9-24-12

September 24, 2012 Meeting Summary

Members Present: Kate Drummond Elizabeth Wathen Bethany Scherpf Laurie Johnson Kim McEwen

Topic: MHSA/ SAT Data

Protocol Used: ATLAS

Key Points of Discussions: Discussed the following questions based on data given at last meeting:

1. What are the 5 most important observations we can make about the data? - consistently below state average - closing the gap, consistent improvement, why? - more affluent communities doing better - data from all areas (reading, math, science, writing) is similar

2. What are 3-5 important conclusions we can draw from the data? - some schools are meeting standards/some are not - only one piece of data being reviewed, may not tell whole story - is there a common factor affecting scores in all areas? - can’t boil it down to 1 reason! (why we can’t be average) - state average may be inflated by affluent communities, might be better to average “like” communities

3. What are some barriers that have an effect on the data? - family involvement - student ability/participation (how well are they motivated) - socioeconomic status - resources

4. What are some assets we have that will inform, support and/or guide our work? - teachers - past literacy work - special programming to assist students (writing lab?) - Julie Bartsch

5. What are some next steps we should take as a staff in our PLG’s? - look at what we currently have for rubrics already in house - look to middle school to see what rubrics/writing expectations they currently have - survey what is currently done for writing assignments across each grade level/subject area - look at what’s on the SAT

Decisions Made:

General Minutes: