2009 Summer Curriculum Committee Day 4

The following activities were completed by the Curriculum Committee on Thursday, July 16. The first week was very productive with excellent progress made on revising and editing many documents. Week 2 will be largely a continuation of Week 1 activities as well as increased emphasis on implementation and assessment issues. -Dr. Petrosino

Social Studies: It was another busy day for the Social Studies Group.  Four in number, we were able to divide the tasks of formatting, devising assessments, and entering data. The 5^th and 6^th grades are very near completion.  

Language Arts (Secondary): To date I have completed the new formatting for English I, II III, and Contemporary Lit (12th grade.) I will not be in next week, as I am having arthroscopic surgery on my shoulder. I will be in Monday July 27 to tie up any loose ends.

World Language: We completed the revisions for grade 3 and two units of  grade 4 for the UBD planners.

Also, we completed the revisions for the UBD and MYP planners for grade 9 honors and three units of  grade 10.

Science: Today the revisions for the remaining 4 units ( linear and projectile motion, sound and light, electricity and magnetism, and conversions) for grade 12 ( Physics) were completed.  The enduring understandings and the essential questions were edited and minor additions were made to the existing MYP planner according to the UbD format.  All of the completed units were typed and the information from the existing MYP planner was transferred into the new MYP Format.

Technology: Day 4: We began writing units to cover standard 8.2 and the MYP technology guide.

Day 2: We completed the process of documenting the technology standards across the curriculum.

Day 3: We began reworking the technology units written for grades 6,7,8 to the new MYP planner format and reviewed them for UbD components. We analyzed the documentation of curriculum to determine where we needed to revise or create new units to cover standards 8.1, Technological Literacy and 8.2, Technology Education. We found that standard 8.1 is well covered across the board. Standard 8.2 needs more coverage and will be addressed over the coming days.

Plans for next week:

Continue reworking existing unit plans to new MYP planner

Develop more units for 8.2 standards

Insert technology standards from our documentation project into units across the curriculum

Disclaimer: The 2009 Summer Curriculum Committee is roughly 50% the size of the 2008 Summer Curriculum Committee (29 teachers vs 60 teachers) and the budget allocated is approximately 2/3 less than the allocation for Summer 2008. Dr. Petrosino has explained numerous times that this represents a significant reduction in both expenditures and faculty involved with the curriculum project. 

 

New Jersey cited as ‘bright spot’ following achievement gap report

According to the Christian Science Monitor, a study released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education shows that New Jersey is a national leader in closing the achievement gap.

According to the Monitor, reading and math scores for all races have generally risen since the 1990s. Despite that overall progress, though, few states have narrowed the achievement gap between racial groups. However, the Monitor notes that “New Jersey narrowed gaps in both reading and math for fourth grade,” one of only three states in the nation to do so.

Michael Holzman, a research consultant with the Schott Foundation for Public Education, credits New Jersey’s progress to more equitable distribution of funding to high-poverty areas.

NJEA president Joyce Powell reacted to the report. "We won't be satisfied until all achievement gaps are eliminated. However, this progress report is encouraging, and vindicates New Jersey's commitment to investment in at-risk students. The results we see here should strengthen our resolve to keep pushing forward, no matter what the economy does and no matter what critics of public education say."

Read the full article
View the report
More facts about New Jersey’s public schools

2009 Summer Curriculum Committee- Day 3

The Curriculum Committee met today at the Brandt Professional Development Center. Below is a brief summary of the accomplishments for the day. -Dr. Petrosino

Science:
Tuesday 7/14/09- Today All of the units 1-4 for grade 7 (life Science) were revised. The enduring understandings and the essential questions were edited and minor additions were made to the existing MYP planner. Within the last two days, grades 6 and 7 revisions were completed. The revisions need to be typed and transferred into the new MYP format.

Wednesday 7/15/09- Today the last unit for grade 7 (Life science) was revised. Then I worked on units 3-5 in grade 12. I revised the enduring understandings and the essential questions according to the UbD format. I later typed and transferred the revised information into the new MYP Format. A total of 4 out of 7 units still need to be completed for grade 12 (Physics).

World Languages:

The group reviewed the UBD planners for K and and 1st grade (Each grade has ten UBD planners to review); reviewed the planners for MYP and UBD for 9th regular; and finally, began to review 9 Honors (We reviewed one Planner).

Language Arts (Middle Grades): We have worked on revising and editing the Drafting by Design sheets for grade 6 and have begun grade 7 using the information given to us by Elizabeth at the UBD workshop in June. In addition, we have designed performance tasks for grades 6 units and have begun to work on grade 7. Finally, we made sure that all Understandings and Essential Questions and aligned with UBD and CCCS.

Language Arts (Secondary):
The group completed re-formatting Grades 12, 11, and 10 to UBD form. The assessments for each of these have been reviewed as well.The plan is to complete both in grade 9 tomorrow.

Social Studies:

7/14: The group finished the MYP planners for grades 5-12. We are nearly complete with the understandings on the Big Idea Sheet.

7/15 The group completed the understandings on the Big Idea sheets for grades 5-12. We started reviewing the planners, and planning the assessments for the MYP units. Also we started thinking about the district wide assessments for the curriculum.

Physical Education:

Today we completed the list of Physical Education & Health Equipment used and needed for grades 1-12.

Disclaimer: The 2009 Summer Curriculum Committee is roughly 50% the size of the 2008 Summer Curriculum Committee (29 teachers vs 60 teachers) and the budget allocated is approximately 2/3 less than the allocation for Summer 2008. Dr. Petrosino has explained numerous times that this represents a significant reduction in both expenditures and faculty involved with the curriculum project. 

Picture: Cat Lingo at 4th Street Park for a concert under the stars- July 15, 2009

Board of Education Brainstorms District and Board Goals, What's Good and What's Bad About the Hoboken School District

At the July 14 Board of Education Meeting, the Board of Education was assisted in thinking about goal setting for the upcoming year. The technique utilized to assist them is known as "brainstorming" (also, see diagram on left), and produced the following results:

District Goals:

1) To raise test scores

Bring middle schools out of SINI 1 and SINI 2

Raise HSPA scores

2) To implement a plan to increase parental and community involvement in all schools

3) Lower per pupil costs and decrease overall budget without a decrease in programs or by touching classroom instruction. 

Board Goals: 

1) Hire a new Superintendent of Schools

2) To develop a monitoring system to track the progress toward district goals. 

3) To schedule a team building retreat. 

The Board also used the same brainstorming technique to assess the "State of the District." This was divided into 3 categories: "Wonderful"; "In Progress"; and "What's Wrong". The results were as follows: 

What's Wonderful

District board

PTO

Early Childhood Program

News Media

Cosmetology Program 

Culinary Arts Program

Small Size of District

District Wide Curriculum

Updating Policy Manual

G&T Programs

David Anthony

Teachers, Administrators, Children, and Parents

Support Staff

Lunch Program

Performing Arts

Board Members

School System

Diversity

Active Parents

Community Involvement

Students

Teaching Staff

Athletic Program

In Progress

Raising test scores

Increase the number of IB Diploma Graduates

Curriculum 

Space Issues

Perceptions

Increasing enrollment in middle and high school

Continuing corporate relationship

Professional Development for teachers

What's Wrong

Improve access to latest technology

Improve facilities

State of the art technology

Recruiting parental involvement

Lowering cost per pupil

Rebuilding relationship with Stevens

Establishing more connections with HCCC

SAT Prep

Bringing budget to Adequacy

Improve college readiness skills for all students

Add AP courses to the high school

Hire Superintendent

 

Picture: Process of conducting a brainstorming session

NY Times: Regional Shift Seen in Education Gap 7/14/09

The following newspaper article excerpt is from NY Times education writer Sam Dillon entitled "Regional Shifts Seen in Education Gap". In the article (and represented in the graph to the left), the author points to a recent study which indicates that the gap between white and black students is narrowing in southern states but widening in northern states. The report uses NAEP date (National Assessment of Educational Progress), an unbiased and psychometrically strong assessment of student content knowledge that is largely independent of individual high stakes accountability mandated testing (like HSPA, NJASK, etc...) -Dr. Petrosino

Historically, the achievement gap between America’s black and white students was widest in Southern states, where the legacies of slavery and segregation were reflected in extremely low math and reading scores among poor African-American children.

But black students have made important gains in several Southern states over two decades, while in some Northern states, black achievement has improved more slowly than white achievement, or has even declined, according to a study of the black-white achievement gap released Tuesday by the Department of Education.

As a result, the nation’s widest black-white gaps are no longer seen in Southern states like Alabama or Mississippi, but rather in Northern and Midwestern states like Connecticut, Illinois, Nebraska and Wisconsin, according to the federal data.

Offering an alternative view, Warren T. Smith Sr., vice president of the Washington State Board of Education, expressed skepticism about regional variations in the achievement gap. “I’ve been an African-American male for 60 years, and lived in nine different states, North, South, East and West,” Mr. Smith said. “Certain things are consistent: inequitable distribution of teachers, inequitable funding of schools, institutional racism. That is consistent across the board, so if you expect to find a different gap in North or South, you’re not going to find that.”

Read full article: "Regional Shifts Seen in Education Gap"

2009 Summer Curriculum Committee- Day 2

The Curriculum Committee met on Tuesday, July 14 for Day 2 of summer curriculum editing and implementation plans. Today was largely a continuation of activities begun on Day 1 with all groups making further progress on a number of fronts. Dr. Petrosino spoke to the group about a number of issues including: ordering supplies, transitioning to assessment/implementation subgroups in the coming days, Tools of the Mind workshop on Wednesday, and the Language Arts group working with LitLife on feedback provided by Ms. Rielly. The technology group make more great strides with their spreadsheet which were reviewed by many of the curriculum writing team. 

Disclaimer: The 2009 Summer Curriculum Committee is roughly 50% the size of the 2008 Summer Curriculum Committee (29 teachers vs 60 teachers) and the budget allocated is approximately 2/3 less than the allocation for Summer 2008. Dr. Petrosino has explained numerous times that this represents a significant reduction in both expenditures and faculty involved with the curriculum project. 

Please rate the following in terms of importance for successful curriculum implementation for 2009-2010

In the late Spring of 2009 I administered a survey to all participants (n = 34) of the Understanding by Design workshop. Participants included curriculum committee members and district administrators. Here are the results of one question in particular I asked which focused on implementation. The specific wording of the question was: "Please rate the following in terms of importance for successful curriculum implementation for 2009-2010. Please note---you are asked to give only 1 answer per row (cannot have multiple answers per row):" 

Hopefully, you fill find the results of interest. Note, the x-axis is number of respondents and not percent respondents.  I will post more results over the next few days and I'm planning to administer a similar survey to readers of this blog in order to obtain feedback on implementation and communication strategies. -Dr. Petrosino

2009 Summer Curriculum Committee- Day 1

On Monday, July 13 the Summer Curriculum Committee met for the first time at the Brandt Professional Development Center. The group got to work immediately and picked up where they left off in late June. Among the accomplishments on Monday were:

Technology: Continued work on noting when and where in existing practice technology exists and matching it with curriculum standards. All content and standards are being logged in spreadsheet form. 

World Language: Grades 1 & 3 were reviewed and finalized. The group made very good progress. 

Language Arts: 12th grade reformatted into new MYP structure. The rest of the grades should go easier as a general technique have been established. 

Social Studies: Reformatting into new MYP format--the group worked collectively today but will subdivide in later days to increase efficiency and effectiveness. 

Disclaimer: The 2009 Summer Curriculum Committee is roughly 50% the size of the 2008 Summer Curriculum Committee (29 teachers vs 60 teachers) and the budget allocated is approximately 2/3 less than the allocation for Summer 2008. Dr. Petrosino has explained numerous times that this represents a significant reduction in both expenditures and faculty involved with the curriculum project. 

Tools of the Mind Workshop: District Administrators 7/13/09

District administrators met on Monday, July 13 at the Brandt Professional Development Center for a 1/2 day workshop on Tools of the Mind led by Ms. Amy Hornbeck. The workshop took place from 9AM-1PM and was another in a continuing series of professional development opportunities to help the district prepare for the new Kindergarten curriculum in September. The workshop was organized by Ms. Jessica Peters, Early Childhood Coordinator along with Dr. Petrosino, Assistant to the Superintendent. 

Agenda for Hoboken Administrators Meeting:

1. The Structure of the Tools Program: Why an integrated approach? 

  a. Focal activities

b. Embedded activities

c. Emphasis on becoming a "learner"

2. How understanding the Zone of Proximal Development supports instruction

a. Implications for special education

3. Teacher support offered through the Tools curriculum

a. Professional development series

b. Teacher's manual

c. Coach

d. Web based supports

4. Ensuring Program fidelity

a. Administrator fidelity forms

b. Lesson Planning format

5. Examples of a typical daily schedule

6. The role of the paraprofessional 

7. Homework (student homework) 

Union challenges Obama work with teachers

The following article was posted online by Associated Press reporter Libby Quaid. It's worth a look, especially to see how the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) are discussing reform with the Obama administration. -Dr. Petrosino

WASHINGTON (AP) — A teachers' union challenged the Obama administration Monday to live up to its promise of working with teachers and not against them.Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said her union will post a "collaboration meter" on its Web site to judge whether reforms are happening with teacher involvement."When it comes to making the changes that will make our schools better, do it with us — not to us," Weingarten said in a speech prepared for delivery to an AFT meeting in Washington. She was playing off the words of Obama's education secretary, Arne Duncan. Duncan told the National Education Association last week that change would be made with teachers and for teachers, not to them. The AFT planned to remind Duncan of his words by wearing "with us, not to us" buttons when he appeared Monday at their meeting. More than 2,500 people were attending the meeting. It was a friendly challenge from a union leader who makes a point of reaching out to the administration. Weingarten was meeting at the White House before her speech and was joining Duncan onstage for a town-hall style forum during his appearance Monday.President Barack Obama has education goals that put him at odds with many teachers, even though their unions make up an important segment of the Democratic Party base. The AFT has 1.4 million members, and NEA has 3.2 million members.Obama supports performance pay, the idea of linking teacher bonuses to student achievement, using measures that include test scores. He is asking Congress for a huge spending increase, from $97 million to $717 million next year, to spur schools to adopt performance pay. Many teachers don't want test scores to be used because tests can be deeply flawed, and because kids aren't tested in every subject. Obama also wants to expand charter schools, which are more autonomous schools that teachers have resisted because they usually aren't unionized and because critics think they drain money and talent from traditional schools.The AFT is pushing for a bigger role in charter schools and has signed contracts with teachers at a few of them, most recently with Green Dot New York Charter School in the Bronx, a high school run by Green Dot, a nonprofit group that operates charter schools. About 40 unionized charter school teachers from 10 states attended the AFT meeting. During her speech, Weingarten showed members her new "collaboration meter," saying a series of questions would decide where it moves from "`Kumbaya' hot to I-never-want-to-speak-to-you-again cold." "When education reform is done to teachers and their unions, it is doomed to fail," she said. "But when education reform is done with teachers, it is destined to succeed ."

picture: Randi Weingarten

Curriculum Committee- Summer 2009 Overview/Big Picture

Of primary importance is to assure that the curriculum is fully articulated and edits have been made when appropriate. In part, this occurred throughout the month of June as teachers were more formally trained in Understanding by Design for curricular editing as well as pedagogical development. The anticipation is that Summer 2009 will be substantively different than Summer 2008. Whereas Summer 2008 activities consisted primarily with curriculum writing, Summer 2009 will concentrate on issues of editing and implementation. The basic format for Summer 2009 will be the division of the committee into three groups: Revision, Implementation, and Community Outreach.

I. Revision- the responsibilities of this subgroup will include the creation of a “master hard copy” of the entire curriculum as well as individual domain specific edits for each subject area. There is a possibility of multiple copies of this once completed but certainly there will at least 2 copies. On copy will be housed in the library of the Brandt Professional Development Center and the other will be in District headquarters. There may also be a need for copies in each school. This group will also assure that the curriculum on the L-Drive is up to date and secure and that electronic backups exist in case of a district wide computer failure. Finally, both thumb drives or CD’s will be created with the new curriculum on it for distribution to teachers, administrators and staff.

II. Implementation/Professional Development- This subgroup will be responsible for developing peer support to assist in curriculum implementation throughout the 2009-2010 academic year and beyond. Common planning, vertical articulation, horizontal articulation, general communication, Understanding by Design, coordination of Professional Days, and professional development activities will be discussed and planned. In addition, this group will seek ways to assist building principals in developing and insuring helpful and instructionally sound and consistent feedback to faculty and staff during the implementation process.

III. Community Outreach- The parents and many members of the City of Hoboken have anticipated the roll out of this curriculum for the past 18-24 months. This subgroup will develop a community education program informing parents and interested parties about the new Curriculum. Material can include Powerpoint slides, print media, web pages, public talks and means and methods to be determined.

Picture: Mural in Hoboken PATH terminal

2009 Summer Curriculum Committee-Draft Document of Content, Duties and Availability

The following is a draft in narrative form of the goals for the 2009 Summer Curriculum Committee. It will no doubt be a busy few weeks. -Dr. Petrosino

Language Arts Grades 1-4: This group will work on incorporating the professional feedback we received from Patricia Reily of LitLife into the grade 1-4 curriculum. This will assure that the LitLife professional development and the grade 1-4 curriculum are completely compatible. In addition, the Language Arts Grades 1-4 group will review and edit the Big Ideas curricula documents and make appropriate modifications and edits in incorporating Understanding by Design principles into the final documents. Individual members of this group will assist in the creation of a vertical alignment document. Individual members of this group will assist in the creation of district assessments. This group has been well functioning and I anticipate this task taking 2 weeks.

Language Arts Grades 5-12: The Language Arts Grades 5-12 group will review and edit the Big Ideas curricula documents and make appropriate modifications and edits in incorporating Understanding by Design principles into the final documents. This group may also assist the Language Grades 1-4 in incorporating incorporating the professional feedback we received from Patricia Reily of LitLife into the grade 1-4 curriculum if needed. Individual members of this group will assist in the creation of a vertical alignment document. Individual members of this group will assist in the creation of district assessments. This group has been well functioning and I anticipate this task taking 2 weeks. This group has been well functioning and I anticipate this task taking 2 weeks.

Mathematics: This group will work on incorporating algebra into the 8^th grade curriculum and making subsequent modifications to Grades 6 and 7. Members of this group will also work on the vertical alignment document for the district. Finally, members of this group will be involved in the creation of district level assessments of mathematics in compliance with QSAC regulations. In addition, the Mathematics group will review and edit the Big Ideas curricula documents and make appropriate modifications and edits in incorporating Understanding by Design principles into the final documents. This group has been well functioning and I anticipate this task taking 2 weeks.

Phys Ed/Health: Members of this group members of this group will be involved in the creation of district level assessments in compliance with QSAC regulations. In addition, the Phys Ed/Health group will review and edit the Big Ideas curricula documents and make appropriate modifications and edits in incorporating Understanding by Design principles into the final documents. Members of this group will also work on the vertical alignment document for the district. This group has been well functioning and I anticipate this task taking 2 weeks.

Science: Members of this group will also work on the vertical alignment document for the district as well as reading in the content area. In addition, members of this group will be involved in the creation of district level assessments in science in compliance with QSAC regulations. In addition, the Science group will review and edit the Big Ideas curricula documents and make appropriate modifications and edits in incorporating Understanding by Design principles into the final curricula documents. This group has been well functioning and I anticipate this task taking 2 weeks.

Social Studies: Members of this group will also work on the vertical alignment document for the district. In addition, members of this group will be involved in the creation of district level assessments of social studies in compliance with QSAC regulations. In addition, the Social Studies group will review and edit the Big Ideas curricula documents and make appropriate modifications and edits in incorporating Understanding by Design principles into the final documents. Essential Questions need to be reviewed and possibly restructured. This group has been well functioning and I anticipate this task taking 2 weeks. Also, possible work with the Hoboken Historical Museum pending approval. 

Technology: This group needs to review and make final edits to the Big Ideas documents. There is also a need for finishing up units in Grades 6-8. The group will also finish any remaining areas of documentation across the disciplines. Members of this group will also work on the vertical alignment document for the district.

Theater Arts: Members of this group will work on the vertical alignment document for the district. In addition, members of this group will be involved in the creation of district level assessments of Theater Arts in compliance with QSAC regulations.

Visual Arts: Members of this group will work on the vertical alignment document for the district. In addition, members of this group will be involved in the creation of district level assessments of Visual Arts in compliance with QSAC regulations. The Visual Arts group will review and edit the Big Ideas curricula documents and make appropriate modifications and edits in incorporating Understanding by Design principles into the final curricula documents. This group has been well functioning and I anticipate this task taking 2 weeks.

World Language: This group needs to revise the enduring understandings and the essential questions for grades 1-3. This group also needs to revise their MYP planners and transfer them into the new planner format. The group will need to map the areas of interactions and come up with a Language B policy for the MYP years. Finally, the group will work on vertical alignment and the creation of some district level assessments in compliance with QSAC regulations. 

Picture: Hoboken from airplane above the Hudson River