Curriculum and Instruction

Staff Meeting
September 1, 2009

Present: Ruth Ann Hodges, Dan LaDue, Lynette VanDyke, Mary Head, John
VanWagoner, Abbie Hilgendorf, Ana Cardona, Mark Coscarella, Kevin Richard,
Deb Clemmons

8:04: Ana presents NPR audio file on PS 22 in NYC – “What do you hear in
terms of motivation and engagement?”

8:11: Pair discussions about engagement and motivation in student choir

profiled in NPR piece – extended to whole group.

8:18: Mary’s PD Plan Overview:

• (see Mary’s calendar)

8:45: John and Abbie present on Re-Imagining Effective Instruction

framework

10:058: Ruth Ann

• Effective school improvement practices conference – presenters for
Dec. 2
• Theme: Creating an Atmosphere of Change
• Put in a/several proposal(s) as a unit that fits the theme and addresses
items on unit workplan
• Use instructional framework to launch ideas for content-area
presentations
• Work from various core elements of framework
• First half hour of each workshop will be a common
presentation/overview of instructional framework – also want to
incorporate lesson of effective instruction video(s)
• Creating an atmosphere of change – changing instruction using the Re-
Imagining Effective Instruction framework – individual content area
proposals around essential skill(s)
o Incorporate lesson of effective instruction
o Incorporate intro to instructional framework that will come from
abbie
o 2.5 hour session

10:32: Mark – Teaching for Learning Institute

• Opened for debriefing:
o Deb: format good, pay attention to marketing – get attendance
up
 o Ruth Anne – who is the audience? SI strand was distracting
o Lynette – requirement to have multiple days – too long,
expensive to come for so long for presenters
o Ana – concerns about having during academic year
o Ruth Anne – closer to end or start of school year
o Mark: next year, it’s scheduled for a week later (week before
school begins)
o Deb: careful attention to timing, competing conferences; look at
evaluations
o Mark: economy issues – lay-offs, PD budgets cut
o Offer PD on year-long basis
o Using technology to avoid necessity of travel
o Ana: perhaps scale back expectations, i.e. Harvard seminars
o Lynette: leave out competing sessions
o Putting out survey to assess needs and interests of
schools/districts to design content and marketing
o Dan: statewide PD days (i.e. Montana)
o In January of 2010, begin to work on a calendar of PD for
summer, fall, winter of ’10-‘11
o Deb: start with data to assess what needs are (i.e. D4SS, Steve
Byrd’s data, CAN) and put that out there to gather info on in
terms of preference
• “Do we want to do it again?”
o A “refreshing” offering from MDE – Ana strongly in favor of
keeping it
o Deb – yes; consistent with unit plan… discussion with Sally V. re:
PD; strong interest in the agency to offer strategic PD
o Using it as a “launching” pad for sustained, job-embedded PD:
leveraging professional organizations to support this year-long
effort

11:02: Deb and Kevin – OEAA Collaboration Planning Conversation

• Vince Dean needs more info about re-coding science GLCEs
• Open to idea of having joint staff meetings – Deb will share calendar
with Vince to coordinate joint meeting
• Meeting does not need to involve entire staff – only those affected

11:10: Deb and Dan – Power Standards

• MDE statement on power standards
• Dan, Mary, Deb attended Ingham ISD meeting on power standards
(“priority expectations”) – for learning only; not to give feedback
• 47 ISDs attended; not very far along in process – still working on
process and definitions
 • Ensure that ACT college readiness standards (from Mike F.’s email) are
addressed somehow
• Give Dan input on draft

11:30: Deb – State Fiscal Stabilization Fund

• Heavy emphasis on collecting data
• 4 areas/assurances for state plan: equity in teacher distribution;
standards and assessment (emphasis on SWD and ELL) – linked to
states’ common core; working with struggling schools; improving
collection of data
• Read it and answer questions sent by Deb
• Currently in unit plan/what we have done with standards and
assessment
o Have standards and K-12 CE
o Drafts of arts standards to take to SBE in fall 2009
o Documented in survey sent out by Deb last Thursday (Deb will
resend) – review for accuracy – Quality Counts survey
o Need this information for Race to the Top application. If we
already have the standards and assessments, we need to decide
how we will enhance them
 Still need to connect teacher evaluation to data
 Need legislators to approve P-20 system
 Instructional framework as resource to support teacher
effectiveness
• Must put these pieces in place or enhance them if already in place
• Most states don’t have these assurances – that’s why it’s in the Race to
the Top
• Could this application include formative assessment in addition to
summative stuff?
• Work with 4 pillars – take time to digest and provide info/input to Deb

11:56 – Lynette – Would like more conversation about REIF –

o Missing items: Reading and Writing across the curriculum (content
literacy), strategy instruction, integration of content
o Do others agree? Anything else?
o Ana: don’t think these are discipline-specific?
o Ruth Anne: the beauty of this is that it’s content-neutral