Meeting Close: 8:45 PM
Attendees: Richard Marcil, Ozzie Ahmed, Kimberly Namespetra-Sullivan, Roger Boettcher, Alison Wardrop, Barb MacLeod, Lisa McDonald, Steve Cole, Tabatha Dominguez, Donna White, Janet Clemens-Hiltz, Elizabeth Ney, Lisa Hooper
Next Meeting: December 10, 2008 at 7:00 PM
2008-2009 Budget Review
The magazine campaign was significantly below where we were last year, therefore, instead of completely depleting it we will tighten up the budget by cutting back on one parent seminar, cutting back on the School BBQ costs, and putting the purchase of a mascot costume on hold for the time being; the cost of a mascot costume will still be investigated. Roger also suggested cutting the climate committee speakers as well as adding that the projection screen will not happen immediately as he is still looking into what other schools have purchased and the associated costs. Richard mentioned again that there isn’t much value in carrying a large amount of money forward and so spending for the wish list items at this point can go forward with the option to hold off later if necessary.
EQAO Results
- Roger wanted to put the EQAO results into a clearer perspective as per the board, demonstrating how quickly the numbers can change. He also added that we are unable to delve further into the data due to privacy and confidentiality, as well as the immensity of such a project, therefore he has analyzed the information and presented the main points relating to the final results.
- Roger presented the Board statement of beliefs with the overall goal of optimizing learning and achievement for all students. What all boards are finding is that while we are raising the bar we are having trouble closing the gap. All boards are finding that struggling students are not coming up as quickly as those students that were already performing at the expectation, hence we need to become more specific and precise in our targeting. In effect, the board has put forward the following goals:
- Goal 1: Improve Written Communication (Raise the Bar);
- Goal 2: Improve Written Communication for Specified Groups (Close the Gap) – specifically in primary;
- When looking at the result graphs, what we see is that across the board and across the province things have plateaued although there are different perspectives on this. Therefore, a lot of reflective practice is required about why teachers are using specific approaches to teaching as administration wants to see the purpose behind the practice. Consequently, classroom focus for the week is posted in the hallways so that everyone is more aware and teachers are consciously thinking about what and why they are teaching what they are.
- Grade 3 results are reasonable even with a drop in writing as they are above board and provincial levels.
- Grade 6 has somewhat of a decline in achievement which is cause for concern as this was not similar to board or provincial results. CAT 3 reading assessment with current Grade 7 class (mixed with Saginaw) most recent assessment shows these same students back up to par with the board. Roger added that the CASI results are also being reviewed in order to see if there are any common trends with these students in particular.
- Grade 3 results show no students at level 1 in writing, however the school has been mandated to look at moving students at Level 2 up in achievement levels by targeting them in particular. This will be attempted through practical teaching practice by using target students as a means of tracking success. It is also important to note that the Grade 6 results are heavy in the level 2 area in all areas.
- Looking at using report card data as guidance we can find representation over time of how our students are performing. According to report cards, achievement at Level 3 and Level 4 during Term 1, 84% and 93% for Grade 3, and Grade 6 was 81% and 83%. This is significantly different than the EQAO results for the same students. What factors are playing into this – EQAO does not take into account exempt students or students that are pulled by parents based on their own personal reasons and feelings about standardized tests.
- EQAO has also uses raw scores for every child, ie. 2.3, 3.7 etc. but you only see 2 or 3 used in the final tally. This discrepancy doesn’t show up on the bar graph statistics as when the number of students sitting at 2.7 or 2.9 is compared, our numbers would significantly increase and this would then validate the difference in the standardized test versus the report card results.
- OFIP School Designation (Ontario Focused Intervention – Category 3 School – looks particularly at EQAO for static or declining/low performing – the board does not have any cat. 1 schools, it does have many cat. 2 schools, and Roger is okay to have been designated a cat. 3 school, as it provides the school with extra resources, ie. 77 more occasional teacher days to free up staff for professional learning.
- Some parents discussed why there isn’t more consistency between teachers about tools, ie. Rubrics for assignments or tests – Roger and Alison both mentioned that rubrics aren’t always the best way of assessing something, but they do agree that they are important and Alison added that collaborative learning groups are trying to come up with common rubrics. Alison added that the big push is on differentiated instruction , therefore teaching to the needs of the individual makes it more difficult for technical rubrics in the curriculum documents to fit a particular class/school, but can still be used as a foundation.
- Roger feels that collaborative planning has gained momentum and teachers are much more on board with this – there is much more eagerness.
- Richard and Elizabeth asked whether there was a difference between immersion or split classes, and Roger spoke to the difficulty in separating the statistics without having to go through each student one by one.
- Missed out on PD Days (we used to do Thurs);
- 35 cents per meal goes to the school, but we get 10% as that was what we were told in the beginning;
- The Lunch Lady Franchise is trying to standardize the program and pricing across the province;
- Richard would like the school to benefit more, but they are sensitive due to the standardizing across the province, but we will continue to negotiate;
- Will print monthly rather than bi-monthly to avoid the sticker shock;
- May consider East Side Marios on another day of the week or special menus, ie. Christmas or Carnival Day;
- The one thing that we like about Lunch Lady is that it is maintenance free;
- About 280 books outstanding
- About 6 per class outstanding except gr. 8’s
- Steve asked that teachers remind the kids before the weekend
- 5600-5800$ compared to 10 last year. – probably not anywhere near last year;
- We need to reinforce that these campaigns buy the wishlist items;
