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February 16, 2006
Performace and Achievement Meeting of 19-Dec-2005
The December 19, 2005 Performance and Achievement Committee meeting is the second PA meeting regarding the Middle School Design Team.
The video of the meeting is approximately 45 minutes long. Click on the image at left to watch the video. The video contains chapter headings which allow quick navigation to each speakers presentations. Please allow time for download to your computer.
During the Public comments, Jeff Henriques requested analysis of the West 9th grade English curriculum before embarking on similar changes to the 10th grade English curriculum. Larry Winkler suggested that only standard curriculum across schools and common assessments would ensure rigor in the curriculum in the middle schools.
Pam Nash, then, updated the Board regarding the progress of the Middle School Design Team, emphasizing the role of focus groups in the evaluation process. The focus groups included parents, two teachers from each middle school, and students. Parents, teachers, and community in general emphasized one must not lose the understanding that the middle-school years are a critical developmental time for students. The report from the Team will include specific recommendations in the areas of fine arts, life skills and technology. Mathematics offerings will be clarified, as well as amount of class time. Same for languages. Support services - bullying concerns were mentioned
frequently by focus groups.
Ruth Robarts asks Pam Nash to clarify the members of the focus groups and participation as the report received by the Board did not cover that information.
Next, the concept of consistency and rigor was discussed. What does consistency mean, how does the District define rigor?
There was discussion of when the Board would be allowed to see the report, if the Board would be allowed to see drafts, and the pro and con arguments that make up the rationale for the decisions. Arguments were made that the Board's role is minimal, and such decisions are a matter for internal experts.
Posted by Larry Winkler at 8:44 PM
February 15, 2006
Performance and Achievment Meeting of Jan 30, 2006
The Jan 30, 2006 Performance and Achievement Committee meeting begins two(2) sessions on heterogeneous classrooms starting with a presentation by Professor Adam Gamoran, Director of the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research (WCER).
The Quicktime video of the meeting is approximately 1 hour 10 minutes long. Click on the image at left to watch the video. The video contains chapter headings which allow quick navigation to each speakers presentations. Please allow time for download to your computer.
After taking care of initial business, Superintendent Rainwater discusses definitions of "heterogeneous" and "homogeneous" in the context of students in classrooms, and the difference between these terms and "tracking". It is acknowledged that there are pros and cons to both homogeneous and heterogeneous groupings. Because there is truly no homogeneous grouping, since all classes contain students of differing preparation, the real question to keep in mind is at what point does the range of student preparation exceed the ability of teachers to differentiate instruction to serve the needs of the students in that class.
Dr. Adam Gamoran is introduced. Dr. Gamoran is a Professor of Sociology at UW-Madison, and the Directory of WCER. One of his areas of expertise and study is heterogeneous/homogeneous instruction.
Dr. Gamoran presents an overview of his and others research on the topic. To follow along with his presentation, download his PowerPoint presentation in either ppt, or pdf formats. His paper, Gamoran, Adam. 2004. "Classroom Organization and Instructional Quality." Pp. 141-155 in M. C. Wang and H. J. Walberg (Eds.), Can Unlike Students Learn Together? Grade Retention, Tracking, and Grouping, Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing. , is included.
Board questions and discussion followed, including discussions of the role of the Board in decisions of curriculum direction and evaluation.
Posted by Larry Winkler at 10:39 PM
February 13, 2006
Performance and Achievement Meeting of 06 Feb 2006
The Feb 6, 2006 Performance and Achievement Committee meeting continues the presentations on heterogeneous classrooms from the January 30 meeting, at which Prof Adam Gamoran spoke.
The video 
of the meeting is 55 minutes long. Click on the image at left to download and watch the video. The video contains chapter headings which allow quick navigation to each speaker's presentations. Please allow time for download to your computer.
The first speaker is Michael Lipp, West HS Biology instructor. He describes the heterogeneous biology classrooms that have been part of West for 12 years. He describes prior experiences of dead-end biology courses at West, and the need to teach all students.
The second speaker is Linda McQuillen, MMSD Math Resource Teacher, who explains a new heterogeneous model for teaching Algebra-Trig at East High. The new model requires teachers to shift focus from what they will teach to what the students are expected to learn, and contains a differentiation component. The documents given to the board include the Planning Pyramid, a Sample Preplanning guide, and a Sample Differentiaion Plan.
The third speaker is Jenny Ruef, an East H.S. Algebra-Trig teacher. She presents the teacher view of the new East H.S. algebra-trig model, and importance of the work of the previous speaker, and current successes of the new model.
The fourth speaker is Lisa Wachtel, MMSD Science and Environmental Coordindator, who discusses embedding honors into the regular Freshman classroom. The model is based on West Biology. She notes that the content for all is the same but the abstraction level and depth is greater for the advanced (honors) student.
The fifth and final speaker is Pan Nash, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools, who presents to the Board how the new heterogeneous 10th grade English class will proceed, and details the implementation that will take place.
Board discussion follows. The basic topic is the role of the Board in such curriculum changes.
Posted by Larry Winkler at 8:49 PM