Verified EESAC Meeting Minutes

Recording Secretary: Sarah Russell

Location of meeting: Dorothy M. Wallace COPE Center, Room 39

Was a quorum established? Yes

Was the meeting advertised? Yes, 04/28/2014

Attendance

Topics Covered

The meeting was called to order at 8:00 a.m. by Alfreida Joseph-Goins in Room 39 of Dorothy M. Wallace COPE Center.

In Attendance: Alfreida Joseph-Goins, Sonya Harrington, Sylvia Hadley, Patricia Florit-Valenzano, Daisy Butcher, Kimberly Wilson, Annette Burks-Grice, Constance Gilbert, Marilyn Morning, Tarika Quinn, Yvonne Washington, Sarah Russell, Dr. Yvonne Parchment, and Dr. Sandra Billingslea.

The minutes from the meeting of March 6, 2014 were read and approved as corrected.

The minutes from the meeting of February 11, 2014 were read and approved with noted corrections.

********CORRECTIONS FOR FEBRUARY 11, 2014 MINUTES********

Mrs. Florit-Valenzano gave mid-year updates on Mathematics. On the 2013 Algebra I and Geometry End of Course tests 12% of the students scored at level 3 or above. The goal for 2014 is for 39% of the students to score at Level 3 or above – an increase of 27 percentage points. To date the goal has not been achieved. However, students are making progress toward accomplishing the goal. Based on the Winter Interim Assessment, 9% of students were proficient in Geometry. Additionally, 0% of students were proficient in Algebra.

Mrs. Florit-Valenzano also gave mid-year updates on Science. On the 2013 Biology End of Course tests, 36% of the students scored at Level 3 or above. The goal for 2014 is for 43% of the students to score at Level 3 or above – an increase of 7 percentage points. The goal has not been achieved yet but desired progress is being made toward its accomplishment. Based on the Winter Interim Assessment, 33% of the accountability group students are making progress in the right direction with Satisfactory Progress.

Attendance: In 2012-2013 the average was 85%. The goal for 2013-2014 is to increase the average attendance from 85% to 88%. One of the barriers keeping students from attending school every day was doctor appointments. Students are encouraged to join the CHI clinic here on-site so they won’t miss instructional time. As of December 3, 2013 there were 42 students enrolled in our on-site CHI clinic.

Reading/Language Arts: Ms. Washington said in 2012-2013 20% of our students were at Level 3 or above. In 2013-2014 27% of our students are at Level 3 or above. We are currently at 27% which is a drop from 29% in the fall. However, we are on track to achieve our goal. In Reading the 9th graders were at 20% in the fall and are at 33% in the winter. This is because of teacher collaboration. We need to do more Differentiated Instruction for small groups. She expects the 10th graders to make gains to 34% in Reading.

In writing 8% of the students scored at Level 4 or above. Thirty-three percent scored at Level 3.

CTE: Ms. Hadley gave her mid-year update. Her department teachers are focused on Goal #5 of the SIP. By January 2014 participation had increased to 17 students. However, two students have withdrawn. Fourteen students are scheduled to take three to four exams each. Students must bring their photo identification when they take these exams. She uses differentiated studying in the classroom and has put peer teaching in place. Her students have had a “study” boot camp. One of the barriers is that Level 4 students have decreased in their attendance and as a result did not test.

********END OF CORRECTIONS FOR FEBRUARY 11, 2014 MINUTES********

Mrs. Goins discussed the Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) for Dorothy M. Wallace COPE Center (COPE South). We now have the baseline years of 2010-2011 which have projected out for six years. The AMOs for 2013-2014 in Reading, Level 3, is 27%. Each year’s goals are static. Mathematics AMOs for 2013-2014 is 39% - for 2012-2013 they were 33%.

End of Year update presentations were given by content area chairpersons.

Reading/Language Arts: Ms. Washington gave updates on these areas. Regarding the Reading goal, 27% of the students show progress. The 9th and 10th graders are at 27% now. In Writing 80% of the students scored at Level 4 or above while 33% scored at Level 3.

We are seeing student scores improving through use of boot camps and personal data conversations.

The team agrees we should be using schoolwide focus calendars.

Math/Science/STEM: Ms. Florit-Valenzano gave the updates for these areas.

Algebra I –
 Based on the data presented, students are not on track to reach the AMO for mathematics.
 Data provides evidence that students have not increased in percent proficiency (0% Baseline, 0% Fall & 0% Winter)

The following strategies are being used to help student improvement:
 Practice problems from previous assessments
 Boot camp Review sessions
 Having students verbalize and explain out loud steps for solving multistep Algebraic problems
 Frequent assessments through quizzes
 Overall review of annually assessment benchmarks

Geometry –
 Based on the data presented, students are not on track to reach the AMO for mathematics.
 Data provides evidence that students have not increased in percent proficiency (0% Baseline, 19% Fall & 9% Winter)

The following strategies are being used to help students improve their scores:
 Practice problems from previous assessments
 Practice/Review multistep problems
 Biweekly quizzes
 Familiarize students with formula sheets

Biology –
 Based on the data presented, students are on track to reach the AMO set for Science.
 Data provides evidence that between the Fall and Winter Biology Interim assessments students went from 26% proficiency (fall) to 33% proficiency (winter).

The following strategies will continue to be used to help students increase their proficiency:
 Practice problems from previous assessments
 Practice/Review multistep problems
 Continue instruction through HOT labs (Higher Order Thinking)

STEM –
 Goal: Increase the number of students involved in STEM-related activities, and increase the opportunities for participation in STEM-related activities.
 Has the goal been achieved? - Yes
 Entries for two separate challenges have been submitted to Fairchild Challenge
 2014-2015 Rigorous Science courses are being planned out for the next school year

Attendance/Behavior/Dropout Prevention: Ms. Quinn provided updates on these areas.

Attendance - Overall attendance is at 85% and the goal is to increase it to 88%. In order to help ensure this the Student Services Department have put into place the following strategies:

1. Absent students are telephoned each day they are not present in school - daily.
2. Excused admits are given for permissible absences with proper documentation - daily.
3. Students with unexcused absences receive counseling upon return for absences.
4. Home visits are occurring once a week for truant students.

At present, 41% of students miss 10% of instructional time. The goal for 2013-2014 is for 40% of the students or fewer to miss 10% of instructional time. Several strategies are being used to help meet this goal:

1. Contact parent/guardian reminding families of availability of school based health care, on-site clinic.
2. Identify students with private doctors to encourage them to switch to school based health care on-site clinic.
3. Follow-up with parent/guardian and student regarding on-site health option.
4. Make contact with CHI personnel to obtain updated, monthly, new client enrollment.
5. Review Student Code of Conduct Contract with student and parent/guardian at time of initial enrollment.
6. Daily and/or weekly ( as applicable) mentoring of students with poor grades and/or attendance as documented through Student Case Management Student Services Forms and Student Case Management Referral Forms.
7. Adult Mankind Organization / South Florida Workforce, On-site Career Advisor will provide follow-up and assistance minimizing interruption to daily attendance and instruction.
8. Absent student’s parent/guardian are telephoned each day they are not present in school identifying student and guardian when they officially become categorized as truant.
9. Truant students are reviewed and advised by the Attendance Review Committee Team which includes Counselors, Administrators, Teachers, parent/ guardians and students on a weekly basis, year round.
10. Truancy and attendance contracts are reviewed and re-signed during Attendance Review Committee Team Meetings.

In 2012-2013, 39% of students had a G.P.A. of less than 2.0. The goal is to reduce the number of students who have a G.P.A. of less than 2.0 to 38%.

The Student Services team has met quarterly with student population to review and advise regarding academic and attendance statistics related to teacher generated data.

In 2012-2013, 12% of 9th graders failed two or more courses and were not promoted to 10th grade on time. Our goal for 2013-2014 is for only 11% or less of grade 9 students to fail two or more courses.

The Student Services team will meet quarterly with targeted grade 9 students to review and advise regarding academic and attendance statistics related to teacher generated data. Interim progress reports have been reviewed and discussed with student. Progress reports are reviewed with parents/guardians during truancy meeting in reference to on-track success.

In 2012-2013, 69 % of student received behavior referrals. Our goal for 2013-2014 is to reduce the percent of student behavior referrals by 1%. Several strategies have been put into place to help reach this goal:

1. Student Services Team members have utilized collaborative and consultative coaching of instructional staffing to assist in modifying classroom management strategies in the reduction of behavior referrals.
2. Quarterly orientation held in reference to the Student Code of Conduct.
3. Alternative to outdoor suspension will be modified to indoor suspension for moderate behavioral offenses.
4. Teachers will complete required Response to Intervention forms with support from Regional Psychologist.

Drop Out Prevention – In 2012-2013, 9% of students dropped out of school. Our goal for 2013-2014 is to decrease the number dropouts to 7%. There was a 13% dropout rate in February 2014 and 11% in May 2014 (2 students enrolled back into COPE/ 2 students enrolled in an adult educational intuition). To further decrease the dropout rate, the following strategies are being implemented:

1. Telephone calls, home visits and Attendance Review Team Meetings / Truancy Conferences will be implemented daily and reflected in the Student Case Management Truancy Referral monthly data report.
2. Monitor daily attendance, follow-up with parent/guardian contact on home visit.
3. Refer potential dropouts to Adult Mankind Organization / South Florida Workforce, On-site Career Advisor who will provide follow-up and assistance to reinforce the connection between school and career.
4. Adult Mankind Organization / South Florida Workforce, On-site Career Advisor will supply Student Services with data supporting her intervention.

Ms. Butcher inquired about a particular student and how her job outside of school is affecting her performance. Dr. Billingslea responded by saying she has already addressed this issue with the student and that future job schedules will be addressed with the student’s manager.

Career Technical Education (CTE) – Ms. Hadley gave an update on this area.

Currently there are three courses – Early Childhood Education, Business Education, and Health Science. The Early Childhood Education Academy is the only one in place now. The other two are being restructured. At present, only one student has completed the 45 required hours in Early Childhood Education.

FCCLA had three students to qualify to go to state competition. One student attended.

Mrs. Grice gave an overall review of our progress as it relates to the School Improvement Plan (SIP). The master schedule is designed to support Common Core and SIP. We are still waiting for data from student testing.

Our teachers have learned a lot through common planning this year. However, we still have some barriers in place. One is that staff continues to struggle with implementation of Common Core. Additional training is needed for the instructional staff. Once the test data comes in she hopes to gather the staff before the start of the new school year.

The goals for next year will probably not change. We all need to ask ourselves what we did right, what we did wrong.

The student representatives were not present. They were the main ones who wanted to change the school hours. Ms. Goins explained what steps have to be taken in order for this time change to take place – waivers have to be done before March. It is too late to change the school hours for next school year.

Ms. Goins invited the EESAC members to the upcoming special events later on in the month and the first week of June.

The EESAC meeting was adjourned at 8:59 a.m.