Verified EESAC Meeting Minutes

Approval of minutes: Mrs. Robledo called the meeting to order at 8:20 a.m. The minutes from April 17, 2007, were reviewed and approved. Mrs. Robledo recognized two seventh-grade student guests, who were elected to serve as EESAC representatives for next school year, and asked them to introduce themselves. Melissa Quintana, a student in the French IE program, explained to the Council that she campaigned under the slogan of “a vote for me is a vote for you. I told the students that if they vote for me, I will do what I can to guarantee a safe environment.” She also said she encourages motivation for academic achievement. Ridhimi Gurnani, a student in the Spanish IE program, said she hopes to improve the school environment and improve school spirit to help student achievement.

Principal’s message: Mrs. Gonzalez began the message by explaining that she and a group of EESAC representatives attended a meeting at Coral Gables Senior High School to discuss the EESAC’s role in regards to the School Improvement Plan (SIP). The emphasis of the meeting was to examine the review process of the 2006-2007 SIP and to see if the implemented strategies were making a difference in achieving the school’s goals. Strategies listed in the 2007-2008 SIP should demonstrate effectiveness through improved scores on in-house, district, or state assessments to determine if they are working. Schools were asked to look at their strengths as well as opportunities for improvement. One of our opportunities for improvement is to look for additional assessments to determine if strategies are working or not. Administrators have already met with department heads to assess current strategies. The nine required goals will not change, but strategies will change as needed. The SIP is a living document, and as needs arise, adjustments are made. It is constantly evolving, but with the same goals. Mrs. Stroleny added that the final deadline for adjustments is next week. She then reviewed some of the 2006-2007 SIP goals and strategies with the Council.
First she explained the reading strategies. In the 2007-2008 SIP, we will remove the strategies regarding book holidays, motivational activities, and prescriptions to parents of students in reading classes because the effect of the individual strategies is not readily measurable. We will continue enrolling students who scored level 1 or 2 on FCAT reading in intensive reading classes; the Gates and MAZE tests show that all students are now reading on grade level. Additional data from language arts classes show that students in sixth and seventh grade have improved greatly on timed readings. We will continue with timed readings in sixth and seventh grades, but we will use novels in the eighth grade for timed readings with the focus on novels that are not fully dissected in class. Eighth-grade exams will be teacher-generated. Timed readings will be plotted on a graph so students can see their progress. District interim reading exams showed a proficiency level of 80 percent. There was not a great increase from the September test to the January test, but the tests assessed different benchmarks. Our ESOL students showed dramatic improvement in all grade levels. While other subject areas will continue to do timed readings, science will be taken out of the SIP for timed readings so the science department can focus on science goals. The second area explained was mathematics, which also has two populations: the general population and level 1 and 2 students enrolled in intensive mathematics classes. Students enrolled in intensive mathematics classes showed a 20 percent increase in their performance. We feel comfortable that that sub-population has improved and made significant gains. Our curriculum is not aligned with the tested benchmarks; therefore, there was not significant improvement from one test to the next. Edusoft software was utilized to look at students’ performance on individual strands and track their progress. Mrs. Stroleny added that all benchmarks were covered before the FCAT, not specific interim exams, to maximize student success. Mrs. Gonzalez added that our curriculum is different from other schools but that difference helps us, not hurts us. We will still teach the curriculum that we have to teach. Mrs. Stroleny said the spiral curriculum from the European system seems to benefit us here. The third area explained in detail was writing. Students’ writing progress is tracked through language arts classes through in-house exams; 99 percent of students passed the state writing test this year and last year. Students that were identified for weaknesses in writing at the end of seventh grade worked in a special homeroom class with Mr. Hudson and Mrs. Wilson. Furthermore, these students were enrolled in Mr. Hudson’s language arts class. Data from 2007 FCAT Writing+ shows that this program was very successful and we want to continue with Mr. Hudson’s homeroom writing tutorial. On the state writing test, expository scores went down from 4.7 to 4.6, and persuasive scores went down from 4.8 to 4.7. Fewer students scored a level 5 on the 2007 writing assessment and more students scored a level 4 from the previous year; that determined the difference between last year’s scores and this year’s. This year we started the Perfect 6 Club for students who achieved a level 6 on the state FCAT writing test. We want to publicize this achievement more and encourage more students to earn a perfect score. Next year we will invite eighth-grade students to come with their parents to a workshop where teachers can meet with parents and their child about their essays. Miss Quintana asked if this took place this year, and Mrs. Stroleny said it did but on a smaller scale. Later next year, teachers will meet again with parents, and using the improved student papers, to examine growth. This will help heighten the awareness of the perfect 6. Mrs. Gonzalez explained that writing is not measured every year on state tests, so it is harder to see measurable growth; therefore, progress must be based on in-house assessments. Mrs. Greif also asked about perfect reading scores, and Mrs. Gonzalez explained the difference between FCAT reading and writing test scores. Mrs. Stroleny also said there will be an increased focus on grammar next year to further improve our writing scores. The final goal mentioned was in Science where data based on quarterly exams show significant gains in progress. We will submit our SIP review online. The region will examine it and they will give us feedback. The paper also will be signed by EESAC representatives.

Open Forum: Mrs. Robledo thanked the Council members for their time this year on the EESAC and said she hopes to see them next year.

Adjournment: Mrs. Robledo adjourned the meeting at 8:58 a.m.