Office of the Director of Curriculum

Director of Curriculum Board Report for November, 2008

Viewpoint User Group Started:

This month Viewpoint held a User group meeting for districts that use this data warehouse.

The user group shares and discusses data and offers changes to the warehouse. Our user group consists of: Tamara Schultz, Brian Jones, Mary Kay Thomas, Heidi Critchley, Michelle Schrantz, Jeremy Williams, Robert Walker, Amanda Grinager, Amy Eckart, Jan Bahlmann and any user that the administration deems necessary to be involved with this discussion.

Curriculum Advisory Committee:

A Curriculum Advisory Committee was formed on October 29 for the 2008-2009 school year. Every school district is required to have a Curriculum Advisory Committee. The committee’s responsibility is to discuss, research and make recommendations to the superintendent for possible policy changes pertaining to curriculum, grading and staff development. The committee consists of teachers, parents, school board members and administration. We are currently discussing and gathering data on grading and intervention practices by grade level/building. Our next meeting is December 9th.

Thai Students:

Marshall Public Schools hosted the exchange Thai students from SMSU. These students are current public school administrators in Thailand and were here to learn about our education system and what it is like to be an administrator in the United States. On October 15, the students visited the middle school, spent time with administration, in classrooms and at the district office. On October 20, the students went through a module on how Marshall develops its’ curriculum, how staff development occurs and the assessment process we use. The students met our specialists and were able to see how their positions help students as well as how they work with the teaching staff. A panel of administrators from surrounding area schools answering the question of “What is an Instructional Leader?” was another event for this group.