« Performance and Achievement Committee meeting of August 29, 2005 | Main | Performance and Achievment Meeting of Jan 30, 2006 »
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 February 13, 2006 8:49 PM