Those in attendance:   Mrs. Hubbard, Mrs. Leonard, Mr. Pogue, Mr. Blackstone, Mrs. Armstrong, Mrs. Stockman and Dr. Fischer

Minutes were approved from the November 4, 2011^th Academic Committee Meeting.

 AOIS

School Improvement Plan:  Mr. Blackstone recommended that several school plans be collapsed into the School Wide Title I plan.  The administrative team is currently working on this plan and will present to the committee in March for submission to the State in April/May.  It should be noted that this plan dictates how title I funds can be used.  Discussion took place regarding the use of the “Rising Star System” with a recommendation that this system be used in the FY13 School Wide Title I plan with work beginning in June.   It was    

Technology Plan:  At our last meeting Mr. Blackstone indicated he is working with Concept in the development of the Technology Plan with this topic being deferred to our December meeting.  Mr. Blackstone reported that Mary Ward is working on an ERate Grant and more information will be reported at our January meeting.  Jan Leonard volunteered to review the plan, specifically to look at how the integrated technology plan supports teaching and learning. 

Policy Review

Mr. Blackstone reported that changes recommended for policies 6:240, 6:250, 6:250 AP, 7:130, 7:140, 7:160 have been made with the policies being presented at the December Board Meeting for final approval.

Dashboard

Mr. Blackstone presented the December Dashboard.  Additional Format changes have been made, one of which is listing the goals at the beginning, and reporting out by goals. 

Concept Interim Analysis through Database

 Mr. Blackstone presented the Assessment Tool that has been developed by Concept Schools.  The committee members were extremely pleased and impressed with the “state of the art” correlation to state standards, individual and group reporting by standards, and the ability to quickly impact changes in instruction.  Students can also see their test scores and make a comparison to their previous scores.  Parents can also access this information.  Mr. Blackstone hopes to place a computer in the Welcome Center for parents who do not have access to a computer.   Mrs. Stockman is commended for meeting with every student in the school to develop a goal for the next assessment.  This goal will be discussed with parents at the Parent Conferences this Saturday as well as a part of discussion at the Advisory Meetings with students. 

High School Implementation Plan

Mr. Blackstone has been working on several different formats to create the plan.  He recommended that a separate meeting be held of the Academic Committee to focus only on this plan.  Dr. Fischer will poll committee members to confirm a date.  Mr. Blackstone stated it would be helpful to confirm the building location so grade level configuration can be determined.  It was suggested that this committee interface with the Marketing Committee once the High School Plan is completed to develop a process to communicate the plan to parents and students.

 Other

Teacher Evaluation Process/Merit Pay:  Mr. Blackstone indicated Concept School is close to completing the Merit Pay component associated with the Teacher Evaluation Process.  He will report on this at the January meeting.  He did however report on the Annual Evaluation Process which includes 3 components:  1) Walkthrough visits by administration for the purpose of feedback to the teacher, 2) On Demand System in which the teacher self reports information into a data base that ranges from home visits to after school activities; and 3) Job Specific Formal Evaluation.  The process is very comprehensive, extensive and impressive.  Teachers receive a “Bulleye” report that gives them specific quarterly feedback on their performance related to student achievement.   It should be noted that last year Merit Pay was based on a combination of teacher developed Portfolios and the Administrative Rating. 

D150 Approval for FY12 Goals:    Dr. Fischer reported that Dr. Lathan and Dr. Kennedy met with Mr. Blackstone and her at Quest to review the proposed FY12 Quest Goals, which were met with approval.  It was also discussed that D150 was in support of providing an additional special education teacher to Quest indicating the recommendation for hire is to be given to Mrs. Dunn, Director of Human Resources by December 7^th.  Both Dr. Lathan and Dr. Kennedy took a tour of Quest following the meeting and made several positive comments regarding student behavior, positive culture among teachers and students and quality instruction.

Exit Survey for Students Who Left Quest:  Mr.  Pogue presented the results thus far of the survey conducted on students/families who have left Quest.  Compliments were given to Mr. Pogue for taking on this task.  Mr. Pogue will present this information to the full board.

High School Implementation Plan – Mr. Blackstone indicated that he and his team continue to work on the plan.  The Academic Committee will meet on December 22, 9-11:00 with this being the sole topic of discussion.

Topics for January meeting:

·       Technology Plan

·       Teacher Evaluation/Merit Plan

·       Concept Presentation on Services

·       Academic Comm. Goal #3:  FY12 Professional Development Plan Aligned with Academic Goals

·       Marketing of “State of the Art” Practices at Quest

·       Proposed Policies

The meeting was adjourned at 11:00.  The next meeting will be held December 22^nd, 9:00 – 11:00, focusing on the High School Implementation Plan.

Minutes submitted by Cindy Fischer