MINUTES

 

KEDC Executive Committee

April 16, 2008

Embassy Suites, Lexington, Kentucky

 

 

Members Present

Mr. Coy Samons, Executive Committee Chairman, Paintsville Independent Schools

Mr. Dennis Byrd, Williamsburg Independent Schools
            Mr. Steve Butcher, Wolfe County Schools

Mr. Tim Eaton, Pulaski County Schools

Ms. Linda Hatter, Casey County Schools

Mr. Charles Mitchell, Menifee County Schools
Mr. Tim Moore, Mason County Schools

           

Members Absent

Ms. Kelley Crain, Fleming County Schools

Mr. Mark Blackburn, Martin County Schools
Mr. Larry Hammond, Rockcastle County Schools

Mr. Burt Hensley, Estill County Schools

 

KEDC Staff and Others Present

Mr. Stan Riggs, Executive Director & Board Secretary

Ms. Sharon Fields, Bid Team Leader

Ms. Susan Ramey, Administrative Assistant

Mr. Steve Smith, Director of Business Services

Ms. Tammy Vonderheide, Business Manager

Ms. Terri White, Executive Assistant / Webmaster

Mr. Tim Crawford, KEDC Board Attorney

 

AGENDA

 

1.      Call to Order/Confirm Presence of Quorum (>50% requires 6 of 11 members)
The meeting was called to order by KEDC Executive Chairman Mr. Coy Samons with seven (7) members present.

 

2.      Actions With Discussion

 

2.1.   Approval of Minutes
The minutes were approved on a motion by Mr. Tim Eaton, seconded by Mr. Charles Mitchell.

Recommend approval of the minutes of the February 20, 2008 Executive Committee meeting.

 

 

2.2.   Approval of Board Business Session Action Items
The Board Business Session Items were approved on a motion by Mr. Charles Mitchell, seconded by Ms. Linda Hatter.

Recommend approval of the recommended Action Items in the separate Business Agenda.

 

2.3.   Closed Session for Evaluation of Executive Director
On a motion by Mr. Dennis Byrd, seconded by Mr. Charles Mitchell the Executive Committee went into closed session for the Executive Director’s Evaluation.

On a motion by Mr. Tim Moore, seconded by Mr. Dennis Byrd the Executive Committee came out of closed session with no action taken.

The Executive Committee accepted the Executive Director’s summary evaluation to be presented to the full board and approved recommending a one year contract extension to June 30, 2010.

 

3.      Communications and Items for Review and Discussion Only

3.1.   REquest from dac cadre for a meeting with superintendents
On a motion by Mr. Tim Moore, seconded by Ms. Linda Hatter the Executive Committee recommends accepting the request for Superintendents to meet with the DAC Cadre with the recommendation of changing the meeting date from May 13, 2008 to May 19, 2008.

On May 13th, following the PD Coordinators meeting at KEDC in Ashland which will end it at 11:30, the DACs want to have lunch and then a Supt/DAC meeting at 12:30 which could last until 2:00.  The purpose of the meeting would be to discuss the attached document prepared by the DACs for input to the KDE task force.

Susan Y. Nichols, Supervisor of Instruction, Raceland-Worthington Independent Schools

3.2.   Discussion of proposed new position

 

4.      adjourn

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned on a motion by Mr. Steve Butcher seconded by Mr. Tim Moore.

 

 

 

KEDC Executive Committee

April 16, 2008

 

 

 

 

______________________________

Mr. Coy Samons

Chairman, KEDC Executive Committee

KEDC DAC Cadre

April 11, 2008

Position on Assessment:

Presented with the best interests of our students as the focus.

Alternate Assessment:

Understanding that all students are to be assessed under NCLB, we feel that changes need to be made. A statewide curriculum needs to be developed for these special students. Continuous progress needs to be monitored with developmentally appropriate skills standards developed that are not necessarily focused on Kentucky Core Content.

The focus needs to be on what we are doing for students and why we are doing it. What do we do with the current information we obtain from the current alternate assessment? The DACs feel that the data is not being used for this special group of students in a way that assists them to be productive citizens.

The $1 million needs to be used to develop a curriculum, continuous progress monitoring and appropriate skills standards.

KDE should request a larger, more flexible group for the KCCT test. Currently NCLB requires 95% for participation rate while Kentucky requires 100%. KDE should revisit the regulation.

Writing:

Writing is necessary for the learning process and should be part of every classroom, everyday.

On-Demand:

Ř  ELEMENTARY: Should not be assessed.

Ř  MIDDLE LEVEL: Should be assessed in the spring of the 8th grade year or the fall of the 9th grade year. Currently 8th grade is loaded while 9th grade is not accountable for any core content. Ninth grade assessment would lighten the load of the 8th grade.

Ř  HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL: Should be assessed in the fall of the 12th grade year or the writing part should be added to the 11th grade ACT. The ACT writing would give a score while also giving the colleges sound data, having a two fold purpose.

 

Writing Portfolio:

            Writing portfolios are a product that is assessed. Because of the assessment and accountability the formative assessment is missing and lost from the learning process. Portfolios are no longer a formative piece of assessment but have become a product that is assessed and accountable. Conferencing focuses on the portfolio as a product and the process is lost. Subjectivity decreases the value of this assessment data. The minute a rubric is used to conference, the piece immediate begins being assessed, with state accountability the focus of students and teacher alike.

            The costs to the district are astronomical. Money goes for professional development, release time, materials, substitutes, release time for teachers, requirements for space for technology, conferencing and storage, and scoring. All this at the cost of less focus on other assessed areas with a higher accountability. Do districts even know what they are spending on portfolios?

            Portfolios Audits were of no value to the schools and staff this year. We have results but the portfolios have not been returned as of today. How much money is spent on audits? How do the results impact instruction and curriculum? When results are received so late, no impact is made at the instructional level. Dostaff intentionally analyze the audit results with a focus on instruction? Are they given the time?

The time factor is huge.  Time is required for professional development, development, analysis, production and scoring. Conferencing takes time away from instruction building wide. Time from the other core content areas is decreased due to the focus of writing portfolios which is a much smaller accountable percentage. Instructional time is lost due to conferencing with students pulled out. Extended School Services looses valuable instructional time and staff time which would be better spent on math and reading skills.

            We have lost precious instructional time in the language arts and reading to focus on writing. Language arts and reading needs to be more of a focus at the elementary and middle school levels.

Writing Portfolios should not be assessed at the elementary and middle levels for accountability purposes. They should be maintained at the local level for formative assessment and to grow writers. The only portfolio assessed for accountable purposes should be the 12th grade portfolio. This summative portfolio would reflect the instruction and developmentally appropriate growth of students throughout the educational process. The analytic rubric should be maintained due to the fact that it has removed some subjectivity in scoring.