Attendees:

• Jamie Davis-Leite
• Melinda Hafen
• Amanda Phillips
• Tyler Vigue
• Monica Whitesides
• Elizabeth Pratt
• Kristin Palmer
• Shantel Bjornn
• Shelby Moss 

Agenda:

• Welcome by Jamie
• Minutes and Agenda Review by Amanda
• Parent Conferences Next Week
• NWEA Data

NWEA Mathematics Data – Aligns with School Improvement Plan

• Grade Level Teams were shuffled to insure efficiency (Like 4th grade).
• “Math Guru’s” participated in Professional Development planning to share skills.
• 3 teachers are on a math committee to ensure vertical alignment of mastering all grade level math skills before moving on.
• Formative Assessments are used for teacher clarity, student self-assessment and peer assessment
• An upcoming PD is being taught by Christie Kapenda to teach how to align goal-setting to IEP’s.
• Math was strategically placed around recess and in the morning, to help engage both sides of the brain and align with the PD on movement.

NWEA in PLC & IXL

• In PLC teachers continue to go through individual student’s data to see where they can guide their instruction
• Tier 2 math interventions of based on results
• Aligned with the superintendent on using PLC’s as a time to review data, create plans to support individual students.
• We been able to see growth since starting impact teams
• Average teacher has 90 minutes for math: 60 minutes teaching tier 1, 30 minutes sharing across the grade level where they focus on individual math skills.
• IXL allows students to keep moving forward if they’re on grade level or above.
• IXL can create plans to be aligned with NWEA scores to allow for further student proficiency.
• The leadership team decided to use IXL across the whole school to have everyone on the same page.

NWEA Information

• NWEA was chosen because it’s consistent across all grades (K – 12).
• This would allow for students to be more involved and have a better understanding of their ability
• Close predictor for RISE and ACT/SAT  on our improvement plan
• This was the first year of implementing NWEA.
• These scores are used nationally and can be compared across the states .
• NWEA isn’t timed and may be the reason for higher scores compared to Acadience which is timed.
• Having upper grades complete the testing first, allowed for them to support the grades
• It was noted that the higher the beginning of the year testing is, it’s harder to make/show growth and error margin area.

Future NWEA Planning

• We will continue to focus on math next year, as well as including our previous year’s goal of literacy.
• We are working on having a vertical alignment with ULead.
• Want to be able to apply the ACT projection data.
• Considering starting a Principal Math group/reward system next school year.
• Want to see an increase in interactiveness in classroom lessons – “Whoever is doing the talking is doing the learning.”
• Next year we are looking at adding Language Arts testing.
• We also want to be aware of how much is too much testing?

NWEA SEP’s (Parent Conferences)

• Parents will receive NWEA results and information in SEP’s.
• Moving towards student-led SEP conferences to help students take ownership of their education.
• Want to add a goal tracker that is student friendly to help add ownership.
• Received positive feedback from Sarah Reid’s past student led SEP’s.

Kindergarten NWEA

• Kindergarten did well
• Can be challenging to navigate the website for teachers and students.
• Can be a jump in difficulty between kindergarten and first grade.
• Kindergarten took the NWEA on iPads.
• Did this affect results compared to Chromebooks used by older grades?
• The district is moving toward Chromebooks for Kindergarten.
• NWEA has been used before school to determine Kindergarten classroom placements.

School Planning and Funding, Discuss our plan moving forward and possible voting 

• Voting is due in April, but depending on the date, it may take place in March.
• Council Members asked about FTE’s and funding for aides.
• Federal funding was a significant contributor last year, and may affect this upcoming year if more funding is taken away.
• Principles have been advocating for the need of Kindergarten aides, especially with the transition to all day kindergarten.
• Superintendent will be visiting next month to discuss FTE possibilities.

District Boundary Study

• Shantel mentioned that if houses weren’t currently built, then they weren’t included in the study.
• Shantel wrote to the board pointing out that due to the new homes going in near Lakeview, that we will more than likely have 30 new students in the next couple of years.

Dr. Davis-Leite asks if there’s any further questions. 

Amanda motions to adjourn at 9:36 and Shantel seconds the motion.

Action Items/Notes

• An upcoming PD is being taught by Christie Kapenda to teach how to align goal-setting to IEP’s.
• Superintendent will be visiting next month to discuss FTE possibilities.
• Voting is due in April, but depending on the date, it may take place in March.
• NWEA has been used before school to determine Kindergarten classroom placements.
• Is this something we want to implement?
• Parents will receive NWEA results and information in SEP’s.
• Moving towards adding a mathematics goal tracker that is student friendly to help add ownership to student’s learning.
• Look into starting something like a Principal’s Math Group (reward system) next school year.
• We want to see an increase in interactiveness in classroom lessons.
• Next year we are looking at adding NWEA Language Arts testing.
• We also want to be aware of how much is too much testing.
• IXL can create plans to be aligned with NWEA scores to allow for further student proficiency.