October 2007 ES Compilation

(Some items were addressed in the November ES agenda, the remaining are listed below. Thank you for your input and suggestions!)

Love the “yearly not done” tab on the standards in the learning record but it needs to be refined so we can only see the class standards for the student is in i.e. Biology and not Earth Science etc., or Algebra 1 and not Geometry etc. Can we tie it to the class chosen in the drop-down list? A request has been sent to IT for consideration.

LR Meeting dates with students don’t match the dates that monthly reports are due to the HQT teachers.  Perhaps ESs could just send a monthly report after our LR meetings?  This could be difficult for the HQT to keep up with though. Correct, but the HQTs realize that they may get the info the next month due to the learning record. The first progress report was due after the first learning record period and monthly after that.

HQT Online Courses- Must a student attend office hours every month if they are following the set curriculum and taking mid-term and final as required? 8 out of 12 ES’s said they had parents who were following the various course syllabi, and loved it, but were not interested in attending the office hours as a routine, only on an as-needed basis.

This is great!  In order to receive  a-g credit the student will need to take the mid-term and final. If they take the mid-term and final, they will probably want to attend some of the office hours.

One great idea for HQT documenting was to have the students put together a portfolio, which would then be graded by an HQT tutor or teacher a couple of times during the semester, with a rubric which the students would have a copy of. Good thinking! This is already part of the plan.

Several ESs have found that their new families don’t know about PLIPS and are surprised to hear that they might need to change their curriculum if their scores aren’t proficient.  Is this explained at intake? The PLIPs state that if instructional material is not aligned through the levels, that supplemental material needs to be used. It does not mandate that the curriculum be changed. The PLIP is not a part of intake as this is something that the ES would do at their subsequent meetings. It is on the subsequent meeting list, and is covered in the August ES agenda each year.

One ES brought up how it might be really valuable to have the testing prep materials given at Intake (we know that Measuring Up is given to the students who haven’t passed the CAHSEE math in HS) and another came up with an idea of having a bulk test prep order for the school (or part of it) and have the ESs come during a one week window the Modesto site and pick up the materials.  The issue is the cost of the Buckle Down without bulk ordering. Possible alternatives are being reviewed and discussed. Thank you for your input. For now, we need to continue ordering as we have in the past.

Writing Prompt Books-Is it possible to put the list of multiple writing prompt suggestions from the website into the writing prompt book for the students. Some ESs and families are finding it difficult because the 9/10^th grade and 11/12^th grade writing prompts are the same. It would be helpful if additional prompts were in the book. This will be noted for future editions of the writing prompt booklet.

ESLRs-Can the ESLRs be put in a format that is easier for the parents to understand? Some parents, particularly second language parents, have a difficult time understanding them. We could have parent-friendly ESLRs much like we have parent-friendly standards. Good idea! This has been forwarded to admin for consideration. Please send your suggestions.

We understand that the March CAHSEE is for emergency make-ups only. Is it a make-up for all grades or only a make-up for 12^th graders? It is only for 12^th graders.