UPDATE - Education Legislation

Below is some of the education legislation and their current status.

• GEOGRAPHIC COST OF EDUCATION INDEX FOR SCHOOLS (Require that future budgets provide additional money for schools in areas with high cost of living) Stalled
• TUITION FREEZE (Freeze tuition at public universities) Approved by both chambers and included in budget
• SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION (Provide $400 million for school construction) Approved in House and Senate capital budgets
• TUITION FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS (Provide in-state tuition at public universities to immigrants who graduate from Maryland high schools) Approved in House
• APOLOGY FOR SLAVERY (Express "profound regret" for Maryland's role in the slave trade) Approved by both chambers
• TRUANCY (Prevent habitual truants from getting a learner's permit to drive) Different versions pass in House and Senate

Redistricting - Someone is Going to Be Upset

From my experience on the Board, no matter where you draw the redistricting lines, someone, or a group of someone's, will not be happy.

The redistricting proposals and recommendations (links below) for Neal Elementary are an item of contention for a group of parents living on Hawkins Gate Road. The next Public Forum will take place on Thursday, April 19th at Thomas Stone High School 7:00 pm. The Board is set to discuss at it's next work session on April 23 at 7:00 pm, which also includes a public forum prior to the start of the meeting.

• Redistricting Committee Report
• Redistricting Overview
• Redistricting Proposals

The BayNet wrote an article on this subject on Wednesday.

In addition to all the objections received via email, fifteen speakers from those three neighborhoods spent an hour making certain that Superintendent James Richmond understood why they didn’t want to leave their current school district. To Richmond’s credit, participators told The Bay Net they felt like the school administrators were actually listening.

The McConnell family summed up a number of points the objectors have in common. They are concerned about the safety of the main road to the school with all the construction traffic in that area. They love the quality of education at Matula Elementary; some of the affected families recently moved to their La Plata homes specifically to attend Matula Elementary.

Study Shows Fancy Tools Don't Raise Test Scores

According to a study by the U.S. Department of Education, technological tools really aren't significant in raising test scores.

An article in the Washington Post reports on the study...

Educational software, a $2 billion-a-year industry that has become the darling of school systems across the country, has no significant impact on student performance, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Education.
The long-awaited report amounts to a rebuke of educational technology, a business whose growth has been spurred by schools desperate for ways to meet the testing mandates of President Bush's No Child Left Behind law.

Do You Know A Special SECAC Teacher?

The Charles County Special Education Citizens Advisory Committee is seeking nominations for the second annual CHarles Count SECAC Teacher and Staff Appreciation Awards.

The committee is looking for people who have contributed to the success of a child who has special needs.

The awards ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. May 16th at the Waldorf Jaycees.

Nomination forms are available at the Charles County Parents Center located at the F. B. Gwynn Center on Radio Station Road. For more information, call 301-934-7456, fax 301-934-6839 or email mailto:pfc@ccboe.com. All nominations are due by April 25.

NSBA National Conference

The 2007 National School Board Association Conference will take place in San Francisco April 12th - 17th. Many of your Board of Education members will be attending to learn from their peers, share their own successes, and get re-energized for the upcoming year. The NSBA Conference enables us to reach higher, with innovations and proven approaches to inspire student success.
The 2007 conference promises fresh perspectives with practical, applicable sessions and workshops. Not to mention the opportunity to network and share solutions with colleagues from school districts across the nation.

Please feel free to visit the site above to find out more about the conference.

Here is a list of some of the seminars I will be trying to attend and of course reporting back my findings via this site and the NSBA Blog. All topics are clickable for a brief synopsis.

UPDATE: It was brought to my attention that the links below are not working. I am currently at the conference and have limited internet time. To view the program descriptions, please click on the conference link above and search the workshops. Sorry for the inconvenience.

• Alignment of Standards, Performance, and Accountability for the Board and Superintendent
• Parent Centers: How to Open Doors and Get Parents Involved in Your Schools
• The War Against Boys: Is It Real in Our Schools?
• Conflicts over Sexual Orientation in Public Schools: How to Find Common Ground
• Open Meetings/Open Records: How Much "Sunshine" Is There in Your Evening Meetings?
• Arts Education and 21st Century Skills
• Engaging the Community in a New Schoolwide Wellness Plan
• Smart Choices for Healthy Kids: A Systems Approach to Addressing School Health Issues
• Selling What You Do Everyday -- Marketing and Public Relations Strategies That Work for School Distr
• Dealing with Difficult People -- Don't Take It Personally!
• A Board-Driven Public Engagement Model
• High School Reform: Redefining Rigor for the 21st Century
• A Future Envisioned by Improving College and Workforce Readiness and Success for All Students
• SchoolTalk200: A Community Engagement Process That Works!
• No Textbooks! Moving into the Future where Students Learn with the Tools of Today's Workplace.
• Stepping Toward the Future: Let's Leave No Parent Behind
• Developing and Maintaining a Positive Working Relationship -- School Board and Administrative Team
• Graduation Project: Increasing Academic Rigor for All Students
• Regulating Communications from Outside Groups Without Violating the First Amendment
• You've Got E-mail -- Rules for Board Members, Sunshine Laws, and Public Records Issues
• The Fourth General Session: Jamie Lee Curtis, Speaker

P.S. If you know of any must see places in San Francisco, please forward :)

Student Offenses...Concealed from the Public?

According to an article in the Washington Post Montgomery County schools are working to report student offenses in more detail aimed at a tendency to conceal cases from the public.

"Starting with the 2008-09 school year, Montgomery County parents can expect a clearer picture of the kind and amount of crimes and other suspension-worthy offenses committed by students in and around schools.
Officials have started work on a comprehensive School Safety Report, a document that should offer the public a running tally of student offenses involving weapons, drugs, sexual misconduct and violence, among other categories, at every school. No such report exists now; the nearest equivalent is an annual report from the state that lists offenses by school across several broad categories but without enough detail to render it very meaningful to parents or policy makers."

No Blogging Allowed

Yep. That is the title of a wonderful article from the BayNet on Tuesday.

CCBoE Attorney Eric Schwartz, at one moment, advised the board that the First Amendment protects Ms. Abell’s freedom of speech. In the next moment however, Schwartz advised Chairman Wade that one method of punishment would be to “overlook a board member during meetings by not calling on them for comments.”

Notes from Board Meeting 4/3/07

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes. Please follow-up for official minutes upon approval. For copies of printed reports presented visit Board Docs.

Public Forum
· Gentleman spoke about the school system in New York. “figures don’t lie, but liars figure.”
· Woman loves the school system. Upset by comment heard at the DI competition. Programs had to be reprinted because Mr. Richmonds name was before the Board members names. Someone on staff demanded they be reprinted. What a waste.
· Gentleman upset over redistricting plan. Referenced Policy 1910 re: transportation, enhancement of feeder school, impact on community, natural boundaries, limiting redistricting. No reason LaPlata residents need to attend Waldorf schools.
· Gentleman upset over redistricting. Against Hawkins Gate going to Neal. Wants children to remain at Matula.
· Woman upset over redistricting. Against Hawkins Gate being moved. Begging for reconsideration.
· Woman concerned over redistricting. Against Hawkins Gate being moved. Would choose Matula with trailers over new school.
· Gentleman thanked the Board for moving the meetings to the evening. Spoe about report cards and how they should contain percentages not just letter grades. Requests the Board consider new report cards for Fall 2007. Offers to volunteer to assists implementation.

Action - Approval of Minutes
*Vote to approve minutes
Unanimous
PASSED

Correspondence/Board Member Updates
· Abell – Informed fellow members she has been notified by Christina Gordon, Director of Communications for the National School Board Association and invited to be a contributor to the National Conference Blog this April. She was also contacted by Craig Colgan of Potomac Planet who presented the seminar on Blogging at the 2006 National Conference and invited to participate as a panel member for the Blogging Seminar at the 2008 National Conference. She has accepted both invitations.

Report – EACC – Bill Fisher & Meg MacDonald
· Negotiations are underway. Focusing on extra-pay, workload and insurance.
· Mr. Fisher was elected to the Maryland State Teachers Assoc.
· Local elections are upcoming for the EACC Board

Report - Student Board Member – Andrew VanWoerken
· Senior Citizens Prom was fabulous
· MASC Convention. Charles County was third largest in attendance behind PG & Montgomery Counties.
· Elections for CCASC is this month. 4/27

Report – Superintendent – Jim Richmond
· Anxious for spring break
· 3rd quarter report cards are this week
· MSA went well with no major incidents
· Moving forward on space partnership
· Walldorf Germany/ Heildelberg Printing Press Dedication 4/27 10:30 am at North Point
· Diggs Dedication 5/4 at 6:30 pm
· Jenifer 20 years celebration 5/20 at 2:00 pm
· Grasmick will present at Education Day sponsored by CISCO 5/23 8-5 at North Point
· BOE televised by Sept hopefully on Channel 96

Report – Redistricting Committee Neal Elementary (S. DiSabantino; G. Barrett)
· Staff recommends Alternative A
· Wise – Possible future development on Hawkins Gate?
· DiSabantino – Yes on LaPlata side
· Wise – Willets Crossing needs 2 buses
· DiSabantino – No
· Wise – has a grandfather clause ever been considered
· DiSabantino – No
· Pedersen – Piney Church Road Upgrades
· Wineland – Only from stadium site to Billingsley Road will go to 4 lanes. Complete the remainder with 2 lanes by next year
· Pedersen – Any representation on subcommittee from LaPlata area
· DiSabantino – Explained process of selecting committee
· Bailey – Doesn’t see where any modifications have been made to the plans since the last public forum. Requests the Board consider Proposal A as a transportation zone and allow Matula enrollment to be on a first come first serve basis from that transportation zone.
· Board discussion to continue at work session on 4/23

Report – CIP – C. Wineland (S. Hagis; B. Law; G. Barrett)
· Davis MS –finish in June
· Smallwood Boiler replacement
· Neal – site is cleared
· New High School – Letters of interest have been received and reviewed. Board will receive proposal next month
· Craik roof. Should have answers next week.

Report – Technology Update (B. Devkota)
· Demonstration of electronic response system. 30 “clickers” cost $2,000
· Wade – Televising Board meetings; wants consensus. UNANIMOUS

Report – Curriculum – Autism - Judy Estep (M. Charbonnet; T. Robinson)
· Very informative slide show presentation on statistics and generalities regarding autism.
· Cook – Do we refer families to physicians for diagnosis?
· Cook – Mercury in vaccines and autism related?
· Robinson – Depends on which group of scientists you ask. No final decisions as of yet.
· Abell – 1 out of every 150 children have autism and one out of every 94 boys. Are we meeting their needs currently and what is our plans to keep up with this growth.
· Robinson – Partnership with the health department. Cross training professionals. Implementing the Hannan Method. Training for day care providers and families. More teachers being certified through Hopkins. Summer program is available.
· Carrington – Reason for the increase
· Robinson – Again depends on the scientist group you ask. Overall hypothesis is that we are just able to diagnosis autism better now than previously.

Report – Human Resources – Keith Hettel
· Calendar for 08-09
· Pedersen – Do you foresee any possibility of losing Fair Day in the future?
· Hettel – The last Superintendent was ran out of town for suggesting this J
· Pedersen – New people to the county are astounded we take a day off for the fair.
· Abell – Not all learning takes place in a school building. We have a number of students in 4-H, sewing, cooking, etc that participate in the Fair. It is a county tradition and it is good timing to utilize as an in-service for teachers.
· Pedersen Agrees to table discussion for now because it is a political hot button but requests the Board consider the option of doing away with it in the future.

Action – Personnel
· * Vote to accept staff recommendations
Unanimous
PASSED

Unfinished Business
· Pedersen – Dates for What Counts? And invitees. Needs responses from Board members
· Abell – from experience of organizing large events we need more time. Consider having the event mid to late August.
· Board to discuss at work session 4/23

New Business & Future Agenda Items
· Wade – Arrange meeting with CSM Board
· Carrington – ROTC Drill this weekend at LaPlata HS was outstanding
· Abell – Tri-County Board meeting – Richmond will handle arrange
· Bailey – Didn’t hink the other counties were as advanced as we are. Doesn’t feel as though we got much out of the meeting last year.
· Abell – Disagrees. Enjoyed the meeting. We may be more advanced but it was a great time to get to know one another and bounce ideas around.
· Abell – thanked communication department for implementing the email system to announce the board meeting.

ADJOURNED

The State Will Decide...

...on the sex education curriculum for Montgomery County according to an article in the Examiner.

"Field testing has come and gone for the sex education curriculum that’s sparked so much division in Montgomery County.
And now the decision about whether the teachings will make it to all of the school district’s classrooms lies in the hands of Maryland State Board of Education members."

Deal or No Deal?

According to the American School Board Journal, labor-management contracts are the quintessential local issue, and often a complicated legal maze for everyone involved in the negotiations.

"It seems that collective bargaining between school boards and employees has become an accusatory event.
Every few years each side puts up its dukes, points a blaming finger, and claims the high ground. Attorneys conducting negotiations for the school district have a professional and ethical duty to zealously represent their client. Lawyers for the employees have the same obligation in representing the union."

Click HERE for the complete article.

The Issues of IDEA

This month in the American School Board Journal...

From funding to teaching to litigation, a look at what prevents the landmark special education law from meeting its core principles.

In its 31-year history, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has pushed the complicated realm of special education into the mainstream of K-12 education. The benefits have been tremendous: Countless students with disabilities have reached a potential that even their greatest advocates did not think was possible.
But as with any law, there were unforeseen consequences and pitfalls, and the emotional aspect of special education has no doubt affected the way these have played out.
Here, we take a brief look at some of the pervasive issues that, despite the law’s multiple reauthorizations, threaten the full implementation of IDEA and its core principles.

Click HERE for the complete article.

REMINDER: Board Meeting, Tuesday 4/3/07

Just wanted to remind everyone there is a Board Meeting Tuesday, April 3rd. The Board meeting is a week earlier this month due to Spring Break AND the new times go into effect.

4:30 - Student and Staff Recognition
5:30 - Closed Session (Board and staff only)
6:30 - Public Forum (Must sign-up prior to 6:30)
The remainder of the meeting immediately follows Public Forum

To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit Board Docs.

Reports include:

• Redistricting Committee's Recommendation for Mary Burgess Neal Elementary School
• Curriculum Report on Autism
• Technology Update
• 2008 - 2009 School Calendar

Board Debates Ethics of Blogging

If you are making your way to my site due to the article in today's Indy, WELCOME! Feel free to use this thread to comment and let me know how you feel. You can even leave comments anonymously :).
If you would like to receive daily updates of this blog via email, please subscribe in the top left corner. Thanks for visiting.

Superintendent's Blog Too?

According to three articles by the American School Administrator's Association, some Superintendent's like to blog also. Check out these articles.

1. Superintendent Pair Share Their Purpose for Blogging
2. Blogging to My Advantage
3. Blogging With the Doors Open

School Schedules Part 5 - Full Day Kindergarten

The below post is the fifth and last post in a series dealing with alternatives to the traditional school calendar and school day. Beginning in the 2007/2008 school year, all Charles County Public Elementary Schools will offer full day kindergarten.

An article by the Center for Public Education...

Half-day kindergartens are still the norm. Only 12 states require that students attend kindergarten, although most states (41 and the District of Columbia) require that public schools offer a kindergarten program. State policies regarding kindergarten have not changed much in the past decade, with nine states requiring full-day programs (compared with 10 in 1995), 23 states requiring half-day programs, and 12 requiring either of the two (Cavell et al., 2005). Only nine states report no policy on the matter.

Reported Benefits

Children in full-day kindergarten classes learned more during the year in both reading and mathematics compared to those in half-day classes

Read more HERE.

The Education Legislation Lowdown

Below is some of the education legislation and their current status.

• GEOGRAPHIC COST OF EDUCATION INDEX FOR SCHOOLS (Require that future budgets provide additional money for schools in areas with high cost of living) Stalled
• TUITION FREEZE (Freeze tuition at public universities) Approved by both chambers and included in budget
• SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION (Provide $400 million for school construction) Approved in House capital budget; pending in Senate budget
• TUITION FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS (Provide in-state tuition at public universities to immigrants who graduate from Maryland high schools) Approved in House
• APOLOGY FOR SLAVERY (Express "profound regret" for Maryland's role in the slave trade) Approved by both chambers
• TRUANCY (Prevent habitual truants from getting a learner's permit to drive) Different versions pass in House and Senate

Blogging Board Members

I first learned of blogging at the National School Board Association Conference in Chicago last April. I was totally fascinated by the idea and attended a short session on the how-to's. What a wonderful way to reach out to the public. A couple of months after returning home, this site was up and running.

Click HERE to view an article published by the American School Board Journal in 2005 endorsing board member blogging.

I briefly searched for other blogging school board members and quickly discovered the following sites. Let me know if you find anymore.

• Howard County MD - A whole board blog
• Conneticut - Region 19
• Illinois - Open Board Blog
• Massachussetts - Diane Weir

School Schedules Part 4 - Accomodating Teenagers Sleep Cycles?

The below post is the fourth in a series dealing with alternatives to the traditional school calendar and school day. I have to admit when I first saw this topic I thought, "You have got to be kidding me. Systems actually implement this?" Tell me what you think.

An article by the Center for Public Education...

Some districts are adjusting high school start times in light of research suggesting that the sleep-wake cycle shifts during adolescence leads to teenagers’ natural tendency to fall asleep later and wake up later (Graham, 2000). A recent study from Northwestern University builds on this research, finding that high school students performed better later in the day than early in the morning, and most high school schedules contribute to sleep deprivation among students (Tonn, 2006).

Reported Benefits

1. Improved attendance
2. More alert students, less sleeping in class
3. Less student-reported depression
4. More efficient use of transportation

Read more HERE.

Notes from Board Work Session, 3/26/07

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes. Please follow-up for official minutes upon approval. For copies of printed reports presented visit Board Docs.

Public Forum

• None

Code of Conduct

• Wade – Current Code of Conduct (Policy 8140) needs some teeth in it
• Abell – suggests we wait to hear the committee’s recommendation that was formed at the MABE training. Some new board members are seeing this Policy for the first time
• Schwartz - No way to punish a Board member except removal from the Board and only the State Superintendent can do this. The Board can publicly announce it’s disapproval of a Board members actions
• Wise – Wants to add punishments to the current policy
• Pedersen – highly offended with the delusional duck website and regrets being involved during the campaign
• Pedersen – is there attendance requirements for members.
• Schwartz – no state requirements
• Pedersen – clarification on “abides by the majority decision of the Board”. Not going to the press after the decision is made and speak negatively.
• Schwartz – advises the Board Chairman – another form of “punishment” could be “overlooking” a certain member during meetings and NOT calling on that member for comments.
• Carrington – Board members should be careful of comments made outside of Board meetings
• Pedersen – As a Board member are we gagged and should only work through the Chair
• Carrington – Thinks members should approach members with concerns one on one not in publicly
• Wise – Thinks the stuff that goes on in meetings should not be put on blogs
• Pederson – Requests direction from Schwartz on what is legal and what is not
• Schwartz – We can’t control what people say. First amendment rights trump our Code of Conduct Policy. But…you can advise members to play by the rules of the Board or suffer the consequences from the other members
• Bailey – Points out that we all ran on “open and transparent” and how is this is any different than televising.
• Wise – extremely unethical to post the announcement of the Chair and Vice-Chair prior to the meeting being over.
• Wade – unethical to use laptop computers for personal use.
• Abell – NSBA and NEA endorse Board members and Superintendents blogging
• Carrington – All in all blogging is okay but be respectful.

CIP (packages and documents handed out)

• Letter to Dr. Lever re: Craik Roof/ RTU Replacement S/R
• CCPS School Construction Costs
• Revised FY 2008 state & local Capital Improvement Program (CIP)
• Use of Facilities by Outside Organizations
• Supporting Services Organizational Chart
• Capital Improvements Program FY 2008
• Education Facilities Master Plan FY 2007
• Comprehensive Maintenance Plan FY 2007

* Vote - Wise motioned and seconded by Bailey to support the Superintendent’s recommendation on the CIP.
Yes – Abell, Bailey; Carrington,, Pederson, Wade; Wise
PASSED

2008-2009 School Calendar

• Teachers off for election day but on for veterans day
• Winter break 12/22 – 1/2
• Spring break 4/6 – 4/13
• End of year for students – 6/10 (no snow) 6/16 (4 snow days)

New Business

• Pederson – Legislative Committee Issue – House Bill 326 – Changing the hiring practices for speech pathologists and audiologists requiring master degrees

* Vote - Pederson motioned and seconded by Wise to send a letter to the delegation opposing this bill
Yes – Abell, Bailey; Carrington, Pederson, Wade; Wise
PASSED

• Pederson – What Counts Forum dates and location. Suggests 4/30, 5/7, 5/9, or 5/10
• Wise – Members without Bachelors or Masters degrees should have stoles not hoods for graduation ceremonies.

School Schedules Part 3 - Four Day School Week

The below post is the third in a series of post dealing with alternatives to the traditional school calendar and school day.

An article by the Center for Public Education...

A scheduling strategy that has been adopted by some rural school districts is to drop the fifth day of instruction by adding time to the remaining four weekdays (Yarbrough and Gilman, 2006). A few hundred districts in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming have implemented this schedule, primarily for fiscal reasons (cutting down on transportation costs). An unforeseen bonus is that the schedule has unexpected educational and morale benefits for both students and staff.

Documented Benefits

1. Increased scores on all areas of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills for two consecutive years.
2. Increased scores on the state assessment for two consecutive years.
3. Decreased suspensions and code-of-conduct violations.
4. Improved response to behavior management strategies for special education students with behavioral issues.
5. Increased collaboration and planning among teachers, which in turn improved academic rigor and lesson preparation.
6. More core content covered during the school year.

Read more HERE.

School Schedules Part 2 - Year Round Schools

The below post is the second in a series of post dealing with alternatives to the traditional school calendar and school day.

An article by the Center for Public Education...

Three Most Common Schedules

1. 60–20 and 60–15: The year is divided into three 60-day sessions with three 20-day vacation periods. A variation on this schedule is the 60–15, which allows for an additional three–four week common vacation. As with most year-round schedules, this plan can be carried out using either a single-track or multi-track system. Together, these two types of calendars account for 37 percent of all year-round schools.
2. 45–15 and 45–10: These schedules account for the largest portion of all year-round calendars (40 percent). In the 45–10 system, 45 days of instruction are followed by 15 days of vacation. The related 45–10 plan provides an additional four-week common vacation for staff and students. Again, either of these plans can be implemented in either a single-track or multi-track system.
3. Concept 6: The year is divided into six terms of approximately 43 days. This plan is typically used as a three-track, year-round schedule to address overcrowding issues with students and teachers divided into three groups that attend two consecutive sessions and then have one session off. This pattern is repeated for a total of 172 instructional days. During the 1997–1998 school year, eight percent of year-round schools were following this plan.

Are year-round schools effective?

The answer seems to be a qualified “yes.”

For the complete article and statistics, click HERE.

Prayers Requested

Prayers and condolences are requested for the family of a young county youth, Ryan Simpson, who lost his life on Wednesday. May his family find comfort and healing in this most difficult time of grieving the lost of their child.

School Schedules Part 1 - Block vs. Period Scheduling

The below post is the first in a series of post dealing with alternatives to the traditional school calendar and school day. Charles County Public Schools currently uses block scheduling in an A/B pattern in most, if not all, of its middle schools.

An article by the Center for Public Education...

Types of block schedules

1. The trimester plan: The school year is organized into three sessions (trimesters), with students attending two core classes per trimester. These core classes can be coupled with up to three other year-long elective classes. Students complete the core classes in 60 days and then move on to another two core classes.
2. The 4x4 block: The school day is divided into four blocks, with classes lasting anywhere from 85 to 100 minutes with additional time for lunch and transitions. Students complete in one semester what would have taken them a full year in traditional schedules.
3. The alternating plan (also known as the 8-block plan or the A/B plan): Using this format, students attend eight blocks of classes (again, typically 90 minutes long) over two days.
4. The 75-75-30 plan: This scheduling plan is one in which students take three classes each for two 75-day terms, followed by a 30-day intensive course or enrichment program.

Benefits of block scheduling

1. More time on task
2. Depth and breadth
3. More opportunities for planning and professional development
4. Stronger adult-child relationships
5. Studies indicate that discipline problems decrease (O’Neil, 1995; Freeman, 2001)

To view the complete article and statistics, click HERE.

Navigating Board Politics

In an article in the American School Board Journa this month...

Five veteran school board attorneys recently participated in a live audioconference sponsored by NSBA’s Council of School Attorneys. The session, titled “Navigating Board Politics: The School Attorney as Counselor at Law,” provided the backdrop for an insightful discussion about various issues routinely presented to school boards and their attorneys. The panelists’ comments, which were peppered with narrative responses and shared experiences, are summarized here.

No School, No Car Keys

...a tough warning issued to teenagers by Maryland lawmakers yesterday according to an article in the Washington Post.

The House of Delegates approved a bill that would deny driver's licenses to students with 10 or more unexcused absences in the previous calendar year. A similar measure passed the Senate Judiciary Committee late yesterday, and it appears to have wide support in the full chamber.

For the complete story, click HERE

Fair Share Fee

I've had a number of people approach me with questions regarding the Fair Share Representation Fee. Mr. Fisher, EACC, provided the Board with a wonderful document explaining the fee. You can view that document HERE.

Parent Visitation Policy - PUBLIC HEARING

Here's your chance parents, teachers, students and staff.

The Board of Education will hold a public hearing on Monday April 23 7:00 pm at the Starkey Building to gather input on the current parent visitation policy.

Rules for the forum.

1. All speakers must sign the roster in the lobby in person.
2. Speakers will be called in the order they signed up
3. Speakers are allotted three minutes.
4. Time may not be assigned from one speaker to another.
5. Staff will be available to answer questions prior to the public hearing.
6. Written comments will be accepted up until April 19, 2007, at the Starkey Building.

Board of Education & Commissioner Retreat

The Board of Education and the Comissioners will be meeting in a retreat at the Starkey Building on Tuesday, March 20th from 9:00 am - 6:00 pm and Wednesday, March 21st from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm. Items on the agenda include:

TUESDAY

• Team Building/Communication
• Condition of Older Schools (aesthetics, maintenance, renovation, mechanical systems)
• New School Construction (funding, feasibility/timing of reducing class size and elimination of relocatables, evaluation of new school cost)
• Financial Outlook
• Joint Technology
• Benchmarks
• New High School (Board of Education vision)

WEDNESDAY

• GASB 45
• Workforce/Affordable Housing (affect on teachers)
• Unfinished Business

Notes From Board Meeting 3/13/07

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes. Please follow-up for official minutes upon approval. For copies of printed reports presented visit Board Docs.

Public Forum

• Gentleman spoke about the bus contracts and bus lots and negotiations

Action - Approval of Minutes from 2/13/07 and 2/26/07

*Vote to approve minutes
Unanimous
PASSED

Correspondence/Board Member Updates

• Abell – Motioned for public, staff, and EACC input during a public forum or town meeting regarding parent visitation policy and rules. Cook seconded motion. Some discussion

*Vote to hold a public forum to gather input regarding the parent visitation policy
Unanimous
PASSED

Report – EACC – Bill Fisher

• Read Aoss America success
• FEA members went to San Diego, CA for conference
• EACC members testified before a joint House Committee re: HSA's
• Thank you for reinstating resolutions

Report - Student Board Member – Andrew VanWoerken

• CCASC meeting – reviewed agenda
• Senior Citizen Prom 3/23 6-9 pm @ Jaycees
• MASC Convention 3/28-30th in Hagerstown

Report – Superintendent – Jim Richmond

• Japan visitors
• State Superintendent Meeting re: testing and the future of HSA
• 5th Grade transition dinners
• 1st live classroom exchange with Pensa, Russia in future

Report – Deputy Superintendent – Ron Cunningham

• Feels positive about upcoming tests.
• Visits to schools and student manners are outstanding

Report – Redistricting Committee Neal Elementary

• Alternative A (pg. 15 of report) Matula –172; Ryon –118; Martin -17; Mitchell +17; Turner –153
• Alternative B (pg. 16 of report) Matula –172; Ryon –89; Martin -17; Mitchell +17; Turner –153

Report – CIP - Wineland

• Davis MS – 80% complete; finish in June
• 20 year renovation plan is now over 1 billion $$
• Pedersen – Craik roof; what happens if state denies funding
• Wineland – discuss in private later
• Further discussion about how to fund renovations and fund balance

Report - Technology Update

• Demonstration of electronic notification and email notification per student, class, school, or system
• Abell – Possibility of using other languages for families where English is not the primary languages
• Capability is there. Will review and update later

Report – Curriculum - Judy Estep and Minnie Reynolds

• MESA – Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement Overview. Students from Stoddert MESA team. Competition 3/26 and 3/27 at North Point HS
• Indian Education Program – federally funded by Title VII grant – Office of Indian Education program moved from Bumpy Oak to building 102 in SY 06 because of (1) safe environment (2) CCPS mission (3) centrally located; officials from Office of Indian Education to visit 4/2007. Total grant $49,413

Report – Budget – Paul Balides

• February Financial Reports
• These reports will be available in update from now on

Report – Human Resources – Keith Hettel

• Calendar for 08-09; Election day – teachers and safety concerns with in service day; winter break; discussion at March Work Session
• Richmond – recommends for Presidential election year
• March 19 First time home buyer seminar
• June 2 Teacher Hiring Fair

Report – Legislative – Eric Schwartz

• Bridge to Excellence currently fully funded. Possibility to be cut
• $400M for school construction – probably cut over next years
• #164 House Bill – Air Quality on relocateables. More expensive
• #669 Senate Bill – Charter schools; MABE supports
• Physical Education mandates. A lot of stress on school system
• Truancy Bills – restrict drivers license of truant students and school boards would need to establish review boards
• Labor relations
• Master Plan mandates extended
• House Bill 994 re: high school assessments
• Schwartz suggests sending a letter to delegation in support of task force.
• Discussion continued

* Vote to send a letter to delegation
Yes – Cook, Carrington, Wade, Wise
No – Abell, Bailey, Pedersen
PASSED

Action – Personnel

* Vote to accept staff recommendations
Unanimous
PASSED

Action – Policy Amendments

• Abell – urged fellow Board members to consider this policy for future Boards not just the current one.

* Vote to accept staff recommendations
Yes – Bailey, Carrington, Cook, Pedersen, Wade, Wise
No - Abell
PASSED

New Business & Future Agenda Items

• Wise – reinstate resolutions; National School Counseling Week; Career and Technical Education Week, Health Careers Month, National Physical Education and Sport Week

* Vote to reinstate resolutions
Yes – Bailey, Carrington, Cook, Pedersen, Wade, Wise
No - Abell
PASSED

ADJOURNED

Board of Education Determines Priorities

The Board members and CCPS staff met with a member of MABE (Maryland Association of Boards of Education) on March 8th for training session to help determine the Boards direction and priorities for the coming months. All Board members were asked to list their top three priorities and present them to the remaining members. We then voted on the list. The following were determined to be the top priorties, listed in order of importance and identified by the members who proposed:

1. Teacher Recruitment and Retention (Abell, Cook, Pedersen, Wise)
2. Code of Behavior of Board - Policy 8140 (Wise)
3. Testing.Over-testing/Time on Test Prep (Abell, Pedersen, Wise)
4. Gifted Education - more rigor (Cook)

Item #2, Code of Behavior of Board - a Board subcommittee was formed and tasked with bringing a proposal to the Board. Members of the committee are (Schwartz, Wise, Cook, Wade)

Other items brought forward by members include the following, listed in no particular order:

1. Financial Literacy for Students (Carrington)
2. School Construction and Maintenance Funding (Abell, Wise)
3. AYP and HSA requirements (Wade)
4. JROTC military ball (Wade)
5. Increase student opportunities (Bailey)
6. Strengthen & develop critical thinking skills in students (Bailey)
7. Enhanced Science and History (Bailey)
8. Open Communication with the Community (Pedersen)
9. Non-County School Students (Cook)

REMINDER - Board Meeting Tuesday, March 13

Just wanted to remind everyone there is a Board Meeting Tuesday, March 13th at 1:00 pm. To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit Board Docs.

Reports include:
Redistricting Committee's Report for Mary Burgess Neal Elementary School
MESA and Indian Education Update
School Calendar Recommendations for 08/09 School year
Technology Update

Actions include:
Policy Amendments

Take the Pressure Out of Standardized Tests

An excerpt from an article in the Calvert Recorder.

...
The High School Assessment regime as articulated up to this year is even more absurd. The HSA is a set of four tests, in English, algebra, government and biology, that all high school students, beginning with the class of 2009, must pass in order to receive a diploma.

This strikes us as the height of bureaucratic arrogance. It simply emasculates the local school system’s judgement on the most important question facing them: How well prepared are our students for work and higher education?

If we don’t trust our local educators to make this determination, what are we paying them for? And if we trust state-level bureaucrats more than our local folks to make these decisions, the most vital ones about our children’s futures, where is the groundswell of support for a state takeover of all school systems?...

Click here for the complete article.

Live Discussion on the Pros and Cons of Homework TODAY!

The Center for Public Education is hosting a live discussion today on the pros and cons of homework.

Homework has gone in and out of fashion since the 19th century. Does it help or hamper student learning? Do kids get too much or not enough?

Parents, teachers, and policymakers struggle with these and other questions about homework.

Get answers at the Center for Public Education's next live chat:

Homework: What is it Good For?
Thursday, March 1, 2007
2 p.m. EST

Find out what research says about the value of homework.

Submit questions now or during the session.

Resolutions and Me

A reporter asked me today, why I voted against the resolutions. I assume if a reporter had a question about it, the public might as well. Below is my response.

It would be best to access the meeting board minutes when this occurred for an understanding of why the board as a whole voted against the resolutions. I believe it was September or October 2004. I am not the chairman, so I cannot speak for the entire board. However, I do have my personal reasons for the vote, and I will be happy to share them with you.

One of the main reasons I voted to withdraw several of the resolutions is because we had multiple resolutions recognizing a select few job categories in our system. The list of those job categories receiving recognition was much shorter than the list that did not receive recognition. One of our resolutions was American Education Week. The contributions of ALL the system's employees were recognized. One group was not deemed more important than another. I thought it unfair to specifically go above and beyond the American Education Week resolution and pick out some jobs as worthy of recognition while the vast majority go unnoticed. I most certainly understand and well appreciate the contribution secretaries, bus drivers, and cafeteria workers (those whose resolutions were discontinued) make to the overall system. However, we also have electricians, accountants, lawyers, janitors, painters, personnel specialists, telephone operators, computer specialists, occupational therapists, librarians, nurses, and curriculum writers, to name a few, that also contribute significantly to our system and the students. Is a bus driver more worthy of special praise than the janitor that warms and sanitizes the building, the accountant that keeps accurate records and maintains the flow of funds, or the computer specialists that fix the hundreds of computer glitches on a daily basis? Perhaps some people are happy with empty, unsupported words on paper. But, to recognize each and every job category would be an extremely time-consuming task and would impede our ability to conduct board business. We only meet once or twice a month. In other words, we would spend so much time handing out resolutions, we would have precious little time left to conduct business.

Secondly, every year many Americans make resolutions on New Year's Day. They are often stated as new actions one will undertake in order to improve one's life and the lives of those around him. I see our board resolutions in the same light. WHAT specifically will we/have we done recently that will/has improved the lot of our students and employees? We can say we appreciate people all we want, but what do we actually do on a day to day basis or in a new initiative that will prove our words accurate. In my opinion, our resolutions were symbolism over substance. And, in my opinion, that's not the way to conduct business. Hence, my vote to eliminate certain resolutions.

While these resolutions may appear to be innocuous, I contend that that they are divisive and nothing more than a pacifier to those who are seeking a pat on the back. They thwart the efforts of those who are working for true change, not just a fancy piece of paper with empty promises. It's a pacifier. I am not one to pacify or patronize someone with a piece of paper if there is no substance behind it. We say we appreciate bus drivers, but when was the last time they were given a raise? We say we appreciate Fine and Performing arts, but why is there never enough money in the budget for arts? We say we value young children, but why do we take their recess away? We say we value our secretaries, but what NEW initiatives have we taken to make their jobs easier; how are they treated on a daily basis and not just Hallmark's Secretary Day? We say we value Women's History month, but when are historical contributions of women addressed outside of the month of March? We say we value nutrition in our schools, but have we as a board taken the initiative to reduce the amount of transfats in the cafeteria foods; are we serving fresh fruits and vegetables and high quality protein in our schools, or are our children served highly processed canned fruit cocktail, donuts, pizza, and Captain Crunch? Our students and employees deserve more substance and less symbolism. The more they are pacified with mere symbolism, the less likely they will be to receive the substance they deserve. The pacifier stops the whining. I was elected to make changes.

Notes from Board Work Session, 2/26/07

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes. Please follow-up for official minutes upon approval. For copies of printed reports presented visit BoardDocs.

Public Forum
None

Board Meeting Times

• Wise - General public agrees to time change according to the survey
• Pederson - Concurs. Requests staff input
• Discussion by all. Wade asks for suggestions
• Abell - Consider moving recognition to another night; work session nights. Public interested in recognition, and public forum and forum needs to be before action items. Makes for a late night.
• Wise - 4- Executive Session; 5 Recognition; 6 Dinner; 7 Public Forum
• Balides - Cut out staff reports and get them weekly in updates
• Bailey - 4:30 Employee Recognition; 5:00 Student Recognition; 5:30 Executive Session; 6:30 Public Forum and remainder of meeting
• Abell - according to the survey people don’t know about the meetings; possible to use the new phone/email system to notify them.

* Vote - Pederson motioned and seconded by Cook to adopt a new meeting time beginning in the month of April and continue until January 2008 in which time we will revisit. The agenda will be as follows: 4:30 Employee Recognition; 5:00 Student Recognition; 5:30 Executive Session; 6:30 Public Forum and remainder of meeting. In addition, electronic phone calls to households having children in the system will be made as a reminder of the meetings.
Unanimous
PASSED

Policy Amendments

• Cook - public not happy with the delay in getting the minutes. Suggests Draft minutes
• Pederson - Concurs. Should be available in one week
• Discussion by all.
• Abell - asked for consideration of her policy revisions, especially those in Policy 9338.3 involving Board member access to closed session minutes. Cited numerous legal cases including those in the Open Meetings Compliance Act. Concern that a majority of the Board withholding minutes from one member could lead to a lawsuit.
• Schwartz - Agreed we are always open for a lawsuit about anything but doesn’t believe the member would win the case because the Annotated Code of Maryland protects us.

* Mr. Schwartz Policy Amendments will move forward next month as an action item.

Unfinished Business
None

New Business

• Richmond - spoke about combining technology for Commissioners and Board of Education. Shock to him. Discussed with Cooper years ago, briefly. Does not agree with hiring an outside consultant, too premature. Discuss with them at retreat
• Richmond - suggests additional agenda items for retreat with Commissioners.
  Capital Improvement Program
  Renovation of Existing Facilities
  Budgets - Operational Budget for five years out
• Cook - Resolutions previously removed. Wants reinstated. Emergency vote since some occur in March

* Vote - Pederson motioned and seconded by Cook to reinstate the following resolutions: Womens History Month; Fine and Performing Arts; Professional Secretaries Week.
Yes - Bailey; Carrington, Cook, Pederson, Wade; Wise
No - Abell
PASSED

• Wade - recommends we have the retreat with the Commissioners in the county
• Richmond - Offers the Boardroom
• Pederson - suggests neutral ground
• Wade - will suggests to the Commissioners on Friday during his meeting with them
• Abell - Discuss 08/09 Calendar
• Hettel - Currently getting input from various groups and will present at the next Board meeting.

Study: College Students More Narcissistic

By DAVID CRARY
AP National Writer

Today's college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors, according to a comprehensive new study by five psychologists who worry that the trend could be harmful to personal relationships and American society.
"We need to stop endlessly repeating 'You're special' and having children repeat that back," said the study's lead author, Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University. "Kids are self-centered enough already."

For the complete article, click here.

REMINDER: Board Work Session, Monday, 2/26/07

On Monday February 26th there will be a Board Work Session at North Point High School at 7:00 pm (immediately following student recognition).

The agenda includes:

• Results of survey and discussion on Board Meeting Time
• Policy 9000 Changes (board minutes)

Higher Grades Contradict Test Scores

This week on YahooNews...

High school students are getting better grades and taking more challenging courses, but that apparent progress is not showing up on national math and reading tests.

"The reality is that the results don't square," said Darvin Winick, chair of the independent National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the tests. Scores were released Thursday.

Nearly 40 percent of high school seniors scored below the basic level on the math test. More than a quarter of seniors failed to reach the basic level on the reading test. Most educators think students ought to be able to work at the basic level.

Read the complete article here.

School Board Minutes Takes Weeks

An article in the Maryland Independent today reports on the inordinate amount of time it takes for Board Minutes to be available to the public.

View the article here (link to be posted when available).

Just an idea...
maybe a good compromise, just to start with, would be for the Board to approve the minutes from the Board meeting at the work session. For example, the minutes from 2/13 Board meeting could be approved at the 2/26 work session. They could then be available to the public by the end of the month and prior to the next Board meeting where action items or voted on. I will attempt to make suggestion at our discussion at the work session.

In addition, contrary to a statement in the article, DRAFT minutes ARE made available to the public when they are posted on the agenda for the Board meeting. Unfortunately, this is done only a few days to a week prior to the meeting. My point being, if the DRAFT minutes are being posted as DRAFT minutes on the agenda a few days prior to the meeting, why couldn’t they be posted as DRAFT minutes a few weeks before the meeting?

UPDATE: Sorry for the misinformation. The minutes are NOT posted for public on the agenda until AFTER the Board approves it. Anyone out there with any legal background? Is there any legal issues preventing the Board from posting DRAFT minutes?

Charles County Cafe

I don't normally do this, but I wanted to bring everyone's attention to another great, informative website for Charles County residents. The Charles County Cafe is a group blog with several contributors from a variety of backgrounds. The focus is on Charles County and to provide a forum to present public information and to explain and discuss various issues with a variety of topics including, but not limited to:

• Animal Rights
• Arts & Music
• Books
• Celebrity
• Charity & Volunteer
• Civil Rights
• Crime
• Cultural & Race
• Education
• Entertainment
• Events
• Environment
• Government
• Headlines
• Health News
• Human Rights
• Politics
• Maryland News
• National News
• Religion
• World News

International comparisons are more than a 'horse race'

An excerpt from an article by the National School Board Association

According to news reports, U.S. students are losing their edge in international testing. In reality, “American students aren’t ‘failing’ as some overwrought headlines suggest,” said Patte Barth, the director of NSBA’s Center for Public Education. “But they don’t win, place, or show on any international test of knowledge and skills, either.”

In fact, U.S. performance varies considerably depending on the subject area being tested and the age of test-takers,” said Barth. She spoke during a session at NSBA’s Federal Relations Network Conference Jan. 30 about a new packet of information from the center titled, “More than a Horse Race: A Guide to International Tests.”

For the complete article click here.

Wireless Schools

An excerpt from an article in TechLEARNING.com about CCPS.

Wireless connectivity in schools is all the rage, and many school systems have at least gotten their feet wet with a wireless lab or a few portable laptop carts. But Bijaya Devkota, the chief information officer of Charles County Public Schools, has done what many school systems only dream of—implemented universal wireless access throughout his district, including data and voice services. Mr. Devkota shared some of his district’s experiences in rolling out universal wireless, and the lessons and best practices learned throughout the process, as well as thoughts on the benefits of implementing wireless capability.

Mr. Devkota is clear about the intent of Charles County Public Schools to pursue a wireless initiative. “We had a vision for years to get a wireless network in place, and we’re now the first school system in the United States to have wireless end-to-end,” he says.

For the complete article, click here.

Preventing Childhood Obesity

A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) literature review of 53 articles on childhood obesity and factors affecting levels of physical activity reinforces the need for schools to have Coordinated School Health Programs (CSHPs) to help decrease obesity among children and youth.

Among the eight components of a CSHP model are Physical Education and Family and Community Involvement. GAO studies show that the program strategy identified by experts as most important to prevent or reduce childhood obesity is "increasing physical activity," and that parental and social support for physical activity is associated with increased physical activity

Access the literature review here. To learn more about CSHPs and how schools can apply this model in the fight against childhood obesity, visit NSBA's School Health Programs.


Following the FRN Conference, there is a momentum building on Capitol Hill to improve education legislation. Read the story online.

Follow-Up: Who is Gifted?

As a follow-up, additional information in response to a previous post Who is Gifted?
-
The Gifted Identification Process has been a two-year project.

• 05-06 - Researched & collected data on national, state and metro area trends in regards to identification of and services provided to gifted students. In addition, stakeholder groups including parents, teachers, and administrators were surveyed.
• 06-07 - Formed a county-wide committee to review the research and collected data and develop Gifted ID procedures for CCPS.
• By May 2007, an Identification Procedure will be developed for elementray and middle school students.

Policy 9000 Amendments

There has been numerous emails sent to me regarding Policy 9000 revisions. The particular portion in question regards how the Board handles it's minutes. The concern in the emails regards the presentation of Ms. Young's suggestions back in November, my suggestions in January, and the staff attorney's (Mr. Schwartz) suggestions. The four concerns are not the content as much as the lack of transparency by the new Board, a platform that we all campaigned on during the election.

1. Neither Ms. Young's recommendations or mine have been posted for the public to view.
2. Ms. Young's (no longer a Board member) suggested changes have been dropped from discussion.
3. Only Mr. Schwartz's recommendation is available for public view.
4. Policy is a Board function, not staff's.

I wanted to let everyone know I did question our Chairman about the inavailability of the members recommendations to the public and an excerpt from his response is below:

...The procedure for posting is that the report item is posted. Board members then have the opportunity to discuss changes, additions, deletions or content during the report time. Your proposals, along with the proposals from all other Board members, will be discussed during an open, public session on Feb. 26.

... the appropriate time to post any changes to the report item is after thorough discussion among all members so that the changes reflect the thinking and opinions of all Board members and not one individual.

So according to Chairman Wade I guess we will be discussing the revisions at the Board Work Session on February 26th, NOT at the next Board meeting in March. Links to the various renditions to Policy 9000 are listed below. Please provide your feedback.

Current Policy 9000 -Go to Policies; Click on 9000
Mr. Schwartz Recommendation - Go to Board Meeting 2/13/07; Click on Reports; Click on Policy
Abell's Recommendation - Just click

Politics

Do you ever wonder...

why does it take so long to get anything accomplished?

why people don't trust politicians?

why do politicians get such a bad rap?

why do politicians do what they do?

where do politicans come up with these promises?

why don't politicians keep their promises?

why politicans think they have to be manipulative?

what would happen if a politician refused to play the game?

who actually has control?

what would the public think if they were fully aware of EVERYTHING?

What Research Says About the Power of Homework

The Latest from the Center for Public Education

Homework has gone in and out of fashion since the 19th century. Does homework help or hinder student learning—and which students, under what conditions, does it help or hinder? Do students get too little or too much homework—and how can parents tell? Find out what the research tell us about the pros and cons of homework.

Notes from Board Meeting, 2/13/07

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes. Please follow-up for official minutes upon approval. For copies of printed reports presented visit BoardDocs.

Public Forum

• Gentleman spoke about the Piscataway Indians; museum property on Bumpy Oak Road; frustrated over loss of property CCPS took and gave to Sheriff. Coffey stated he will not use it.
• Student spoke against summer required reading assignments. Summer is for free time, free reading, family and enjoyment.
• Woman spoke on the need for CCPS to have an open door policy for visitation. Statistics show majority of sexual offenses on students happen from staff NOT parents
• Gentleman spoke on the FASEB program offered at the college

Action - Approval of Minutes from 1/9/07

*Vote to approve minutes
Unanimous
PASSED

Correspondence/Board Member Updates

• None

Report – EACC – Bill Fisher

• Opposes the use of HSA as a graduation requirement. General Assembly will be addressing.
• Teacher workload; use creative talents vs. test preparation
• Read Across America on March 1st at Old Country Buffet
• FEA members attending annual conference in San Diego
• Discontinued resolutions in Sept. 2004 need to re-adopted
• MSTA Reading contests

Report - Student Board Member – Andrew VanWoerkem

• CCASC meeting – stuffed legislative folders for delegates
• MS meeting – reviewed parliamentary procedure
• Legislative session – two reps were chosen for state board. Workshops included choosing a SMOB and Constitution review. Numerous compliments from other counties regarding the conference and North Point
• Bills reviewed and supported include: Register to vote at 16, not to vote just register; Prohibit colleges from raising in-state tuition; Drug and alcohol tests on students only for reasonable suspicion; Elementary school students mandatory 150 minutes of Physical Education every week

Report – Superintendent – Ron Cunningham

• Visits schools weekly and gets most of his ideas there.
• New teacher breakfast once a month
• CISCO projects. Brainstorming session took place on new high schools. TelePresence conference 5/23
• Vital source – electronic curriculum filmed teachers for marketing
• Rotary Club donation to foundation will help with the My Library program
• New high school advisory group met.
• CIP appeal – complete fund Davis MS; increase funds for Neal
• CAC and PAC met 1/30. Report on meeting time survey will be presented at 2/26 work session
• Job Shadow Day success
• Tri-County Superintendent Meeting
• Spelling Bee, Science Fair, Mock Trials Destination Imagination, JROTC Drill Meet, band and choral festivals
• Matula 2007 MD Characters school in running for national
• $5,000 donation to Stoddert for Accelerated Reader
• McDonough Marching Band participated in the Governors inauguration
• American History Month

Report - CIP

• Hagis – Davis 81% complete; on schedule for August 2007 opening. No foreseen problems
• Hagis – Smallwood Boiler Project still underway
• Hagis – Gwynn Center new roof top units. Will complete before warm weather
• Barret – Elementary School site in Pinefield. They are wetlands. Plans have been redone to accommodate wetlands, school, and fields.. Emphasised renovation of existing schools.
• Wineland – Article 13-203 regarding the cross botony as an ornamental pole topper. Determined it is nor required byt MAY be used. CCPS is in compliance
• Bailey – Questions regarding IAC funding decisions worksheet

Report - Technology Update – Laura Bennet & Paul Balides

• Video conferencing – interactive communication; principals have cameras for video conference call.
• Middle and high schools have one unit; elementary have two units sytem wide for checkout
• Virtual field trips, meetings, training, and classes.
• Pedersen – Reassueance that we are not doing away with actual field trips.
• Bennett – Definitely not.
• Carrington – Unit costs?
• Balides - $6,500
• Richmond – Possibility of using this technology to offer AP courses system wide that would otherwise need to be cancelled due to low enrollment at a single high school

Report – Curriculum – Early Childhood (Birth – 5 years) – Judy Estep and panel

• Panel includes Southern Maryland Tri-County Action Committee, Charles County Judy Center, Title 1 Coordinator, Specialist in Early Childhood Education
• Review of programs available
  3’s Spring Forward
  Even Start
  Pre-kindergarten
  Kindergarten (Half day and full day)
  Judy Center
  Head Start
• Pedersen – Questions on enrollment and availability.
• Estep - If there is an opening, non-eligible parents/students cannot attend due to federal funding guidelines.
• Cook – PreK enrollment
• Estep – Based on need first (free and reduced lunch)
• Abell – Clarification on enrollment for Pre-K. Isn’t it based on medical need also.
• Estep – First financial need and secondly medical need.

Action – Personnel

* Vote to accept staff recommendations
Unanimous
PASSED

Action – Superintendent FY08 Proposed Budget

• Bailey – Is there enough money in the budget to perform the vision of the Board?
• Richmond – Yes
• Wise – Motion does not include supplemental budget, correct?
• Richmond – correct
• Cook – Date for meeting with Commissioners to discuss budget
• Balides – at the retreat in March
• Pedersen – Thanks to all. Request a cheat sheet for board members to use when discussion budget with commissioners.

* Vote to accept staff recommendations
Unanimous
PASSED

ADJOURNED – Due to inclement weather

• Abell - requested clarification as to when the remaining items would be addressed.
• Wade – Staff presentations/reports would be heard at the next Board meeting (March); all other items could be addressed at the board work session on 2/26.

REMAINING AGENDA ITEMS

Report – Budget – Paul Balides
Update

Report – Human Resources – Keith Hettel
Calendar for 08-09; Daycare

Report – Legislative – Eric Schwartz
Legislative; Policy Amendments

Unfinished Business

New Business & Future Agenda Items

Fourth-Grade Slump

In an article in Newsweek...

In the pressure-cooker world of the nation's elementary schools, it's hard to be 9 years old.

Terri Bollinger, principal at the Ridge Central elementary school, has noticed a troubling trend. Her third graders are doing incredibly well. Most of them meet or exceed Illinois state reading standards. But her fifth graders aren't showing the same kind of improvement—and in 2005, their reading scores even dropped a little. Bollinger thinks she knows why. For complicated reasons, some kids lose their mojo when they get to fourth grade.

REMINDER - Board Meeting Tuesday, 2/13/07

Just wanted to remind everyone there is a Board Meeting Tuesday, February 13th at 1:00 pm. To see the full agenda and/or individual report items, please visit

Schools Picked to Pilot Sex-Ed Lessons

In the Washington Post today...

Montgomery County has decided to introduce the topics of sexual orientation to students in eighth- and 10th-grade county health classes at six schools. Current curriculum allows teachers to broach the topic only in response to student inquiries.
Three citizen groups are fighting against the new curriculum.

Acceleration Lets Students Excel

In an article in Queue, Inc.

…School districts in Ohio were required by law to adopt an acceleration policy for this school year for advanced learners, allowing them to move through traditional curriculum faster than usual.

The state offered a model policy that districts could adopt or allowed districts to adopt a similar version. The policy covers early entrance into kindergarten, single-subject acceleration, whole-grade acceleration and early graduation. Click here for the model.

Much resistance from educators occurs because of an outdated and unfounded notion that kids who skip a grade will be harmed psychologically, said Tom Southern, a Miami University educational psychology professor who has studied acceleration
for 20 years.

In fact, Southern said, research shows that kids who are
accelerated do much better, academically, in terms of achievement.

A Child's Day: 2003

Quick facts and statistics according to a report on children’s well-being and daily activities titled A Child's Day: 2003

• Seventy-five percent of students 12 to 17-years old were academically “on track” (at or above the grade level for peers their age) in 2003, up 6 percentage points since 1994, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Jan. 11.
• Nearly 1 in 4 children ages 12-17 were in a special class for gifted students or did advanced work in an academic subject.
• Eleven percent (2.7 million) of children 12-17 had been expelled or suspended from school at least once in 2003. Boys (14 percent) were more likely than girls (8 percent) to have been suspended.
• Aside from normal progression within a school system, 24 percent of children ages 6-11 and 41 percent of those 12-17 had changed schools at some time since first grade.
• About 30 million children participated in the national school lunch program in 2003, including 1.6 million children under 6, 15 million ages 6-11, and 13.4 million ages 12-17.

Open Meetings Compliance Board Opinion

On February 5, 2007, the Open Meetings Compliance Board issued it's opinion on a complaint filed against the Charles County Board of Education. You can view the complete findings here.

The conclusion...

We find that the County Board did not violate the Act in connection with notices of closed sessions or the process by which meetings were closed, except that we are unable to reach a conclusion about the timeliness of the required written statement preceding the closing of a meeting. We are also unable to opine about the lawfulness of closing the August 8, 2006, meeting. With regard to minutes, the County Board violated the Open Meetings Act when it failed to approve minutes of closed sessions that were subject to the Act and did not adequately disclose required information after many of these closed sessions. The County Board did not violate the Act by denying individual members access to minutes of closed sessions or failing to report to the public its votes on motions to unseal minutes of closed sessions.

NCLB Plan Includes Vouchers

In an article in the February issue of School Board News

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spell­ings said the Bush administration will seek to incorporate private school vouchers and expanded charter school options into the No Child Left Behind Act.

Many of the administration’s proposals for the reauthorization of NCLB revolve around the approximately 1,800 schools that have failed to improve student achievement to acceptable levels over the last six years and are in “restructuring” status.

Also included is a plan for charter schools, grants, and promise scholarships.

More information can be found in an article in todays Washington Post.

Maryland Association of Student Councils

A meeting of the Maryland Association of Student Councils took place Saturday at North Point High School. The 800 student delegate attendees picked two nominees to represent Maryland's million students on the State Board of Education. The two students chosen were from Prince George's County; Renford Freemantle of Beltsville and Haywood Perry III of Accokeek. Gov. Martin O'Malley will appoint one of the two nominees to the board.

In a quote taken from the Washington Post article

Roberta "Bobbie" Wise, the newly elected vice chairman of the Charles County Board of Education, said she was blown away by the student leaders.

"Those kids were impressive," Wise said. "My God, I wish I had that composure when I was campaigning."

Although I couldn't personally attend the meeting, my congratulations and compliments to the Charles County Association of Student Councils for a very organized and informative event.

How does Southern Maryland Compare?

In an article today in the Washington Post, they discuss the scores of Southern Maryland students on the Maryland School Assessments. Clearly, Calvert County middle schools outperform state averages in every Maryland School Assessment category. Where is St. Mary's and Charles? Unfortunately, Charles scores rank last of the three counties in five of the six areas. But on the good side, maybe, we ranked at or better than the state average in five of the six categories as well.

Southern Maryland students' scores on the Maryland School Assessment exams are listed below. The scores represent the percentage of students taking the exams who performed at the proficient or advanced levels.

GRADE 6
County...............Reading..........Math
Calvert................85.5...........74.2
Charles................71.6...........68.3
St. Mary's.............73.4...........73
State average..........71.9...........65.6

GRADE 7
County...............Reading..........Math
Calvert................85.6...........70.9
Charles................72.1...........60.7
St. Mary's.............76.9...........65.1
State average..........71.1...........60.1

GRADE 8
County...............Reading..........Math
Calvert................79.4...........62.7
Charles................69.6...........55
St. Mary's.............69.7...........53.2
State average..........67.............55

Open Thread Saturday!

I will begin posting an "Open Thread" every Saturday for visitors to tell me what you would like to see on my site. What can I do to make it more user-friendly or topics you would like to see discussed in the future. So here you go, give me your feedback.

Student Progress Lags in Area Middle Schools

According to an article in todays Washington Post, one student in three attending a middle school in Maryland lacks proficiency on the Maryland School Assessment, a standard all students are supposed to meet by 2014.

EXCERPT

School boards across the D.C. suburbs are talking about fixing middle schools. There is fairly broad consensus that they represent the weak link between comparatively prosperous elementary and high schools. There is pervasive talk of middle school reform.
...
Only 14 of 124 middle schools in the D.C. suburbs achieved at least 90 percent proficiency in reading and math on the 2006 MSA, according to an analysis of data for grades 6 through 8. The analysis includes schools in Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery and St. Mary's counties, as well as a limited number of schools in Prince George's that serve grades 6 through 8. (Many middle schools in that county do not have sixth grade.)

Public-Private Partnerships Right Model to Build Public Schools

The Examiner has an interesting little editorial today. I wonder if Charles County will ever look outside the box?

EXCERPT:
BALTIMORE - Gov. Martin O’Malley proposed to hike spending on school construction from $323 million in 2007 to $400 million in 2008. He suggests reductions to $250 million annually in following years.
That’s a lot of money. Many obsolete and dangerous schools clamor for replacement or additions. The need to update or rebuild in most districts is not at issue. The issue is how they are replaced.
School districts in Maryland routinely build and operate schools. They don’t have to. And it doesn’t make sense. School administrators do not earn degrees in real estate development and construction management. Other states and other countries routinely partner with private developers to cut the time it takes to build schools and save money. It’s time Maryland started the practice, too.

ELECTRONIC SURVEY - PLEASE VOTE!!!

The Board of Education of Charles County is soliciting public input on its meeting times including starting times, public forum and recognition ceremonies. Please visit the Charles County Public Schools' homepage to take a brief electronic survey (look in the right hand column). Only one submission per computer will be accepted. The deadline for survey submissions is Feb. 16

Pelosi Reaches Out to Blogging Community

From an article in the Washington Post... looks like blogging is here for political officials.

EXCERPT:
Shortly after her swearing-in as the first female House speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi took time to field questions from a few dozen Internet bloggers on a conference call that was off limits to mainstream media.

Last week, Pelosi's aides arranged for bloggers to question two Democratic House leaders on another conference call shortly before President Bush's State of the Union speech.

Pelosi also hired a full-time staff member this month dedicated to blogger outreach, and is making plans to launch a blog of her own. The day she was sworn in, bloggers were given special accommodations at the Capitol to cover the event, and fed lunch.

Click here for the complete article.

Studies Find Benefits to Advanced Placement Courses

According to an article in the Washington Post my Jay Mathews...Good Scores on AP Exams Correlate With Better College Grades and Graduation Rates, Data on Texas Students Show

Read the complete article here.

Mathmatics Curriculum Focal Points - Back to Basics!

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has released Curriculum Focal Points, which identifies three important mathematical topics at each level, prekindergarten through grade 8. The publication is intended to bring more coherence to the very diverse mathematics curricula currently in use. It provides a framework for states and districts to design more focused curricular expectations and assessments for pre-K–grade 8 mathematics curriculum development.

State standards often describe specific learning expectations by grade. In some cases there are close to 100 expectations per grade, with different expectations from state to state. The focal points are intended as a first step toward a national discussion on how to bring consistency and coherence to the mathematics curricula used in the United States. At each grade level, prekindergarten through grade 8, the Curriculum Focal Points identify three topics, described as “cohesive clusters of related knowledge, skills, and concepts,” which form the necessary foundation for understanding concepts in higher-level mathematics.

Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics is available for PDF download as a full document here: Focal Points

New Research on Vocabulary and Learning

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) has announced new research that helps document the connection between standards-based vocabulary instruction and future academic achievement.

View the full report: Building Academic Vocabulary Report

Who is Gifted?

According to the Washington Post, school systems differ in how they determine whether a student is gifted or highly gifted. Here is the selection criteria of the three largest systems in the area:

Montgomery County

• Screens all students in grade 2, using two intelligence tests, grades and surveys of parents, teachers and staff members.
• About 40 percent of all students are identified as gifted; about 4 percent study in highly gifted centers.

Fairfax County

• Screens all students in grade 2, using two intelligence tests and teacher appraisals.
• Highly gifted centers serve about 12 percent of students. A broader gifted program serves about 36 percent of students.

Prince George's County

• Screens all students in grades 1 and 3, using the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test. Parents and teachers may nominate students at any grade level.
• Between 8 and 9 percent of students are identified as gifted.

Although Charles County wasn't detailed in the report, CCPS information is given below.
Charles County Public Schools use the Treffinger Service Delivery Model for gifted services. This model does not include a gifted identification procedure. However, it does provide services for top academic students which are provided at the school level based on student need. At the elementary and middle school levels, gifted education resource teachers work vcollaboratively with classroom teachers to provide appropriate experiences for their students. The service delivery model has four levels of service: ALL - all students receive the gifted initiatives and information, MANY - students receive services associated with various enrichment and special interest groups, SOME - students are included who can learn at a faster pace and need some adjustments to the curriculum to meet their full potential, and FEW - students need direct support from the gifted staff.

Bush Proposes Adding Private School Vouchers to 'No Child' Law

In the Washington Post today...

EXCERPT
The Bush administration yesterday unveiled an education plan that would allow poor students at chronically failing public schools to use federal vouchers to attend private and religious schools, angering Democrats who vowed to fight the measure.

The private school vouchers, which on average would be worth $4,000, were among a series of proposals presented yesterday that President Bush hopes will be included in the reauthorization of his signature education initiative, No Child Left Behind.

Click here for the complete article.

Teachers Tackle Their Own Extra Credit

In an article in the Washington Post National Certification Pays Off With Stipend And Stamp of Approval

EXCERPT
...the process for national board certification is uniform across the country. Applications can take up to 400 hours to complete. Applicants must finish in-depth projects, assemble a portfolio that includes video of themselves teaching and take an online test. Fewer than half of applicants earn certification the first year they apply. The process aims to push teachers to adapt lessons for each child, analyze why certain methods work and reach out to colleagues and the families of students.
Click on the link above for the complete article.

EACC: Rethink Sex Ed Stance

In an article in the Maryland Independent today...

EXCERPT:
The local teachers union has asked the newly elected Charles County school board to reconsider the previous board’s position on sex education.

The previous board supported, in a list of positions supplied to local lawmakers, restricting instructors from discussing sexual lifestyles or conducting demonstration activities with students, such as how to put on a condom. In addition, the board supported sex education programs incorporating abstinence as the primary emphasis.


Clarification before the posts start rolling in...
The current sex-education classes fall into two categories: mandatory sex ed sections in the health curriculum and then there are the elective classes. Currently both are “abstinence based” not “abstinence only”. Meaning abstinence is taught as the most effective way to prevent pregnancy and STD’s. Duh. Other methods are taught also. The legislation the board currently supports (see below) would prevent the instructors from having demonstrations on how to actually put on a condom (using an inanimate model, of course)and from discussing alternative lifestyle choices. The EACC is proposing that we change the legislation to make the elective courses (which are available to 11th and 12th graders, I think) cover these topics as well.

ACTUAL WORDING IN LEGISLATION PACKAGE
The Board supports sex education programs incorporating abstinence as the primary emphasis. In addition, the Board supports legislation restricting instructors from discussing sexual lifestyles (i.e., bisexuality, homosexuality, etc.) and demonstration activities (i.e., how to put on a condom). The Board supports legislation requiring opt-in parental consent for sex education, and is opposed to an opt-out requirement. Implementing an opt-in policy would require a parent to be more informed and want their child to attend the class, instead of attendance by default.