Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Meeting at Liberty Science Center


Met with Mr. Ed Barry from the Liberty Science Center (LSC) to discuss involvement of the LSC with district science curriculum as well as professional development opportunities. A very productive meeting and I feel a great asset to leverage for the benefit of the district.

Since 1998, Liberty Science Center and the New Jersey Department of Education, has undertaken one of the most unique and extensive science education projects found anywhere in the nation. Through yearly funding from the New Jersey State government, Liberty Science Center provides students, teachers and families from New Jersey's 31 Abbott school districts with a menu of onsite, offsite and online programs that address the science education needs of these traditionally under-served communities.

Liberty Science Center also provides high-quality professional development for science teachers at all grade levels. Offered in the Jennifer A. Chalsty Center for Science Learning and Teaching, our programs focus on both content and methodology, helping teachers find ways to inspire their students through meaningful science learning.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Curricular Activities December 10-15


Connors visit- A quick visit to Connors where I mainly meet on curriculum and observed students doing the John Hopkins program with Ms. Hillebrand. My idea of Honors may include interaction with online learning individualized learning but is not exclusive to that idea. We need to explore this in more depth soon. Key points I see are 1) should Hopkins be resident in one school? and 2) what is a viable curriculum/pedagogy for these students?

Much curriculum work done in terms of organization. trying to figure out a calendar and time line for things to occur. Also, receiving applications for teachers wanting to participate.

Meeting with 2 concerned parents about their child. The parents were very clear on their expectations for their child and their expectations of the school/district. Seems as if they want more computers/technology for their child as well as a more challenging curriculum in some areas. I think it is through parents voices such as these that we see what the community is expecting from the public schools. Meeting with parents and students in comfortable settings is very productive in getting a handle on wants, needs, and desires of the educational system. This is true all over the country as it is so in Hoboken. A goal for the district: How do we map out a trajectory that takes us from good to excellent?

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Tools of the Mind



Tools For the Mind- Meeting with members from Rutgers University at Brandt School on a PK-K curriculum entitled TOOLS FOR THE MIND. Based on Vygotsgy and the idea of sociocultural perspective on learning. This sounds exciting and I think very promising. The turnout was moderate/good (about 10 teachers) but I liked what I saw and Jessica Peters was impressed as well (she suggested the program). It will take a rethinking to some degree on the part of the professional staff but I think this perspective is very consistent with where I want to go with curriculum development efforts in the district in general. The emphasis on reflective thought is really critical. I was most impressed with the research on this program (one article from American Education Research Journal and another from Science; two top tier research journals) and slightly disappointed that this research was really underplayed during the presentation. In part I think this has to do with the uncomfortable relationship between academic research and what is considered to be "useful" information by practioners (teachers). Amy Hornbeck (Tools of the Mind)

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

NY Times Story on Abbott Funding


Most of the morning and early afternoon was spent with a reporter from the NY Times, Winnie Hu, on some of the unique aspects of the Hoboken School District and the larger issues of Abbott School funding. Student performance on state testing was also discussed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/nyregion/12jersey.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=hoboken+%2B+abbott&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Curricular Activities December 3-7


There seems to be a fair amount of testing that the students take (district generated) that is potentially a valuable resource provided this data is scored, analyzed and utilized in curriculum decision making. Essentially, it is a lost opportunity right now as this is not being done. Again, much of the conversation centered on what is NOT being taught in the grammar schools (specifically grades 7-8) which makes me even more convinced for the need of some type of vertical alignment of the curriculum with the content. I would like to meet with the entire department.

• Meeting with Paula Ohaus on the need for Arts/Music curriculum in the district. A very productive meeting that took place in the library.

• Curriculum committee posting went up this week. I'm hoping for a good turnout.

• Friday- Meeting at Connor's in which I observed the G and T program at work in some detail. Also, extended discussions with Kate Dominique on curriculum/IB/Professional development issues within the district. Overall, a very productive morning.

School Visits

Hoboken High School (3 times)
Wallace
Calabro
Connors (Friday)

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Mid November Curricular Related Activities

The following activities took place concerning curriculum in the district:

Had a curriculum meeting in the morning concerning issues around number of participants on the curriculum committee and how this will be set up. I think we really need to look at vertical alignment in addition to the horizontal components of curriculum development.

Susan Imorz also came to the district today and she met with Paula Ohouse at the HHS in addition to the librarian. The hope is that there might be a way to get Susan involved with the District and share some of her expertise. Susan is a graduate of the Media lab at MIT and has done extensive work with book and web site development. Most notably, she is a key member of the Ralph Waldo Emerson development team that works on the national web site.

- Meeting with the principals in the AM. Productive meeting overall and one in which I think we made some establishment of what is to come with the curriculum writing process.

-Attended Connor’s Vetern Day’s celebration. This was a really fascinating event in which the most valuable aspect for me was attending the pre-assembly juice and donuts meeting in the library. To sit alongside these many old time Hoboken veterans was really an honor and a privilage and fascinating in many ways. The stories are all amazing. For me, it’s a way of kind of seeing my uncles, all dead now, who served in many of these wars. The celebration/assembly itself was public school education at it’s best. Ms Erbe does assembly’s very well and this was really wonderful. Many city politicians were there including the mayor. It was a memorable event in a full packed day.

Attended Wallace Open House in the AM. Very well done and you get a real sense of how popular Wallace is for pre-school education in Hoboken. The room was completely full (standing room) and this was the second day (the first day was much of the same). Mr. Tortorella and his parent group did a great job of welcoming everyone and telling the parents what they want/need to hear to make an informed decision about where to send their children.

Also, had a Title I meeting follow-up which went well. I think this will be fine. Probably not too much attention that the Superintendent actually saved the district over 2million dollars with our trip to Trenton last week. This stuff goes un-noticed.


Meeting with Jennifer Lopez on Reading first and NCLB- some interesting data to look at at some point.

- Meeting about QSAC and the corrective action plan.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

High School English Department Meeting

Meeting with the Hoboken High School English Department at their semi weekly department meeting. In part to see what types of discussions they are having around the curriculum. The meeting was well organized and on topic. The English department seems to be made up of a number of young and dynamic faculty members who seem very engaged in their content area. It is clear the faculty are excited by the books, stories, and poems students are asked to read and discuss. There is concern however over the students abilities to write. This seems to be a very key issue and one that clearly needs to be revisited. I'm hoping we can tap some of this expertise for the curriculum committee. One thing that really needs to be addressed is the expectations of what an incoming 9th grader needs to know and how k-8 and secondary can be comfortable with the outcome of that discussion.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Curricular Activities October 29-Nov 3, 2007

Meetings

• Tuesday Meeting with David Baily concerning technology in the district. Topics centered on file servers, servicing teachers, tech staff, and supporting Dr. Cella’s efforts at the high school.

• Tuesday Early Childhood Meeting at the high school. Spoke about curriculum as part of the meeting.

• Tuesday QSAC Meeting- Meeting to go over each of the sections’s. Today we only got through 2 of them as it took longer than expected in terms of the details.

• Wednesday October 31- There was a Demarest picnic on Halloween that was really very nicely done. The parking lot was full and students were really well behaved. It’s very obvious that there is a strong sense of community that is being developed there and it’s noteworthy.

• Wednesday October 31- Meeting with Kate Dominique about the IB program which was very productive.

• Thursday November 1- QSAC report was presented in which we got together with the entire DPR group.

• Friday November 2- Meeting with Jennifer Lopez and some Reading First/literacy consultants about the district and what needs to be done. They will be here for a few weeks and provide the district with some meaningful feedback. This is a mandated part of the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) funding.

• Friday November 2- Meeting with a researcher at NYU about the IB program

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Curricula Activities/Narrative 10/13-21


The following were curricula related activities that took place during the week of October 13-21, 2007.

Meetings
• Thursday: Lunch meeting with Ricki Goldman (NYU), Susan Imotoz (tech consultant) and Superintendent. Roughly 1 hour with discussions centering on the school system and possibilities of supporting some efforts to that end within the District.
• Meeting with Jennifer Lopez (NCLB) on technology training
• Meeting with Wiley Associates on Wednesday at their world coporate offices in Hoboken. Very positive meeting, professional. Optimistic of a productive long term relationship with Wiley in terms of their Reading program and their intern commitment.

School Visits
• Thursday: Visited Conners School with Dr. Ricki Goldman and Dr Susan Imotz getting sense of technology and classes for possible research and/or work within the district.
• Thursday: Visited Calabro School with Dr. Ricki Goldman and Dr Susan Imotz getting sense of technology and classes for possible research and/or work within the district.
• Wednesday: Extensive visit at the High School visiting classes in science, mathematics, IB, French, and English including a visit with the librarian. Very encouraging.

Other Visits
• Visited Jersey City Board of Education and met with 1) , 2), and 3) Paula Spagnoletti/Christian. Topics included data, technology, QSAC, Table of Organization and general Jersey City/Hoboken chatter. Very professional and informative meeting. I was very pleased with the materials I was given, the information I obtained and the contacts that I feel we have established. Jersey City is interested in developing an IB program and so we may be able to assist them in some aspects of that process.


NARRATIVE
One of the highlights of the week was the visit to Conners and Calabro by Ricki Goldman and Susan Imotz. They were really impressed with Conner’s School. It was both eye opening and inspiring to see the school through their eyes. They were impressed with the energy of the teachers, with the organization of the classrooms, with the pictures that were created by the students. Calabro was equally impressive with visits to the new facilities as well as nice conversations with Principal Palumbo and numerous faculty members. Afterward we discussed possible means of collaboration. It’ll be interesting to see if we can set something up in the district.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Curricula Related Activities/Narrative (October 8-12)


School Visits
• Brief visits (<1 hour) at Hoboken High School, Wallace and Conner’s school. Mostly pass through visits but getting a sense of what is needed for beginning the more formal process of classroom observations. Feel as if I’m at a good point to begin in earnest with some ideas.


Activities

• On Tuesday October 9 I spoke at Harvard’s College of Education. I was the guest of Dr. Barry Fishman and spoke about technology and math and science education. Also made special note of my activities with the Hoboken School District and there was great interest by the faculty and students. Perhaps a follow-up visit later in the semester.

• On Saturday night (October 6) I went to Rutgers to visit with Dr. Rick Duschl. Rick is a Rutgers faculty member in science education and has recently finished a report by the National Research Council entitled “Taking Science to School”. This looks at k-8 science education curriculum. Rick expressed interest in coming to Hoboken for a visit and possibly talking to our faculty/staff. This may be very important as curriculum issues begin in full stride after QSAC. Rick also talked about the Liberty Science Center and how the district might partner with them. He was interested in how their professional development is working.

• On the same night I also met up with Dr. Drew Gitomer. Drew is with ETS and I have known Drew for over a decade. He is very interested in the involvement with Hoboken School District as well and I believe he may be a great resource for us. He is a learning scientist researcher, colleague of Rick Duschl and Jim Pellegrino and served on the Board of Education in his home town for 2 full terms. He has a very interesting perspective about reform and student high stake testing..

• Meeting with Susan Imlolz (MIT/National Geographic) concerning technology in the district. "S. Imholz"

NARRATIVE

This week was spent on QSAC in a meaningful way. I think we’re making some excellent progress on that front. It was also spent setting up some possibilities for the near future.. Feeling like I’m making some conceptual progress with curriculum efforts. This includes issues of representation/charts; frameworks, and how to make the process consistent with QSAC criteria which we will no doubt need to do follow-ups with for a couple of 6 month cycles. Also made some progress on getting official certification with the State of New Jersey.


Some frustration is setting which I can’t put an exact finger on but I think it’s related to a general inefficiency in many aspects of the operations side of the district. Part of it is working within a system that I personally still don’t know well yet so in fact, I may be the one working inefficiently.

We are now building up some potential experts in and around the district that can be of use to us for advice, consultation both formal and informal. We need to figure out some sort of mechanism to do this if we choose to utilize them. There’s Jay Pfaffman with technology/open source at the University of Tennessee; Rick Duschl with museum learning and science K-8 at Rutgers; Ricki Goldman with video technology at NYU; Drew Gitomer with high stakes testing/ETS and Barry Fishman at Harvard with his connection with the Union City reform effort and systemic reform.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Curricula related Activities (Oct 8-12)


School Visits
• Brief visits (<1 hour) at Hoboken High School, Wallace and Conner’s school. Mostly pass through visits but getting a sense of what is needed for beginning the more formal process of classroom observations. Feel as if I’m at a good point to begin in earnest with some ideas.


Activities
• Attended Columbus Day activities at Columbus Park- this was a nice turnout and the weather, while windy, at least wasn’t rainy as it was earlier in the AM. Columbus and his role in US/World history has been a source of interesting curriculum discourse.

• On Tuesday October 9 I spoke at Harvard’s college of Education. I was the guest of Dr. Barry Fishman and spoke about technology and math and science education. Also made special note of my activities with the Hoboken School District and there was great interest by the faculty and students. Perhaps a follow-up visit later in the semester.

• On Saturday night (October 6) I went to Rutgers to visit with Dr. Rick Duschl. Rick is a Rutgers faculty member in science education and has recently finished a report by the National Research Council entitled “Taking Science to School”. This looks at k-8 science education curriculum. Rick expressed interest in coming to Hoboken for a visit and possibly talking to our faculty/staff. This may be very important as curriculum issues begin in full stride after QSAC. Rick also talked about the Liberty Science Center and how the district might partner with them. He was interested in how their professional development is working.

• On the same night I also met up with Dr. Drew Gitomer. Drew is with ETS and I have known Drew for over a decade. He is very interested in the involvement with Hoboken School District as well and I believe he may be a great resource for us. He is a learning scientist researcher, colleague of Rick Duschl and Jim Pellegrino and served on the Board of Education in his home town for 2 full terms. He has a very interesting perspective about reform and student high stake testing.

• Meeting with Susan Imlolz (MIT/National Geographic) concerning technology in the district. "S. Imholz"

NARRATIVE

This week was spent on QSAC in a meaningful way. I think we’re making some excellent progress on that front. It was also spent setting up some possibilities for the near future.. Feeling like I’m making some conceptual progress with curriculum efforts. This includes issues of representation/charts; frameworks, and how to make the process consistent with QSAC criteria.


Some frustration is setting which I can’t put an exact finger on but I think it’s related to a general inefficiency in many aspects of the operations side of the district. Part of it is working within a system that I personally still don’t know well yet so in fact, I may be the one working inefficiently.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

NARRATIVE (October 1-5)

This week was spent on QSAC in a meaningful way. I think we’re making some excellent progress on that front. It was also spent setting up some possibilities for the near future. This includes some associations with faculty at Stevens, NYU and possibly University of Tennessee. Need to discuss how this might occur. Feeling like I’m making some conceptual progress with curriculum efforts. This includes issues of representation/charts; frameworks, and how to make the process consistent with QSAC criteria which we will no doubt need to do follow.

Weekly Curricula Activities (Oct 1-5)


The following is a list of curricula related activities for the first week of October

• Curriculum meeting with IB/MYP
• Principal Tortorella follow-up with case concerning a student fight on a bus
• Jennifer Lopez- this meeting revolved around issues of workshops for Reading First as well as Learning.com in fulfillment of some NCLB matters.
• Meeting with Mary Tremididi concerning LEARNING.COM
•Meeting with Principal Cella concerning curriculum issues that some high school teachers seem to have with what is being taught at the K-8 level. Discussion also included the issue of Department Chairs and their related responsibilities with curriculum development. Encouraging meeting.

School Visits
• Brief visits (<1 hour) at Hoboken High School, Wallace and Conner’s school. Mostly pass through visits but getting a sense of what is needed for beginning the more formal process of classroom observations. Feel as if we are at a good point to begin in earnest with some ideas.

Other Visits
• Scheduled (CANCELLED) meeting with Jersey City Schools concerning issues of curriculum, data, and organization charts. This has been rescheduled for Friday October 12 (Paula Christian aka Spangnoletti)


Activities
• Attended opening ceremonies at Calabro School
• Attended OPEN NIGHT at Wallace, Calabro and Conner’s School
• Contacted Dr. Pavel Duborski at Stevens concerning the “Math Circles Program”-

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Reflection on the First Month



As September comes to and end I feel that some progress has been made and getting an overall “gist” for much of the district in terms of basic operations of each physical campus. In general, I have found all the schools to be functioning well. The next few weeks will involve more classroom observations and discussions around issues particular to curriculum and instruction. I intend to talk to teachers, supervisors and administrators as I get a sense of the “enacted” curriculum. While no curriculum is formally written in the district, there indeed is SOMETHING that teachers are teaching. My job over the next 2-3 weeks is to get a good handle on this. The goal is to be able to then start having some serious discussions on curriculum development within the district.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Curricula Related Activities (Sept 24-30)

The following activities were related to curriculum development efforts in the district this past week.

Meetings
• QSAC Meeting on Monday Sept 24 to review strategy of obtaining information
• IB meeting with Beth Brock (Head of Research) and Jessica Arnold (Project Manager) along with Kate Dominique, and Superintendent (Tuesday Sept 25)-candid and productive meeting with the national IB staff from NYC.
• Meeting with Jennifer Lopez (Thursday) about NCLB- good meeting which rekindled the need to have a better understanding of what data is due and when in the district.


School Visits
• Visited Demarest High School- (Monday AM, Thursday evening and Friday afternoon)
3 trips to Demarest this week. On Thursday night I was there to attend the opening of the Industrial Arts classroom and on Friday I was in there to represent the Superintendent at the picnic. Both events were successful at providing “community building” activities at the school. The administration at Demarest seems very committed to doing whatever is necessary to build a strong community at the school.

• Visited Wallace School (at dismissal on Thursday)
Informal visit with Principal Tortorella outside school during dismissal. Things seem to be running smoothly and spoke of a more formal visit in the next week.

• Visited Conner’s School- (Friday AM)
Met with administration and a number of teachers including Cathy (IT teacher), J. DiGennaro, Reading First teachers, librarian and Kate Dominque. Meeting with Kate centered on curriculum issues and was productive. Conner’s continues to be an enjoyable visit and there seems to be very good things going on there. My next visit will include more classroom observations.

Other Visits
• Stopped by HHS to visit with Principal

Activities
• QSAC organization and preparation
• Issues of curriculum alignment and organization

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Curricula Related Activities (Sept 17-21)


The following indicate the curricula development activities for the third week of school by the Assistant to the Superintendent.

Meetings
• Attended meeting at County Superintendent Office for QSAC
• Met with Mr. Bailey concerning technology in district
• Met with Dr. Cecilia Delia (child study team/Conners)

School Visits
• Visited Calabro School
Met with Gentile (science teacher); Boscia (library), Palumbo (principal); music teacher

• Visited Demarest High School
Met with administration; Derrick England, Carmen Ronga, Nick Calabrese, Helen DeRose, lunch staff, 4-5 students

• Visited Conner’s School (twice)
Met with full administration

Other Visits
• Stopped by Wallace to meet with Wiley Readers
• Stopped by HHS to visit and greet new teachers to the district

Activities
• Read “Supertest” by Jay Matthews/Ian Hill in preparation for IB meeting 9/25
• QSAC organization and preparation
• Issues of curriculum alignment and organization

Friday, September 14, 2007

Hoboken High School Visit


I visited the Hoboken High school today for about 3 hours. In that time I began with an informal meeting with the building principal. We exchange pleasantries and discussed loosely our educational philosophies and perspectives. I believe we are on the same page about many of the issues facing urban education in general and some specifics about Hoboken. We both agree that there is a tremendous opportunity in Hoboken for success with the relative size of the district, the community and the fact that we are essentially a 1 feeder system. We also spoke about Reading First Program and the need for a unified and general curriculum for the district and school. In all, we meet for about ½ hour.

I then proceeded through the counselor’s offices and met with Eileen Covallo and had a very nice conversation with her about some technology issues with the district as well as some certification issues.

I next stopped in to the Child Study area and ran into some people and said hello. One person spoke to me about a program that was soon ending that dealt with the community and bringing goods to them. Seemed like an excellent interaction between the school and the community. I also said hello to some other people on the team.

I then walked around in the math/Science wing to find a fair amount of activity going on in the classrooms but relegated to primarily pencil and paper. The wing has good/excellent lab facilities and I’d like to visit again when these are in use.

I had a  productive meeting with the school librarian and believe there are wonderful things going on in terms of a systemic, district wide plans for the school libraries. 

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Initial Visit to Connor's School

Some notes/observations of the Conner’s visit:

1) Conner’s is celebrating it’s 100 year anniversary this year and is in wonderful shape. I found the building to be clean, clear of debris, bright, full of student work on the walls and a place that felt warm. Security was obvious and present.

2) I was shown around by the principal to a majority of the classrooms. Of special note was the rooms and how they were decorated. Very alive and with many stimuli. Well kept and orderly and with instruction going on at many levels (centers seem to be a big part of early instruction).

3) Students and teachers wore red, white and blue today in honor of 9/11 and opening announcement had a moment of silence for those who were loss. A touching moment to be sure. One wonders what does 9/11 mean to these young students which raises some interesting curricula and instructional issues.

4) Primary grades seem to be especially strong.

5) Students seemed VERY well behaved, polite and respectful given they had never seen me before.

6) Technology is present throughout the building although need to explore more specifically how it is being utilized and maintained. There is both a computer room as well as computers in most rooms.

7) There seems to be some wonderful services at the school, including child study team, clinician, IB and G&T. Clearly, there are resources and expertise at Conner’s.

8) Wonderful and thoughtful conversation for ½ hour with Principal Erbe toward the end of my visit after she showed me around the building and introduced me to everyone. Some concerns or needs arouse which include:

a) there are presently 3 cafeteria workers, my sense is that there is a perception that there might be a need for additional people.

b) the need for a guidance person was discussed. The principal seems supportive of this notion.

c) There was agreement that we need some curricula alignment in the district

9) Had a nice end of the morning conversation with Ms. Dominique where we discussed IB plans and need for other people to join her in assuring commitment and investment in the IB program which now seems to be at a district wide implementation stage. Currently, things are too focused around 1 person for the success of a program that potentially impacts over 550 students. It is a testament to Ms. Dominique’s commitment but not a healthy situation for the district to have 1 person be so pivotal without additional committed staff and/or mentoring of others.

Connor's is a clean, well light, open and bright atmosphere. It really is a beautiful building and much work has gone into making the place an exciting school.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Initial Hopkins Program Meeting

- CTY shares with its parent organization, the Johns Hopkins University, a three-part mission of teaching, research, and service. More specifically, CTY: Seeks students of the highest academic ability through its talent search and offers them challenging educational opportunities that develop the intellect, encourage achievement, and nurture social development.
Conducts research and evaluation studies that advance knowledge about gifted education; develops best practices in educating highly able children; and disseminates its findings to parents, the education community, and policymakers.
Supports educators in their efforts to meet the needs of highly able students, assists parents in advocating for their gifted children, and participates actively in community service.

- This seems to be an outsourcing model where the district pays a fee to have it’s students take on line courses in advanced subject matters. We need to examine whether we have the expertise within district to administer such courses and if not, why not.

- It appears as if there are approximately 50 students in the district identified as Gifted and Talented but it not quite clear what is the criteria for such a designation. IQ tests are not given in the district and standardized test scores are not a reliable measure of IQ. Current students take a test administered by John Hopkins. We will need to find out some additional psychometric properties of this measure. Of the students identified, 45 seem to be identified for mathematics and 5 for verbal. None for science.

- There as additional discussion about the possibility of introducing a series of courses at Conners school. These would possibly include: economics, politics, music (violin) and chineese. There’s been varying degrees of success with these courses and we’ll need to examine this more closely. It was noted that these classes would be available for all students at Conners and not just the Gifted and Talented.

- There was discussion about a Preparing for College course which would help students and parents think about college.

- There was some discussion about a program with the NJ Symp. Centered around music for the students.

- There appears to be little coordination with the IB program to date. IB identifies themselves as being NOT exclusively for Gifted and Talented students. While not identical there seems to be at least some overlap of public perception with these two programs. If not for the same students than certainly in advocates for a more rigorous curriculum for the majority of Hoboken students.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Initial Literacy Meeting

Literacy Meeting
Brandt School
Sept 6, 2007 9am-11:30AM

Reading is an active skill-based process of constructing meaning and/or gaining knowledge from oral, visual, and written text (including Braille). It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas. Effective readers activate prior knowledge (schemata theory), use comprehension, decoding skills (using morpheme, semantics, and syntax cues), and demonstrate fluency during reading. Other types of reading may not be text-based, such as music notation or pictograms. By analogy, in computer science, reading is acquiring of data from some sort of computer storage.

The traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write, or the ability to use language to read, write, listen, and speak. In modern contexts, the word refers to reading and writing at a level adequate for communication, or at a level that lets one understand and communicate ideas in a literate society, so as to take part in that society. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has drafted the following definition: "Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society."

A number of issues came up during the meeting. Included was:

- The need for a District Level Literacy Team. This might include a Reading Supervisor and or a Curriculum Supervisor. The apparent need for such a position(s) seems to arise from a perception that there is not a way or effectively coordinating the full scope of activities related to implementing Reading/Literacy at the district level. That is exactly the point we had hoped to convey.

- The Reading First grant supplies mostly funds to purchase materials for use in K-3 setting. Some of the funds are used for salary but it seems as if a majority of the funds go toward materials. We would add professional development materials and activities.

- A reoccurring theme throughout the meet was the relative lack of room/space for one of the important components of the grant, The Parent/Teacher Reading First Resource Room. It seems as if in some schools this is regulated to a closet. Clearly, there appears to be a lack of professional level space. This also compromises the possibility of effective interaction with the public including parents and the community at large. To address the lack of space there was discussion as to whether the Parent/Teacher Reading First Resource Room should be at each school or a central district level facility. No clear consensus seemed to emerge from the conversation. The discussion continued later on in the meeting and the idea of a central location was dismissed. It is more likely that parents will respond favorably to outreach from the schools their children attend. The coaches will incorporate parent outreach activities into their schedules and will notify parents of times when they may visit the Resource Center for discussions and/or borrowing materials to work with at home. Perhaps when the building administrators see the program in action they will be more open to developing more appropriate space for that component of the program.

- A discussion on community involvement included the present participation of Wiley in a volunteer reading program at Hoboken area schools and the possibility (not realized at this time) of including local book stores like Barnes and Noble (Superintendent’s Reading List? Participation in a reading program?) The key point here is the need to reach out to the full community (business, academic, social, etc…) and not simply the parental community. Again, we are in agreement. This is an example of the kind of activity that a District Literacy Team might develop. It goes beyond the Reading First K-3 component – but is certainly something in which Reading First should and wants to participate.

- There seems to be a need for a central testing/data center. The grant requires a great deal of data collection, synthesis, analysis, reporting, etc… Without ease of access to electronic data, it appears there is the potential for a great amount of wasted staff capital. My sense is that this is a district wide issue but with so many reporting requirements for this grant (quarterly, bi-annually, annually), the impact is really felt strongly. Yes, on all points- particularly the “wasted staff capital”. We might point out that the demand for data and data analysis is not exclusive to Reading First. It is also needed for NCLB, and the other grants programs the district supports. In addition, each school could benefit from the data analysis in developing its overarching literacy program.

-The Reading First initiative provided an organizational format, an instructional design, and an assessment schema for a segment of the elementary population in the district when the only other Language Arts Literacy resource available to staff and students were the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (NJ CCCS).

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

The Curriculum Audit

On July 25, 2007 the final results of the Curriculum and Professional Development Audit was presented to the Hoboken Superintendent of Schools by Jim McBee- Director of Abbott Services. This report was completed in collaboration with Willa Spicer, Executive Director of the New Jersey Performance Assessment Allicance as well as the Deputy Commissioner of Education for the State of New Jersey.

The focus of the report was to document evidence pertaining to the following questions:

1) Is there a Board approved curriculum that is alligned to NJQSAC elements in exisitence for all of the subject content areas?

2) To what degree is the District's curriculum being implemented in the classroom?

3) Is the academic program supported by staff development?

4) What staff development has the district had since September 2005 and what has it cost?

(note: The report has already been requested under the Open Public Records Act, so it is available as a public document)

The general findings of the curriculum audit, questions 1 and 2 above, and the steps the district is taking to remediate the audit, is the focus of this blog.

An accurate summary of the audit was that "student success in the achievement of the NJCCCS (New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards) is the existence and everyday use of curriculum documents that guide teachers in the scope and sequence of the subject matter. The curriculum should show direct and detailed correlation tot he NJCCCS, include interdisciplinary activities and references, and contain technology references that help guide teachers to appropriate technoogy learning and use across all content areas, and assessment information with benchmarks for student success".

The audit continues, "This does not currently appear to be the case in Hoboken; however there is a timeline in place for curriculum revision taking in all subjects through 2009". The summary of the audit conludes with, "teachers in the schools seem to have done a good job of using the NJCCCS, Curriculum Frameworks, texts, and old undtated course outlines to implement a program that helps students achieve the NJCCCS. They (teachers) need the direction of a well constructed curricula that meet NJCCCS standards to help students achieve their full potential.

On July 26, 2007, the Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Jack Raslowsky, submitted and the Board of Education approved the appointment of Dr. Anthony Petrosino (www.edb.utexas.edu/petrosino) as Assistant to the Superintendent. Dr. Petrosino has been working with the district to assist in addressing the findings of the audit.