difference between Culture and Spirt that we felt was the way we connect with everyone. LT ( To - Aft C— fa c El m m JO/IqI/E; 5 HS Well the teachers at skyline high school are very approachable and you know you can go to them for help, along with that they are very concerned with our well being and genuinely care about our extracurricular activities. When the teachers are involved with these activities and students it really boosts our school spirit. Part of the culture at skyline is doing things like the new student lunch which is very welcoming to the foreign exchange students and the new students, we have over 50 clubs that help the students get involved, and we especially as student government try to get the freshmen involved by doing freshmen orientation day and introducing our fun activities that we do throughout the year that brings high energy. We think that all of this as our culture is what really encourages our school spirit. for example we just had beautification day this last saturday where we cleaned up trash and garbage all around the school, and that doesnt sound very fun, but with the turnout that we had and all of the clubs that were involved with it, it was actually a lot of fun and united us and benefited our school, we also have our emotion bowl week agenda: mountain man rnonday, tiger hunt thursday... these kinds of things are what pumps us up and gets us excited and are what really unifies our school as one. 10-14-15 Superintendent's Report: • The Governor's Task Force for Improving Education recommended the state shift to a Mastery Based System. "As a Task Force, we strongly believe the classroom of the future will include more technology and more personalized/differentiated learning. The classroom of the future precipitates a master -based model where the focus in on outcomes, rather than inputs. Therefore, the Task Force recommends the state shift to a system where students advance based upon content mastery that is measured against high academic standards, which may require revising the public schools funding formula in Idaho Code and/or creating a financial incentive in addition to the public schools funding formula. • HB 110 added a new section to Idaho Code, 33-1630 which directs the SDE to perform 3 activities 1. Conduct a statewide awre3nes campaign to promote understanding and interest in mastery -based education. 2. Establish,a committee of educators to identify roadblocks and possible solutions in implementing master -based education and develop recommendations for the incubator process. 3. Facilitate the planning and development of an incubator process and assessments of local education agencies to identify the initial cohort of 20 LEAs to serve as incubators in fiscal year 2017. • Mastery -Based also referred to in educational literature as Competency -Based Education • Robert Marzano — renowned educational researcher & author presented at the Idaho Superintendents Network on Monday. Key point: There are levels of operation that have a hierarchical relationship relative to successful implementation of Master-Based/Competency Based Education: o Level 1—Safe and Collaborative Culture o Level 2 - Effective Teaching in Every Classroom o Level 3 - Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum o Level 4 - Standards -referenced reporting o Level 5 - Competency -Based Education • High Reliability Schools — (error avoidance & management — ie. air craft carriers) o Not ready to take on levels 4 and 5 until accomplished at levels 1- 3 My takeaways: • Focusing on the right stuff—first 3 levels • Significant shift in policy at the state level — legislation/funding (ADA) • Patience will be required — a lot of work to do over time. The process that can be described in a 4 hour presentation will take years to put into practice. IDAHO FALLS SCHOOL DISTRICT #91 PUBLIC INPUT SHEET Guidelines for Patron Involvement in School Board Meetings School Board meetings are meetings of the elected Board of Trustees held in public for the purpose of conducting the business of the Board. Patron input is invited during board meetings on the following basis: To request to speak to the Board of Trustees: In order to be recognized, the patron must sign and complete the Public Input portion below prior to the beginning of the meeting. The Public input Sheet should be located on a table at the bock of the boardroom. Patrons will be recognized by the Chairman of the Board. Public input should not exceed three minutes. The Board will listen to public input without comment except to ask germane questions. Expressions must be appropriate to the public setting. Discussion of personnel matters or personal attacks ore not appropriate. Board Policy 506.0 item 5 states that complaints against a particular teacher or District employee shall be in writing. The contract between District 91 and the teacher's association, as well as traditional concepts of the due process of low, require that the affected employee be notified of a written complaint. The Chair has the authority to control the meeting whenever necessary. PUBLIC INPUT SHEET Name: kA �.iff h I Date: 00 - Itq - Z011 - E -Mail Address: ecepn nv&j to I -X9 C C> K,% Do you have children attending School District #91 schools? - - tes If so, which schools do your students attend: Topic: _342c,%na— SRAC 511612008 .5f)A j"0411 -i> Ct " Suketu Gandhi's Comments on MT -H and Student Growth October 14, 2015 I am responding to the topics that Board discussed on September 9, 2015: i) Evaluation of teachers' performance that takes into consideration student's growth from standardized test, and ia) Board pressing to reduce or eliminate ISAT-II (SBAC) testing time. It is inappropriate to condemn teachers for failure in the growth of their students when wrong instructional materials are placed in the classrooms. A careful examination of Algebra curricular materials reveals deficiency in clarity, over emphasis on definition instead of concepts, lack of complex problems. Poor quality instructional material is accumulation from the decision makers' poverty of wisdom, indifference to those with knowledge and ignorance of the consequence. The failure to provide quality instructional materials transforms teachers' role from effective instructors to glorified babysitters with the tacit blessing of the decision makers. Students need to learn materials with clarity, solve formidable problems on daily basis, be evaluated by questions that require thinking and integrate multiple topics. The benefits are realized when the secondary school instructional material imparts knowledge, teaches reasoning, and provides thought provoking exercises. Integrating all of these in classrooms engage students. When instructions do these things, it achieves the high level learning goals that includes students gaining grade level mathematical maturity. This is needed, and SBAC, which the students take, documents accurate proficiency level. This provides the credibility. The public is available to discuss the quality of mathematics instructional materials and their availability. This member of the public does not oppose the Common Core, but is against incompetence to the core. The goal is to improve the Common Core, but not decimate it. With regards to SBAC, it is the curtailment of its duration sought by the Board, and a complaint in a Federal Court that seeks to remove both SBAC and the Common Core Standards from the classrooms deserve comments. One of the Trustees is associated with a lawyer filing the complaint, and the litigation wants to be a class action on behalf of everyone in Idaho. On my part, I strongly disagree with beth the contents and the procedures sought to remove SBAC and the Common Core from classrooms. My view of this litigation is articulated using the words of Judge Dennis Jacobs: The only purpose of this litigation is for counsel and plaintiffs to act out their fantasy of persecution, to validate their pretensions to policy expertise, to make themselves consequential rather than marginal, and to raise funds for self-sustaining litigation. Judge Jacobs had expressed his views on a case that came before him, but the same words remain valid on this litigation. The impact of SBAC removal and the Common Core from classrooms will harm students' education, as was the case in the past before the Common Core & SBAC. Any reduction in the duration of SBAC examination means curtailment in the number of questions asked. This is possible by either through reduction of questions across the beard in every section, or removal of certain sections. In the case of uniform reduction of questions in every section, it will be difficult to determine the proficiency level of the students. One needs to sample adequate number of answers to make credible judgments. In the case of reduction of examination sections (or the number of topics), it will be difficult to ascertain the degree of mastery of mathematics or English that has been achieved. In other words, curtailment in the duration of SBAC results in the reduction in the information revealed, and certainty in their misinterpretation by the administrators, teachers and parents. As a result, it will be difficult to ascertain specific topics that are difficult for the students, and to make credible determination of their proficiency levels. Suketu Gandhi's Comments on ISAT-II and Student Growth October 14, 2015 Introduction On September 9, 2015 meeting, the Board discussed two topics: i) evaluation of teacher's performance that takes into consideration student's growth from standardized test, and ii) Board pressing to reduce ISAT-H (SBAC) testing time. These ideas have significant flaws. The flaws occur in using standardized test to evaluate the secondary mathematics teachers, and neglecting the saturation effect impacting all the teachers. The Board members seeking reduction in the duration of ISAT-II examination are setting up to misread the students' level of mastery in mathematics and English. When the District evaluate teachers based on the information provided on SBAC/ISAT-II scores (or the flawed test results to make decisions), students will be prevented from learning at a higher level. Choices The choices available to select the instructional materials are between bad choices. The needed textbooks are not available in the US. The Singapore's secondary school curriculum cannot be transferred to US schools for certain grades. In Singapore's secondary schools, mathematics is integrated pre -Algebra, Algebra, Geometry and Probability in one textbook over 1 year. This approach causes problems as topics are not taught in depth, and there is incoherence in the sequence of topics. The higher-level mathematics used in Singapore, Additional Mathematics syllabus, would not be applicable to US schools. Specifically, the prerequisites needed to succeed are not in place. In Singapore, those who will continue with STEM curriculum in post -secondary world, take two mathematics courses. In other words, Singapore students in grades 9 and 10 take both regular mathematics course (Express) and Additional Mathematics course simultaneously. This approach is not possible in US schools in general, and District 91 in particular. US textbook are undesirable due to their easy exercises, poor quality exposition, and lack of going into depth. Financial support provided to develop the mathematics curricular material does not result in the needed curricular materials, but provides a visibility. (Keep in mind that visibility of support does not mean the product has credibility in the quality curricular materials.) US publishers make tall claim that their text materials adhere to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, but they lack any of the desired contents. Only way to determine the desirability of any instructional material is to make a thorough evaluation. In the District's Algebra instructional materials contains conceptual mathematical errors and lack sound derivation. Faulty logic in the text means that students would not be able to master reasoning skills. Thus, when new topics are introduced, the students would experience difficulties in learning them. They would have difficult time in following logic that leads to derivation of mathematical concepts. In view of this, the choices that administration face are to choose the best among the worst possible books, instead of those matching well defined needs. (This is commonly encountered in university settings, where certain topics are generally handled significantly better in certain textbooks for specific courses, but not all of the topics.) The administration is criticized for poor selection of instruction material. Ideal textbooks are needed for the secondary schools, but they are not available. The District needs to evaluate excellent textbooks used elsewhere (e.g., Singapore) for their suitability for the teachers. Secondary mathematics textbooks used in Singapore differ from US 2 Suketu Gandhi's Comments on ISAT-II and Student Growth October 14, 2015 in terms of scope & sequences of topics. Despite the different sequences of the topics, the teachers should be able to handle them as they have the command of the subject matter. Furthermore, the textbooks and workbook are expected to have the needed complex exercises that are complex and challenging to their students. For the decision makers, they need to decide whether the instructional materials for mathematics need to be evaluated. A thorough evaluation from those who knows mathematics would uncover conceptual errors and faulty logic. When corrections are made, students would learn mathematics correctly. They would understand specific notations are definition, and what is derived from it. Through this, they master reasoning skills. This process is repeated throughout in mathematics, and to certain extend in sciences. When the District has an opportunity to evaluate the mathematics instructional materials, it should seize it. Secondary School Mathematics Teachers Evaluation At present, the District provides the elementary grade students with solid mathematics education. A combination of the textbooks, workbooks and supplementary books provide rigorous mathematics learning opportunities. The instructional materials exceed the common core mathematics standard by at least 1 -year, and several topics are introduced earlier than identified in the Common Core Mathematics Standards. The teachers need to utilize all of the available resources, engage students and provide quality homework assignments. Students' mathematics knowledge and skills grow when they do their homework that includes complex and challenging problems. In contrast, secondary school mathematics curriculum is significantly weaker than the elementary mathematics curriculum. For example, no supplementary books have been made available to the teachers that would be utilized as resource for quality exercises. On many days, the amount of homework assigned is much lower in Algebra than in a grade. (On a few days, they do receive homework that requires solving a number of problems.) Thus, on many days, students would learn topics without mastering them Under the prevailing conditions, secondary mathematics students are set to stagnate in mathematics. The result of standardized tests becomes meaningful only when all the obligations from the Administrators are put in practice. One example is missing textbooks/workbooks. The argument against the purchase of textbooks (and workbooks) is that no serious books are available. This is partially correct, but not completely correct. It is partially correct when one examines the textbooks available in US. This is not true when one examines the textbooks available in Singapore, which have been approved by Singapore Ministry of Education. As mentioned earlier (in Choices), single textbook containing the needed topics for each grade may not be available, but a set of textbooks containing all of the needed topics is available from Singapore. When the math teachers have additional resources, they can select specific topics for lessons, identify problems that provide practice to master specific skills, examine complex problems that integrate previously learned topics, and choose challenging problems that force students to think. Providing appropriate textbooks to teachers enable them to make lesson plans and provide meaningful assignments with high degree of clarity and efficiency. When evaluating textbooks from Singapore, one must not accept all of its exposition. Specifically, the sample text available clearly shows it does suffer from conceptual errors in the exposition of certain topics. For example, in one of the books, students learn product of two sign 3 Suketu Gandhi's Comments on ISAT-II and Student Growth October 14, 2015 =-MUOThus, sitive. The reasoning used is in error. It is not opposite of opposite, but results from prudence needs to be exercised when choosing exposition. Despite the problems, and exposition on many other topics make this textbook attractive. The prevailing instructional materials in the classrooms are designed for those students who have not had rigorous mathematics. Based on the curricular worksheets that my child brings, specific issues have been identified. For example, in certain lessons, there is lack of clarity in the exposition of the text. The instructional materials emphasize justification, instead of reasoning. It takes a long time to understand what their question asks because the text lacks clarity. Similar types of problems can be reworded and would bring much needed clarity. Furthermore, the problems are straight forward, where one practices the procedures. The level of difficulty is at the easy level with one exception, and most of the problems are the same, and do not differ from the examples in the exposition in the text. Furthermore, certain English words in mathematical context have specific meaning. Justification is made when one has multiple choices in providing specific answers to questions, or specific line of thinking is identified. This requires internal consistency in the forwarded arguments. This is acceptable, but not the only thing. When students gain practice in solving different types of questions, they will be in position to justify simple things (e.g., whether the lines need to be connected between dots). In contrast, mathematical reasoning occurs when students extract all the information from a problem. In other words, a problem gives explicit information. One deduces additional information contained in it through reasoning. Upon knowing the explicit information, and deducing implicit information, students set themselves to formulate a credible strategy to solve the problem. How to choose right descriptive word among reasoning over justification in presenting a mathematical argument comes from experiences instead of reliance on formal definition. When focusing on justification over reasoning to solve problems, students gain practice in English, instead of mathematical thinking. When student learn a major topic, certain additional topics could be integrated. In the students' instructional materials, they are neglected. For example, when students plot a quadratic equation (or parabola), topic would cover squaring of a number. To reinforce squaring of a number, problem should ask students to plot a quadratic function at specific interval. Carefully chosen numbers would allow students to do squaring of numbers by mental means (e.g., number having `5' in the one's digit, and 11). [Mental multiplication of number is not formal part of the Common Core, but students deserves to learn.] When students learn how to plot an equation of a line, previously learned topic such as perpendicular lines and rotational symmetry should be there. This way, students could learn how (-1)x(-1) = 1 is not due to opposite of opposite. Opposite of opposite comes from when using complex numbers, the topic for the future. The correct derivation, which predates complex numbers, comes from distributive property: -1x0 = -1 x (-1 +1) = -1 x-1 + -1 x 1 = 0 => ? + -1 = 0. (-1 x 1 = -1 comes from repeated addition, the fundamental definition of multiplication.) This is possible when ? _ -1x-1 = +1. This is the correct derivation from the first principles. 4 Suketu Gandhi's Comments on ISAT-II and Student Growth October 14, 2015 to derive an equation of a perpendicular fine, and the relationship between the slope of a line, and its perpendicular line (ie., normal). Rotational symmetry would be reinforced here. Based on the instructional materials available, this is missing. Another topic that could be incorporated is the rate equation when learning how to plot a lime. For example, students learn about rate equations (e.g., speed) in 6t' grade. In Algebra class, they master how to plot a linear equation. When students are learning this, they should be given a problem that provides the information on the rate of water filling in a tank. A complex problem would be to convert the raze of volume filling a tank into the raze in the increase in height (or decrease in the free volume). Based on the instructional materials available, this is missing. Lack of desired qualities in the instructional materials impacts students significantly. Students don't become smarter by doing well in courses that have low standards. They don't become intelligent by doing well when the expectations are low. They don't become proficient by scoring well on tests that have plethora of easy questions. It is an established fact that students learn mathematics by solving complex and challenging problems. Complex problems require multi -steps, but the strategies to solve them easily identified. Challenging problems require reasoning to obtain complete information, and a formulation of a strategy without any hints. Based on the instructional materials provided, the numbers of complex and difficult problems are very few. In view of this, it is predictable that the students would not experience mathematical growth. Despite all the good intentions of the curriculum vendors, and those who support the vendors to prepare the curricular materials (e.g., funding from Race to the Top, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), the needed rigors are conspicuously absent. If the rigors are present, the instructional materials have hidden them from the reader's view. Based on a limited preview of the textbooks for secondary mathematics education, the math teachers are well served when they are provided with mathematics textbooks and workbooks from Singapore's secondary schools #. If there are other quality books available, yours truly does not have access to them. What is certain is that the mathematics textbooks used in Singapore's schools provide excellent source of problems. This is needed for students to gain mathematical maturity. Reliable information on students' growth is subject to certain constraints: High achieving students' growth will not be discernable from standardized tests. These students are high achievers, and they are on the top. This results in saturation, as there is very limited potential for growth in mathematics or English. ISAT-Science When there is a lack of serious science standard in grade 5, it is difficult to ascertain the learning topics. The vocabularies must be known. The scientific ideas must be understood. The laboratory experiments must be practiced through careful design to generate results that are easy to interpret. At the present, the practices of scientific experiments are like cookbook recipes. The i Singapore Ministry of Education lists the approved textbooks for their secondary schools mathematics courses. The suitable mathematics are designated for Express (secondary 14/US grades 7-10) and Additional Mathematics (secondary 34/second course in mathematics for US grades 9,10). 5 Suketu Gandhi's Comments on ISAT-II and Student Growth October 14, 2015 training in scientific thinking requires a significant non fiction reading in the elementary grades. The anticipated results must be thoroughly discussed to understand the demonstrated scientific principles, or those that are violated or making discovery of hidden variables. In view of this, it is difficult to discern how well students learn science in 5" grade. Thus, there is a dire need to change science curriculum, and make the ISAT-Science reveal the information based on well-defined science knowledge. ISAT-II Duration Students' performance in ISAT-2 (SBAC) result range from Advanced to Below Basic levels in the elementary school grades. The disappointment comes in that a fewer students are at the Advanced level than at Below Basic level. Despite the disappointment, the information is useful to everyone. The administration and the teachers can utilize this information to improve on the quality of student's education. Parents need to ensure that their children do their homework that includes necessary daily reading. Internal data should reveal that those who do homework on regular basis are the ones who score at proficient level. Those teachers, who challenge their students and adhere to the textbook's contents, and those students make bona fide attempts to solve challenging problems would score at the advanced level. Any reduction in the duration of SBAC examination results in curtailing in the number of questions. This is possible by either through reduction of questions in every section, or removal of certain sections. In the case of uniform reduction of questions, it will be difficult to determine the proficiency level of the students. One needs to sample adequate number of answers to make credible judgments. In the case of reduction of examination sections (or the number of topics), it will be difficult to gauge the degree of mastery of mathematics or English. In other words, any reduction in the duration of SBAC will result in reduction in the information contents, and guaranteed misinterpretation of the test results by the administrators, teachers and parents. As a result, it will be difficult to ascertain specific topics that are difficult for the students, and offer credible remedy. Before any attempt is made to curtail the number of questions asked in SBAC, first a determination has to be made whether SBAC lives up to its advertised value based on its contents. The failure of SBAC will be known when it provides false positive, or false negative results. If it does not cover all of the common core topics, then it would lack credibility. Based on the feedback received from my child, the SBAC asks relevant questions. The questions in both English and mathematics were easy. However, they were more difficult than those asked in 2012-2013 (for English and mathematics ISAT). To make credible assessment on the reliability of the test, each question must be matched with the Common Core State Standards for every grade level. Nothing will be known until the questions become public. For this reason, the judgment of the SBAC consortium must be respected. ISAT-11 Value The design of SBAC is such that the questions are asked at the designated grade level. When students demonstrate proficiency at their grade level, then they are challenged at a higher level. For the most grades, SBAC asks questions up to two grades higher. For those students who are not able to answer questions at their grade level, then the questions are asked up to two lower Ri Suketu Gandhi's Comments on ISAT-II and Student Growth October 14, 2015 grades. For 3d grade, no questions are asked below this grade, and for the 11t` grade students, no questions are asked above this grade. Parents get feedback on their child's performance through homework, tests/quizzes and parent -teacher conference. Their homework performance and the classroom tests inform the parents on their child learning. To know if the school adheres to the teaching curriculum at the Common Core State Standards, credible standardized should provide the answer. Without this test, parents will remain clueless as how well their child is learning based on the standards. The SBAC results provide the information on students' mastery of mathematics and English standards set by the Common Core. If a student's performance exceeds the tested grade level, the parents will know about it. They are in position to discuss with school teacher(s) or principal on the ways to challenge the student. The situation today is different from that in the past. The exam design provides the information on whether the students' knowledge/performance exceed their designated grade level. The sample questions provided are consistent with the curriculum, and are complex. In the past -standardized exams (ISAT), questions were written so that everyone could pass without having rigorous learning opportunities. This allowed the State officials to make misleading claims that students are learning very well. It deprived both the parents and the students of the valuable information. Those who scored at a high level were unable to make credible distinction between proficient (average) and advanced level. The high performing ISAT students were not high achievers in the College Board SAT -Math, despite them taking Calculus in the following year. In other words, the ISAT exam was so easy; those who scored very low gave confirmation that they are probably 2-6 grades below their grade. When a credible test is given, it provides the information to the parents on two fronts: i) The results truly reflective of their child's learning level, and ii) identification of serious problems in their child in specific grade/school. The information is significant for those parents who rely on the judgment of the subject matter expert to describe their child's learning level. If a student is doing very well in specific grade (e.g., 6" grade), and the parents have high expectations that their child should be on the trajectory to do very well in the subsequent years. SBAC provide such information. If there are any problems in certain grade, it is better for the parents to know so that they are in position to take necessary action to remedy the problem Until it is determined that SBAC results are misleading or lacks credibility, the Board is urged resist any temptations to seek reduction in SBAC examination duration or its elimination. It is hoped that Board will urge ISBA not to lobby legislators to reduce the SBAC exaction duration through legislation. Additional view against the standardized testing has been that teachers teach students to the test. The ideal approach is to teach students to provide subject matter maturity. This requires coherent sequence of topics, clarity in exposition, quality homework problems and test questions that integrate multiple topics. This position was advocated in the past, and it still remains the goal that the District must reach. Court Intervention to Repeal SBAC On September 30, 2015 issue of Post Register (Idaho Falls newspaper) reported that two lawyers, Mr. Bryan D. Smith and Mr. Christ T. Troupis are seeking US District Court issue an 7 Suketu Gandhi's Comments on ISAT-II and Student Growth October 14, 2015 injunction to halt Idaho's financial support for SBAC. It is appropriate to mention this, as Trustee Bryan Zollinger is associated with Mr. Smith in his professional capacity. The Board has discussed SBAC in the recent past, thus it highly appropriate to discuss another view because the public wants to have high standards for both English and mathematics in classrooms, and have credible assessment on their child's performance in both English and math. Reading the contents of the written complaint reveals that it seeks court to stop Idaho funding for the SBAC with accumulating with the goal of removal both SBAC and the Common Core State Standards from Idaho Public schools. Furthermore, the litigants (including the lawyers) want the court to accept it a class-action lawsuit. Neither I share the views expressed in the complaint, nor I provide silent support (or am a cheerleader) for the lawsuit. The lawyers of the court complaint do not represent the interests of the students, or those taxpayers who wants high education standards. The justification to remove SBAC and the Common Core State Standards is based on procedures, instead of merits. At present, the lawsuit is between certain group of people (plaintiff's) and their lawyers against state of Idaho. It is reasonable to conclude that the mindset that gave rise to this complaint is present in District 91. This mindset in the Board will impact the decisions that would be felt by the students and their learning. Any removal of SBAC from testing students denies the parents the relevant information on the progress of the child's education. The presence of SBAC and the Common Core in the classroom is to correct the past education practice. [As the Board knows from previous representations that goal is to increase the Common Core Mathematics Standards, not eliminate them.] The past Idaho (and the School District 91) mathematics standards were very low, that students were unable to handle difficult topics or be able to move at proper pace. The ISAT lacked any credibility. The questions were very easy. For example, examination of sample questions from I& grade revealed that a student who learns from Singapore Math up to 6h grade would probably score at a high level. Furthermore, in 2012-2013 Math ISAT asked a reasonable question, but did not have any correct answer in the multiple choices. Given the past education practices in Idaho Schools, and the solutions that are in place to correct them, the purpose of this litigation, in the words articulated by Judge Dennis Jacobs, is that: The only purpose of the litigation is for counsel and plaintiffs to act out their fantasy of persecution, to validate their pretensions to policy expertise, to make themselves consequential rather than marginal, and to raise funds for self-sustaining litigation. Judge Jacobs's views were rendered in another case, but these words remain valid to this case. Actions from the Board If the Board truly wants students to grow, as advertised, it should rely on those instructional materials that set students to grow. In the area of mathematics and science, it is an established fact that when students are confronted with challenging problems, and they choose to work on it, they will learn materials. When they do this consistently, they gain mathematical maturity. It is easy to identify quality mathematics instructional materials when there is a vertical knowledge in mathematics. The vertical knowledge impacts in a profound ways: i) Proper prerequisites are in place to learn a topic in efficient manner, it) advanced topics become accessible earlier than in prevailing curriculum due to the clarity and simplicity in the exposition, 8 Suketu Gandhi's Comments on ISAT-II and Student Growth October 14, 2015 M) ways to learn specific topic in depth, av) identification of problems requiring integrating multiple topics to find its solution, v) coherent sequence of topics. When reinventing mathematics curriculum, one would confront the same issues that others who have invented in the past. On the other hand, when one examines how others have handled similar problems, it is much easier fine tune the mathematics curriculum to match the circumstances experienced by the District 91 students. It is easy to see how similar problems have been handled in Singapore schools. Both the TIMSS (grades 4, 8) and PISA (grade 10), test results provide credible information on the quality of mathematics education. Evaluation of their textbooks, workbooks and supplementary books reveal that they have all the desired features. This has been implemented in the District's elementary schools. The time has come to examine their mathematics curricular materials for the secondary schools with a goal to provide them to the teachers as a resource. 9 Wilkie, Debbie -1391 Subject: FW: Board Report From: Gillman, Angela -D91 Sent: Friday, October 16, 201512:23 PM To: Wilkie, Debbie -D91 <WilkDebb@d91.k12.id.us> Subject: Re: Board Report Debbie, Here's an over view of what was said: Dave Harbison, IEA Communications Director, hosted training for speaking with the news media for several members of our local. This is an opportunity to put positive spins on educators and teachers out to the community. He will continue to be a contact as needed to visit with media about whatever topics come about. Zoe Jorgensen will be trained next weekend in Boise to be the designated IEA Evaluation Trainer for our region and area. Training is only for members and the first trainings will be held November 4 and 11 at 4:15 at Bush Elementary Library. Many members have asked for this including at least 30 request since the beginning of the year. Angela Gillman IFEA President