NEWTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE
MINUTES
OF REGULAR MEETING – JANUARY 27, 2003
EDUCATION
CENTER, FRAZIER ROOM, 7:30 P.M.
PRESENT: Chairperson
Anne Larner, Vice-Chairperson Susan Albright, Gail Glick, Patricia Kellogg,
Marc Laredo, Nancy Levine, Leslie Schneider, Dori Zaleznik, Mayor David Cohen
ABSENT: student representatives
Chairperson Anne Larner called the meeting to order
at 7:40 p.m.
PRESENTATION OF MASSACHUSETTS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL
SUPERINTENDENTS (MASS) AWARDS FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE & BLUMER BOOK AWARDS
Superintendent Jeffrey
Young presented the MASS Awards for Academic Excellence, in conjunction with
Irwin Blumer, previous Superintendent of Newton Public Schools, who presented
the Annual Blumer Book Awards. These
outstanding students are commended for their academic excellence and the myriad
of extra-curricular activities in which they are involved. They, along with
their teachers and parents, should be congratulated.
Miriam
Arbeit Newton
North High School
Eve
Rebekah Fine Newton
North High School
Hannah
Pepper-Cunningham Newton North
High School
Weiyi
Tan Newton
South High School
David
Tannewald Newton
South High School
There were no members of
the public who wished to address the Committee at this time.
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES’ DISCUSSION
None.
Betsy Posnick Waksman,
speech & language teacher at Newton North High School, and her
students: Jennifer Sullivan, Jessica
Thai, Anthony Rankin, Charles Estabrook, and Sarah White, who organized and
conducted a holiday toy drive for Children’s Hospital.
MOTION: It was moved to approve the School Committee
executive session meeting minutes of 1/13/03.
(Levine-
Kellogg)
unanimous
REPORTS
Jeff Young spoke of the
spending freeze, which was instituted two weeks ago, as a result of the projected
reductions in local aid. Tonight’s
report is a plan for saving $700,000 in the second half of this fiscal
year. Rather than stopping every purchase
order, they have made an attempt to spread the cuts around. However, this was a very difficult task
given that it came unanticipated in mid-year.
They had expected to spend the full budget, in order to meet the various
commitments that were made at the beginning of the year. It is hoped that the ultimate cuts from the
Governor will not be as drastic, so that they can return some of the funding to
these areas.
Mayor David Cohen
appreciates the work that the school system has done to share the burden of
these cuts with the City, as other municipal departments are going through a
similarly painful exercise. It is his
understanding that the Governor is likely to announce the specific percentage
of cuts this week. On one hand, he says
they will not be as deep as originally projected. At the same time, he states that some communities will be hit
harder than others. What is
particularly troubling is that any cuts in FY03 will only compound the problem
in FY04. The difficulty in cutting
mid-year is that commitments have already been made that cannot be abandoned,
which gives them less flexibility.
Ultimately the decision is based on what is left to cut and what is the
least detrimental.
Dori Zaleznik asked about
the impact of freezing out-of-state travel in terms of the upcoming principal
searches.
Jeff Young stated that in
his tenure in Newton, they have never had to go outside of New England for site
visits of candidates. However, if that
were to arise, he would have to take that into consideration and determine
whether it was important enough to find funding elsewhere.
Marc Laredo asked what is
incorporated in instructional materials.
Sandra Guryan, Assistant
Superintendent for Business, Finance & Planning, stated that this line item
is the largest and is the place where there is the most unspent balance. This account represents the per pupil
allocation of all of the 21 schools, as well as some centralized areas. It runs the gamut from paper, to art
supplies, to science lab resources, etc.
Marc Laredo asked if this
means a reduction in the materials teachers need to do their job in the
classroom.
Sandy Guryan stated that
the schools that do a majority of their purchasing at the beginning of the year
will be in a better position to handle this freeze. However, she believes that with the cooperation of all staff
sharing their resources, there should be enough left to provide appropriate
classroom materials. She will also
carefully monitor needs to see that no schools are overly burdened.
Nancy Levine questioned
the notion of freezing vacant custodial positions, which may result in spending
more money on overtime.
Michael Cronin, Chief of
Operations, admitted that 75% of the overtime budget has already been
expended. There are currently six open
positions and they were prepared to fill some of those when the budget freeze
went into effect.
Sandy Guryan stated that
in the earlier forecasts she had assumed those positions would be filled, but
that changed in the preparation of the budget freeze. She also
did not change the rate of
overtime, which would be impacted as a result of these unfilled positions.
Leslie Schneider asked where
the custodial shortages are most felt.
Mike Cronin responded that
the high schools take the biggest hit because they have the most staff, so that
is where they are often pulled to cover other schools. There is no doubt it is starting to take its
toll on the buildings. He is losing
productivity because he does not have sufficient staff to cover all the
“man-out” time.
Patty Kellogg asked about
the three secretarial positions.
Sandy Guryan replied that
they are all at the Education Center.
Two of the three positions are currently being covered by other
secretaries sharing resp0nsibilities for the remainder of the year, but she is
less certain about the third one.
Leslie Schneider asked
about the consultant account.
Sandy Guryan stated that
this account covers people who lead professional development workshops and
special education services for students with individualized educational plans
(IEPs). Rather than a total freeze,
they have cut some offerings that have yet to be contracted for the second half
of the year.
Jeff Young noted that they
did not freeze any of charter maintenance and expect to complete all scheduled
projects.
Anne
Larner thanked the administration for the tour of Newton South last week, which
provided them the opportunity to preview the new wing. The construction is very impressive. It was exciting to participate in the
technology demonstrations and get a look at some of the classes that are
already up and running.
Marc Laredo added that the
building is a testament to what this City can do when people come
together. This is going to be a
fabulous facility and he hopes that the end result for Newton North will be
equally first-rate.
Jeff Young asked about the
cafeteria.
Nicholas Parnell, Building
Commissioner, replied that the structural steel for the cafeteria is in place,
as well as the roof. They are beginning
winter protection so that they can construct the walls.
Jeff Young wanted to take
this opportunity to thank Heidi Black, Administrative Assistant, for her
oversight of this project. She is the
person who makes sure that these spaces are not just bricks and mortar, but
truly represent the needs of students and teachers. It is this blend of her educator’s perspective, along with Nick’s
architectural/construction background, which has yielded such good results.
Anne Larner agreed that
Heidi has been invaluable in this process.
She has reviewed various iterations of the project and picked up on
small mistakes and oversights that can make a big difference in the classroom.
Nancy Levine commented
that, as a teacher, she understands the importance of the small details. Her classroom was recently retrofitted with new
technology, but the LCD projector did not quite reach to the screen. Heidi’s oversight will prevent these type of
issues, so that the classrooms can run smoothly.
Patty Kellogg added that
Heidi obviously listened carefully to the teachers and staff, as they discussed
their needs in this project.
Heidi Black thanked the
Committee for their remarks. She
mentioned that Family & Consumer
Science, electronic music, and the Turnaround program have all moved into their
new space. The rest of the move is
scheduled for February vacation. She
agreed that it is very exciting to see the students and teachers using the
technology.
Mike Cronin talked about
the chemical management team that is working on indoor air quality. One of the recommendations of the group is
to reduce/eliminate some of the chemicals currently being used in municipal
buildings. In place of items such as
Raid, Windex, Fantastic, etc., alternative mint oil based products will be
substituted, which are effective but do not contain the toxic solvents and
repellents. In the science areas, they
have talked with department heads about increasing inventory turnover, so that
products are not remaining in the schools beyond their shelf life, thereby
reducing exposure to chemical breakdown and less disposal costs. In the heating/ventilation &
air-condition (HVAC) systems, a systemwide maintenance project occurred this
past summer, with the goal of reducing the number of calls on this issue. They have already seen a reduction in the
number of calls regarding climate control, even with the cold winter. In addition, they replaced the univents with
a pleated filter that filters out an additional three times the square inch of
the surface area of material, thereby providing better air quality. While this may cost a bit more
up-front, it will pay out
in the long run.
Anne Larner asked if they
had experienced any frozen pipes this year.
Mike Cronin responded that
Franklin Elementary School and Newton North High School recently had burst
pipes. Other than those two, they have
been very fortunate this year. Because
the buildings are so old, they are not well insulated. Therefore, they have taken some preventative
measures, such as keeping the heat on day control during very cold
periods.
Nancy Levine asked if the
burst pipe at Newton North accounted for the cold temperature in the building
last week or if it had to do with the chiller units.
Mike Cronin explained that
the cold temperature at Newton North was a result of a technician working on
the computer controls who set the water temperature too low for the weather
they were experiencing.
Jeff Young stated that
literacy is the main academic initiative that the system has been focusing on
over the past few years. Deficiencies in
this area must be addressed for students to succeed in any other subject.
Carolyn Wyatt, Assistant
Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction, is pleased to be able to bring
this progress report to the Committee, much of which was accomplished through
the support of the Superintendent’s Keeping
Pace budget. This initiative is
part of a longer plan that actually began with the K-12 revision of the
English/Language Arts curriculum, where some issues were unearthed in the first
implementation of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam
in 1998. Their work is also tied to the
focus on challenge, in their effort to identify individual performance as an
outcome of standards-based education.
Greg Hurray, K-8 English
Language Arts Coordinator, introduced the panel and gave an overview of what
will be presented this evening. A year
ago they submitted a summary of the K-12 review committee’s report which
outlined their goals: 1.) adopt a
systemwide approach to reading; 2. hire a full-time literacy specialist in each
school; 3. train all staff in differentiating instruction; 4. fund the purchase
of books and materials; 5. address programmatic gaps.
In terms of the success of these goals, they have in place a K-8
consistent approach to reading and full-time literacy specialists in each
elementary school. The specialists
helped him analyze the MCAS data for grades 3 and 4, by taking the exam
themselves and then preparing a detailed analysis of every question. This analysis is actually far more
sophisticated than anything that the State has provided. The specialists then used this data to
analyze the effectiveness of programs in their buildings. Staff are being trained in use of
assessments to differentiate instruction.
For a number of reasons, they had stopped teaching reading beyond third
grade, where it had become more of a literature study program. They have now made it an expectation that
reading instruction will occur in all grades.
Last year they identified 20% of students as not reading at
proficient level, although
the statistics are slightly better this year.
When he began in this position, there was very little consistent data on
student performance, so they instituted a data collection system that allows
them to identify any child below benchmark, as well as a monitoring program to
track progress of every child in relation to the State standards. Finally, they have instituted a three-year
implementation for balanced literacy, which includes a great deal of
professional development. This is the
first year that they have offered school-based training led by the principal,
as the instructional leader, and supported by the literacy specialist.
In terms of the assessment
of the success of the initiative, aside from the obvious resurgence of a
passion for books and reading that is evident in the schools, concrete changes
in the way children’s progress is documented should be evident. The systemwide improvement of reporting
procedures is resulting in different assessment instruments. Reports will be clearer in identifying a
child’s progress relative to the standards.
While it is still premature, they do anticipate improvement in MCAS
scores, with a gradual but steady reduction in the number of students in the needs improvement and warning categories. There should be a reduction in the number of
referrals for special education reading services. They should also see a diminishing performance gap between
students of color and the general population.
Lisa Robinson, K-3 Early
Childhood Coordinator, is very excited to have come on board during this
balanced literacy initiative. She
outlined some of the accomplishments they have been able to achieve in
kindergarten and first grade. The
full-day kindergarten grant enabled them to provide intensive professional
development for teachers for the past two years. They have been trained to use diagnostic assessments to inform
their instruction and monitor progress in the classroom. The grant has also allowed them to add
phonics instruction in kindergarten, as research shows that it is an important
component to developing good readers.
Vivian Swoboda, Principal
of Lincoln-Eliot Elementary School, gave a Power Point presentation about the
evolution and success of the literacy pilot program at her school. Their
population is quite diverse. Before the
initiative was put in place, students in a particular grade were all reading
from the same book, despite the fact that it was not appropriate for
everyone. Literacy scores were not
where they should have been and staff constantly discussed ways to motive
children.
In reviewing and
researching various literacy models, they chose Tuft University’s Learn to Read by Reading. The concept is actually quite simple –
students learn to read by practicing, just as in any other endeavor and this is
interwoven throughout their school day, as well as at home. Each student has a
log and sets goals and all
staff that come in contact with that child throughout the day can review that
journal. The key to grabbing their
interest in a book is
making it an appropriate
selection. All of their reading
material is centralized and catalogued by levels, so that teachers can easily
choose materials appropriate for every child.
One of the major and most
successful changes in the program is the teaching of phonics K-5, because there
are skills that need to be taught and practiced throughout the elementary
years. Research indicates that students
below grade level in reading at the end of first grade will carry that gap
throughout their career. While they
will progress, they never quite catch up to where they should be if they are
behind in that point. This is why they
have focussed on kindergarten and first grade, to make sure students are at
benchmark at this critical point. Least
the Committee think this work is dull, on the contrary, students are enjoying learning
to read because it is done in a developmentally appropriate manner, with the
use of puppets and props and other methods that are fun.
There are other components
to the literacy program, such as Read-Aloud, where staff and visiting readers
will read aloud to children. There is
also the Guided Reading element, where students work in small groups for a
short period of time on specific skills rather than grouped by ability for
longer periods, as was done in the past.
Students were asked to read over the summer for 1/2 hour a day. At one time this may have been treated with
some skepticism, but most are quite enthusiastic about the notion. They have invited poets and storytellers to
the school to add to the program. There
is also a Safety Net component, where the Primary Intervention Reading Program
(PIRP) and Title 1 aides are utilized to intervene with at-risk 1st
grade students with one-on-one instruction.
Finally, she spoke of the Retrieval, Automaticity, Vocabulary,
Elaboration-Orthography (RAVE-O) program, a comprehensive, fluency-based reading
intervention program designed by Tufts University for the most struggling readers. There are always going to be students who,
despite everything that is done for them with balanced literacy, are still
going to need more assistance. This
involves Tufts staff coming to Lincoln-Eliot to provide additional
instruction.
Since the inception of the
literacy initiative, there is a much more integrated approach. Years ago the services were very fragmented,
but this is no longer the case. The
speech & language therapist works in the classroom rather than pulling students
out for services, which not only helps the particular students who require the
services as part of their IEP, but also benefits everyone in the classroom with
language development, word retrieval and organizational skills.
This year they are
focusing on how writing connects to the reading. One example is their work on poetry for Martin Luther King Day. They are also integrating the literacy
initiative into other curriculum areas.
There is a lot of language and
reading in the 5th
grade Connected Math program. Third
grade students wrote poetry about trees as part of their science unit.
Teachers are now feeling
that they are improved instructors because they know their students better as a
result of the new data and assessment tools.
Morale has increased tremendously and there is a real sense of pride in
the work that is occurring. They no
longer need to have conversations about how to motive children. Parents are also more involved. There is a family resource room, where
parents can review materials and learn about the initiative. In order for students to achieve, it has to
be a joint school/family endeavor.
Deana Lew, Literacy
Specialist at Lincoln Elementary School, discussed the work she has been doing
this year. She spends approximately 50%
of her time collaborating with teachers around lesson plans that focus on independent
reading, guided reading, and writing workshops. The 4th grade MCAS includes a writing component, which
was a struggle for many students, so they will be focusing on this in an
integrated approach, as a unit of study in the writing workshop. Rather than making it a separate item, it
will be infused with skills and strategies that will help students in all of
their writing. She has also been doing
a great deal of data collection this year to track student progress using the
Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) and the Qualitative Reading Inventory
(QRI). They have set up a database
where teachers can enter student information online directly into the
network. Another important part of her
job is in supporting the fragile readers, so she is heavily involved in the
Safety Net program, in the earlier grades.
She will soon be focusing on the upper grades in a similar program
called Soar to Success. Another key
aspect of the job is communication with parents. She will be conducting a literacy information session in the
parent resource room next month. She
does a lot of one-on-one consultation with teachers and has worked in
conjunction with the Tufts consultants.
In terms of the specific
data collection, the 3rd grade MCAS reading scores have improved
significantly between 2001 and 2002 and in 2002 the scores were higher than
both district and state averages. While
the numbers in grade 4 do not look as good, she feels it is difficult to make
judgements this early on because of the particular makeup of the classes. However, they will be targeting the areas of
concern this year. In The DRA and QRI
scores for the last three years, the number of students below benchmark has
declined from 39% in 2000, to 28% in 2001, to 19% in 2002. She hopes to be back next year with even
better progress.
Gail Glick thanked the
group for a very impressive and thorough presentation. In terms of parent involvement, she asked
how they are brought into the process, because reinforcement and support from
home is so important. She also asked if
all the schools are using their PIRP aides in a similar manner as
Lincoln-Eliot.
Lisa Robinson stated that
the use of PIRP aides to work with struggling readers at Lincoln-Eliot is not
necessarily how they are used systemwide.
Carolyn Wyatt added that
they are looking at the most effective use of staff for reading intervention,
with the idea that some modifications will be made. It is an evolving process and they will have more to report at a
later date.
Viv Swoboda gave an
example of how parents are involved in the program. Each grade level invites parents into the classroom to
participate in an actual lesson, so that they can experience firsthand the
balanced literacy program.
Greg Hurray stated that
there is a definite connection between the amount of reading children do and
their progress as readers. There is a
K-8 systemwide expectation that there will be reading at home every night, with
some type of log or accountability process by the teachers.
Susan Albright asked if
the MCAS standard is something that they embrace.
Greg Hurray replied that
the MCAS standard is very high and challenging. He believes it is one that every student, with the possible exception
of a few severely disabled children, can accomplish and this is their
target. However, the test tells them
more about children who are proficient than those who are not, because there
are so many reasons that a child could fail to demonstrate proficiency on one
test. In addition, it can be considered
an endurance exam because of the length of the passages. While there are some problems with the MCAS
exam itself, in general he feels it is a good product.
Susan Albright asked if
the other schools are doing similar things as Lincoln-Eliot.
Greg Hurray responded that
they are replicating this work at all the other schools, but in ways that are
appropriate for the particular buildings.
Schools are at different places and Lincoln-Eliot is certainly ahead of
the pack. However, everyone is on board
with the three-year plan and the enthusiasm is contagious.
Leslie Schneider asked if
they could elaborate on the relationship between the reading and writing
programs.
Greg Hurray stated that
they made a conscious decision to focus first on reading, but not to ignore
writing. They have a clear notion of
what a good writing program should consist of – practice, a process approach,
high expectations, explicit teaching of strategies, an emphasis on individual
student authorship, and revising/editing.
They have run a number of workshops to make these expectations explicit,
but they need a great deal more work in this area. Looking at the core writing program is part of the three-year
plan.
Carolyn Wyatt reminded
people that they are working on parallel tracks of program improvement and
professional development, which are not always even.
Their goal will be the
blending of the two so that they have a solid overall program.
Leslie Schneider asked about
the Bowen Elementary School literacy center.
Carolyn Wyatt stated that
while Bowen was not one of the original pilot programs, through the support of
the Newton Schools Foundation they have developed a literacy center, which is a
prototype for their work around early intervention and support for students at
risk. There is a morning support and
homework assistance component to the program.
Each school is becoming a forerunner in some aspect of the literacy
program and these models can be adapted and shared with other schools.
Marc Laredo asked about
the role of the librarian in the literacy program.
Viv Swoboda stated that at Lincoln-Eliot the
library has become much more of a focus, as students check out more books and
utilize the resources independently, as well as with the class. The librarian recently attended a workshop
with other staff on “What is New in Children’s Literature.” Ideally, they would have liked to have had
their central book resource room located in the library, but due to limited
space, this was not possible.
Deana Lew added that not
only are more students utilizing the library, but parents are as well. Children are interested in reading in a way
that they had never been before and they want to involve their families.
Dori Zaleznik asked about
the challenges of putting a similar program in place in some of the larger
schools.
Greg Hurray admitted that
there are challenges associated with the allocation of resources in terms of
the assignment of literacy specialists between the smaller and larger
schools. It is easier to work in a
small community. In the larger schools,
the specialists have more responsibilities in terms of testing and paperwork
associated with special education (SPED) referrals. They are looking at ways to ameliorate this problem.
Dori
Zaleznik asked why the literacy
specialists do SPED referrals.
Greg
Hurray stated that there was an understanding that the former English
specialists would do the majority of the referral evaluations through 3rd
grade and the literacy specialists would pick up grades 4 and 5. They are reviewing this now because do not
feel this is the best use of the literacy specialists’ time, particularly at
the larger schools. There has been
consideration given to sharing of responsibilities, but they still believe in
the importance of having one specialist per building.
Carolyn
Wyatt added that they have been working closely with the SPED staff to consider
ways to best utilize staff, resources, and effort. One option might be the use of Title 1 staff in different ways,
but it takes time to develop an appropriate plan that will best meet the needs
of students.
Patty
Kellogg asked what happens to the data once a child moves on to high
school. She also asked if the libraries
include books for the upper grade levels.
Lisa
Robinson replied that the data follows the students through the elementary
grades, but they have yet to determine how that will be passed to the middle
schools. It is a very important
transition, so that middle school teachers will have as much information as
possible to help them prepare their programs.
The database should be helpful in this regard.
Greg
Hurray added that the data is always available to parents and is used to inform
classroom instruction and monitor the program.
However, historically they have
shredded the material that is not necessary to keep at the end of the process.
Deana
Lew answered the question regarding book levels. While there are very challenging works included in the materials,
there is a fine balance that must be struck in terms of ability to read material
as well as comprehension.
Lisa
Robinson added that they also have to be careful in terms of subject matter.
Anne
Larner thanked the group for a very substantive presentation and
discussion. They have watched this
program grow from its infancy and hearing about the progress is very
encouraging.
Jeff
Young added that it is a nice change of pace to talk about program and
curriculum vs. budgets and finances.
VOTE TO ACCEPT DONATIONS
MOTION: It was
moved to accept the monetary donation
from David
Lurie & Susan Winkler, for books for
Day Middle
School’s library.
(Zaleznik – Schneider)
unanimous
COMMUNICATIONS
Dori
Zaleznik noted that she did not draft the letter to the legislators regarding
granting the Governor new budget powers, as discussed at the last meeting,
because the vote occurred the following day.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There
were no members of the public who wished to address the Committee at this time.
ADJOURNMENT
The
meeting was adjourned at 10:20 p.m.