Meeting Minutes May 12, 2010
Annual LEAP Town Hall Meeting and Film for Thought
“Making Schools Work, With Hedrick Smith”
President Lori Stevens called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm. Ms. Stevens then requested officer reports.
VP Communications Karen Cholakis asked delegates return the survey for topics for next year. It can be found online as well as paper copies available at this meeting.
VPs Programs Susan Boyd thanked Dr. Minshew, Principal of Park View High School, for speaking to the delegate about Park View’s work to become a “Breakthrough School”.
Treasurer Ed Myers reported that LEAP has $276.00 in checking and that 40% of the schools have attended a LEAP meeting and 50% of the schools have paid their LEAP Dues.
Secretary Kristen Thatcher had no report.
Ms. Stevens then asked the Nominating Committee to present their candidates. The Nominating Committee consisted of Gary Waters, Roni Hennessey and Barbi Marshall. The Committee put forth the following candidates:
· President: Karen Cholakis
· Vice President of Communications: Kirsten Langhorne
· Vice Presidents of Programs: Susan Boyd and Barbi Marshall
· Secretary: Sherri Battershell
· Treasurer: Ed Myers
A vote was taken and the candidates were elected by the delegates for the 2010-2011 LEAP Board.
Ms. Stevens thanked the Nominating Committee and congratulated the new LEAP Board. Ms. Stevens also thanked Dr. Minshew for speaking to the delegates after the movie.
Film for thought – “Making Schools Work with Hedrick Smith”
In the documentary, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Smith travels from the inner city to rural towns to observe how some districts are making a difference in low-performing schools. The movie focuses on how some schools re-engineered their school districts to improve test scores and close the achievement gap.
The movie discusses the Success for All program – an intensive, fast paced effective teaching method that focuses on 90 minutes of a reading program every morning with completely scripted lesson plans. The founder of this program found that a program with every minute being engineered to a particular structure was very effective. It is fast paced, uses all of the senses, is cooperative learning and helped struggling readers learn to read. The concept is to group children by their skill and can be any grade. Then the students are placed in a reading class that meets that child’s needs. In addition to this program, there is daily one-on-one tutoring. The results – standardized testing went from 25% to 50-75% meeting standards. One teacher even noted that the program taught her to include more of the children all of the time in active learning as she concluded, “With this program, no one can fall through the cracks.”
Another school used the Comer Process – what is good for the children is how teachers are taught to approach teaching using the strategy of creating a positive structure for learning. In this program, parent involvement is critical. All of the adults in the student’s life can work together to support the learning of that child. The Principal also discussed his change of leadership to one of Power sharing where teachers, parents and the Administration work together to create a open and caring environment conducive to learning.
Dr. Virginia Minshew, Principal. Park View High School, LCPS
Dr. Minshew explained the process of how Park View HS became named a ”National Breakthrough” School. The application calls for schools that are focused on improving student achievement through making changes that make a difference in students’ work. The school has to have at least 40% of the children on reduced or free lunch and 5 High Schools are chosen in the nation.
Dr. Minshew discussed the journey Park View took to reach this goal. Getting teachers the time they need to plan collaboratively and really get to know their students was a key element of Park View's academic metamorphosis. Teachers were given 90 minutes every other day to share strategies and materials. Minshew also initiated an equity team so that academic practices were examined school-wide.
“Collaboration is key...I know I'm going to get better results if I work with people rather than telling them what to do...I prefer to look at it, not as control, but empowerment.” The more teachers and students feel empowered, she added, the further they will go.
Finally, Self-examination can be difficult. “Do we know ourselves well enough to know our kids? Do we know our own flaws?” Teachers who know their own flaws can help students with similar difficulties, Minshew said.
Park View's staff also decided to do away with lower-level academic courses and devote themselves to the tutoring effort students would need to achieve at a higher academic level. Minshew explained the philosophy behind this change. “What teenager is not going to take the easy way out if they can get a passing grade with minimal effort? “We want the kids to stretch themselves. We know they can do the work if they have the support behind them.”Students aren't the only ones who have grown at Park View, said Minshew. “I think I have grown more as an administrator and a teacher than the kids have.”
Question and Answer Session:
Q: How do you get your parents involved?
A: Many parents work 2 or 3 jobs to support their families. The School tries to do events in the evenings or early mornings and relies on their program PEP – Parents and Educator Partners to keep parents involved.
Q: What happens if a student comes in and states he can’t work with a teacher?
A: Our job is to make sure that each teacher provides a quality education and we will work with students, parents and teachers to ensure that learning occurs.
Q: What are your measures of success?
A: We have a school improvement plan, SOL data, participation rates, attendance and SAT scores are some of the measures we use. We also look at increased participation in AP classes and improving SOL scores.
LCPS Superintendent Dr. Hatrick:
Dr. Hatrick reminded the delegates of all of the end of year activities from proms to graduation and asked that we do everything to remind kids to be safe.
He also mentioned the Economic Development Commission (EDC) is working on educational outcomes with emphasis on positive programs is available on the LCPS website.
The LEAP meeting adjourned at 9:39 pm.
Submitted by Kristen Thatcher
1