January 15, 2020 – Minutes

• Approval of minutes from last meeting
  • Approved
• Update on CSIP goals and Land Trust/TSSA spending
  • See data below
  • Seeing growth on the SRI and SMI
  • Grades
    • Need to watch as the semester ends as grades are rising and falling with last minute assignments/assessments being completed
  • Discipline
    • Baseline data is not accurate given the office referral decision was not used until 2nd semester
    • Reviewed total office discipline referrals (ODRs), reasons for ODRs and examples of restorative justice
    • Overall major offenses (i.e. fighting) is low
    • SCC would like to see total number of students who have been referred for an ODR
• Amendment to TSSA money approval
  • Thanks for approving to send people to AVID summer institute
  • Talked about study skills class
• Discussion of honors class offering
  • Question coming up due to district considering of eliminating the honor classes but continuing the honor distinguish if greater depth of thinking is shown
  • Question is coming up due to scheduling concerns with students then being tracked throughout the day and in all classes
    • Without stand-alone honors classes, tracking will be minimized
    • Q: How many students are accessing honor classes?
    • A: ≈ 60 per grade
    • Talked about how in math, the difference in honors and non-honor courses is that honor students an extra challenge course
    • Q: Will honors be out of school time?
    • A: We will try to have extra opportunities during Patriot Time (PT)
    • Q: Is honors distinguish opt-in or teacher chosen
    • A: Opt-in
    • Talked about concern for students with faster processing skills losing out on PT privileges, not having a challenging class during the day
    • Ms. Kurtzhals talked about how students are tracked by neighborhoods and the culture of learning in honor vs. regular classes is different
    • The question was raised about how students who are not “honor students” but good students, is their education impacted by the tracking?
    • The concern was raised about a student being tracked with a student with behavior concerns all three years
    • Ms. Davis brought up the value of AVID and how having a student who “gets-it” can help all students
    • Ms. Kurtzhals talked about intentional grouping and overall discussion in classes could be boosted
    • Q: What other schools are doing this and what is their perspective
    • A: Only Albion has tried it in 6th grade
    • Concern about students who process quicker having so many other outside activities and one more thing outside of class time
    • Q: Is infrastructure in place for honors distinguish?
    • A: Technology is in place, teachers will need planning time in summer
    • Discussion about Battle of the Books being tied to honors ELA
    • Want to ensure ratio of students is intentionally considered
    • Expressed thoughts about why parents want honors, because learning is not slowed due to behavior
    • Expressed thoughts about how students with behavior concerns do better when surrounded by peers who model appropriate school behavior
    • Talked about how classes change at semester. This helps with students being tracked together.
    • Q: Should we just start with 6th grade?
    • As a SCC we need to consider the well-being of ALL. What would benefit ALL and the whole? Moving away from honors seems to benefit the whole.
    • Need to provide training on differentiation.
    • That is why teachers want to do all grades so they can work together.
    • If by chance a class has a higher needs, please add a para-educator
    • Ms. Kurtzhals talked about Eastmont teachers are motivated to have good small group instruction
    • Honors distinguish cannot be “more work” but deeper
    • Q: How will Honors Distinguish be given?
    • A: Will go back and change transcript.
    • Q: What does that effect?
    • A: Little to nothing
    • We are trying to move in concert with Mount Jordan on this decision
    • Discussion about SALTA
    • Do need to consider marketing of Eastmont to draw in students
    • Opinion: there is the option of SALTA, for a small niche of students, then we have Honors which attracts a similar group, what are we doing for the masses?
    • As long as we have the supports in place to support ALL students and ALL teachers can teach ALL students
    • Keep an eye on behavior fatigue
    • Would earning the “H” distinguish outside of class, would the numbers get smaller because takes a certain personality…would like to have supports to ensure all can participate
    • Feel removing honors can really raise the standards for ALL students
    • Differentiation is already happening in most classes specifically Social Studies and Science
    • Need to remember, will still have some tracking
  • No motion, just gathering information. Each school can make the decision.

Feedback on honors class offering:

• Opinion: The honors classes are a perfect fit for my student. SALTA was too fast, neighborhood is too slow. This is a nice in between to keep him engaged and challenged.
• With our declining enrollment, it will make scheduling classes for all students easier if they have classes that are only available one period a day (such as band).
• How many students does this impact?
  • It actually impacts all students. Most of our electives are single classes which makes them not able to get their choices.
• Students currently get tracked with the same group of students all day because there are only so many classes available for them. This change will allow more student interactions.
• Having familiar faces in my student’s classes has made the transition to a new school easier. Going through the day with a friend in every class has been great for him (he and another student have the exact same schedule.) When we look at rosters of these classes, unfortunately when looking at boundary students, this tracks them into having only students who live near them in the classes. It is very divided by feeder elementary schools with the exception of our students who are permitted in.
• Students in honors classes currently aren’t doing a different curriculum or different standards in their classes. The thing that distinguishes honors is additional deeper thinking, or additional items to complete.
• This is a nice in between for kids that aren’t quite a good fit for SALTA and ahead of their peers in neighborhood classes. Again, using my student as an example, he would die of boredom in the neighborhood math class. The teachers feel the opposite, they think that all classes would have the opportunity to go deeper in their discussions and it would create equity in learning.
• Students still have the opportunity (in math) to test after 6th grade to do an advanced placement into a higher math level.
• Would opportunities for ELA and science be developed as well?
  • This is something developed by the district, I am not sure where they are headed in other subject areas. What we would like to do with our students is create opportunities to achieve the honors certification. Math has determined they would like to provide 3 options. 1) having the students complete the “are you ready for more?” problems independently, have students participate in Math Counts, or have students attend a Patriot Time with extended problems one time per week.
• SALTA is available for all students
• SALTA is a good fit for a gifted learner, but not necessarily an accelerated learner. The Honors classes invite deeper thinking for accelerated learners.
• With students spread to different classes, learning in all classrooms will have the ability to go deeper in conversations.
• With test scores where they are for ELA and math, are classrooms going to have the capacity to go deeper into conversations or are they going to be focused on meeting benchmark standards?* The deeper conversations and rigor that can be shared with all students can make students more easily meet the benchmark standards.
• Students with classroom behaviors will be spread out rather than all in the same classes.
• How many students does this impact? It currently impacts all students. There are behavioral issues in both honors and regular classrooms that we currently cannot spread out throughout the day. Here is what have heard from our teachers as cons for Eastmont:
• Students will have different learning styles and speeds necessary for the classes.
• *this goes back to my asterisk above
• Students with classroom behaviors will be spread out rather than all in the same classes.
• This feels exhausting for teachers. They think it will lessen the behaviors they are seeing which will make teaching easier. They have requested planning time for preparation during the summer.
• I agree with the districts consideration of removing standalone honors classes. Other options (such as SALTA and the ability to get honors recognition) are available for students who want that. All of the items on the pro list are reason enough for me. I do not see students with classroom behaviors being spread out rather than all in the same classes as a con! Those who have students in an honors class may see it as a con but the majority of students are NOT in honors classes and the behavior kids are affecting their ability to learn. If they can be spread out everyone shares the burden equally. Those are my thoughts.
• I understand both pros and cons. Truly my only concern is what happens at the high school level. Will there still be honors classes at JHS and other high schools? If so, will Eastmont students who want to take honors courses be prepared for high school? Currently, honors is opt in, with that we have students who are not truly honors students in the class and vice versa. In the high school, they are currently requiring all students who do not have honors classes in 8th grade take double math periods ( A and B days). Should we approve this change, they will look at test scores rather than previous class schedule to make these determinations. Also, what would honors recognition look like and what would be required? Honors recognition in math would provide students with 3 options. 1) having the students complete the “are you ready for more?” problems independently, have students participate in Math Counts, or have students attend a Patriot Time with extended problems one time per week. English is meeting Friday to determine what they would have students do. I believe it will include but not be limited to what currently extends ELA. Battle of the Books and Additional book reports. When would students do honors type assignments, during school or on their own time? They would be provided opportunity to complete them in Patriot Time. I worry that many of our advanced students will opt out simply because there may not time to complete “deeper learning” assignments since most are already so busy after school. Will Eastmont enrollment continue to drop as parents pull their advanced kids and put them at SALTA schools? Students have to test into SALTA. Our enrollment will continue to drop regardless according to district predictions.
• I think the way honors classes are done now, with no major curriculum difference, doesn’t make much sense. My daughter has been in honors math for 6th and 7th grade and I don’t see any difference in her learning versus kids in the regular classes. This being the case I don’t see a problem with dropping the honors designation. One concern is if a student is moving to a different school, would the fact that they don’t have the honors designation exclude them from advanced opportunities? Within the district, honors is opt in. Out of the district, with testing scores any student should be able to have the option.
• School Safe Walking Route plan
  • Please see 2020-21 SNAP Plan
• Counseling Advisory Committee
  • Digger Fair
  • Completing CCRs
  • 5th grade orientation coming up in February
• Other:
  • AVID will be doing a Culture Diversity Night
  • Hoping to have 40 cultures represented
  • Running into situation where students do not know heritage
  • If don’t know, encouraging to pick a culture they are interested in
  • Since need commercially prepared food…maybe have ethnically diverse food-trucks
  • Some SCC members took a tour of recent building updates

CSIP Goals Update:

• Goals: Reading Inventory growth of 15% proficiency from Fall Data. Math Inventory growth of 15% proficiency from Fall Data.
• The testing window is not yet complete. This is where we sit currently.
• Additional testing may change overall percentages.

• Goal: 80% of student on track using Early Warning Systems D’s and F’s trackers.
  • At the end of term 1, 78% of students are on track.
  • Term 2 data (as of 01/13/20), 56% of students are on track
• Goal: reduce office discipline moderate/major incidents by 10% and reduce suspensions by 10%.
  • Baseline: 236 office referrals, 37 out of school suspensions, 70 in school suspensions
  • Baseline: Term 1 data, 105 office disciplinary referrals, 14 out of school suspensions and 9 in school suspension. Term 2 data (as of 01/13/2020), 206 office disciplinary referrals, 16 out of school suspensions and 18 in school suspensions

Land Trust Spending Update:

TSSA Spending Update: