Good afternoon. My name is Lauren Chernoff and I am the chair of this curriculum and instruction committee. And I'm calling the June 4th meeting to order. I'm joined by my colleagues, Dr. Deans and Dr. Rashid. Um, and today we do not have any public comments, so we will move straight into our agenda, which are, first item is item 3.01, the approval of draft minutes from May 7th. Are there any additions or edits to the minutes? I'll entertain a motion. I motion to approve the minutes. Aye second.
All those in favor? Aye. Aye. None opposed. That will pass and we will move on Now to our action items. We have one action item tonight, 4.01, which is policy 50 70 field trips. Uh, before we, um, before I make a motion, I will turn it over to staff with any updates. I think Mr. Ferry is here to speak to any changes that were made between last meeting and this meeting. Uh, thank you. So, uh, we did address one of the concerns that you shared with us aligning, uh,
making sure everyone understood while they're attending field trips. All school board policies and regulations are applied. So if you were looking on page two, um, of the red line, you would see where it says that all school board policies and regulations, including those outlined in the student's rights and responsibilities handbook are applicable during school sponsored field trips upon return school appropriate student discipline action may be initiated based on any violations observed during the field trip. Any further questions?
Colleagues, did you have any further questions? Um, I do not either. And I thank you so much for working with us on that language to get that, um, ready. And I also thank you for the updates that are gonna be forthcoming in the regulation that we have also talked about. So I appreciate that work as well. And with that, I will make a motion that policy 50 70 field trips be me. Oh, nevermind. Go ahead. Just a minute. Okay, go ahead. There was, There was one comment, um, indicating that there was concern that teachers would not have an appeal, uh,
if a field trip was denied by the building principal. And not that this would be always true, but it, it reads, recommend appeals process for teachers when a principal does not approve a trip. OCPS has principals who retaliate against teachers that do not bend to their will. Uh, and one way is by not giving approval for field trips, there's nothing teachers can do to appeal. Something should be included for teacher appeals. What do you think about that possibility?
Mr. Ferry? Did you wanna chime in on that? I, I think we touched on that briefly in our first meeting. We, or the, when we first got the feedback, but we did you just summarize? So in summary, the instructional leader of the school was your building principal and she, they have to validate the merit of these field trips. Now they may reach out to a, to receive additional support from either instructional supervisors here in the admin building or directors level directors. Um, but there, they're, in my opinion right now, the, there's not an appeal process. 'cause the, the principal is the one making those final
decisions on if a field trip should be, um, you, is it vital, is it useful? Does it serve a purpose towards the instruction? Um, obviously that there, the reason they're very reason they're taking the field trip is to support the instructional learning in, in the classroom. So I, I still believe that should be a final decision made by a building principal. I just wanted to say it out loud because I read it and, um, thought that it should be a part of record that we did address it sit. I would also say in terms of
just thinking about if it felt like it was a retaliatory measure, that that would be something that would be handled in a separate line of communication with a separate department as an educator. Correct. Correct. They could file a grievance work with the HRTD, um, if, if they choose to feel like there's retaliatory actions by their building leader. Okay. Before I make a motion, is there any other discussion? I'm sorry. No, you're good. I'm glad you did. Um, with that, I will make a motion that we will move policy 57 field trips to the full board. Do I have a second? Second. All those in favor? Aye. None opposed.
So that policy will now move to the full board. Thank you so much for being here. Alright, now we will move on to our information items. And if it feels like I'm moving quickly, that is on purpose. We have, um, the Ciac awards tonight at six 30, which several of us are attending at Loudoun County High School. So I'm not meaning to rush you, please take your time. But if it seems like we're moving quickly, that is why. So we do have a hard stop at six. So the first presentation tonight is item number 5.01, which is our division literacy plan. And I believe we have Ms. Catherine Neil here to present and possibly someone else.
So if that is true, I'll ask you to introduce yourself as well. I don't have it in board docs. Thank you. We're happy to present our, um, revisions to Division literacy plan. Dr. Picard is not, um, able to be with us tonight, so I'm gonna share some of the secondary changes that are included in this document. And then we're also very happy to have Margaret Berry here to speak to some of the changes that impact our special population. Specifically special education, uh, students will be receiving special education services. So I'm gonna let Catherine, um, start by maybe talking about any revisions or, or just a, an overview of our division literacy plan.
And then we'll talk about some, um, secondary changes. Good evening. Um, so our division literacy plan was started, um, last year, um, as a one of the requirements for the Virginia Literacy Act. It's gone through for kindergarten through fifth grade. It's gone through a couple, uh, revisions, um, with the VDOE and now, um, by June 30th, we need to submit, um, our new updated plan to include grade six through eight. And so that's what you see here in front of you. You'll notice that many of the changes, um, are in regards
to, uh, grade six through eight. All of the, um, the K to five information that you see in here is, has remained consistent from the last time we did the revisions. So I'll just highlight a few of the secondary changes. And, um, again, this is in the document, that's LinkedIn board docs. Anything in red is a new change. And I think one of the things that I wanna highlight is that these are not, um, these are changes for our plan. These aren't changes for our practices for the most part. Um, this is really just writing down things that have been in place for many years, um, that have been supportive
of students in secondary English language arts. So you'll notice, uh, we've added in here in terms of communicating with stakeholder groups, regular meetings with our middle school office to inform them. This mirrors what Catherine and her team have done in support of elementary, um, English reading and writing. And, um, if you look on page, um, page three of the document support for our middle school reading specialists that meet quarterly. Um, again, this is really a, a mirror of our elementary office and the support that they've received as they've implemented the Virginia Literacy Acts, really,
um, supporting them in the same way. The big changes you'll find are on page five, um, of the document. And again, this is in the same way that, uh, elementary is, is captured. We have our secondary resources. So the board recently adopted vis my perspectives as our core, um, secondary ELA text, the supplemental materials that are listed there, uh, Newsela, no Red Ink, uh, developmental spelling, Lexia Power Up. Those are all, um, supports that our teachers are already familiar with. There is nothing new here. Um, and so we'll continue to provide support
and training, I think especially around Lexia Power Up, which is new, um, but to continue to refine how we use that and make sure we're using that in appropriate and supportive ways for students. Uh, but these are not new programs with the exception of savi. And I don't know if Margaret, you wanna add anything to the, um, the column that says special populations including ELL Gifted or Students with Disabilities? Sure. So currently, um, language Live is in place right now across our school. Division 2.0 was what was approved by the VDOE. So we will upgrade to 2.0 this summer with Language Live.
We've also listed Spire visualizing and verbalizing and Read Live, which are all in place right now and approved by the VDOE for grades K five. Those interventions are also in place currently for students in grades six through 12 with students with disabilities. Um, uh, after a lot of conversation and ourselves as an office and with our local cac, we had some concerns about using interventions that were approved by the VDOE but would result in requiring our students with disabilities to change intervention from grade five to six. Um, and right now we have a lot of great evidence showing that our students are making great progress
with those interventions currently in middle and high school, but also in elementary. And we just had a pretty significant concern both in our office and in our community around shifting interventions for those specific students. So you'll see here there's an asterisk connects to some of those because those programs were not currently reviewed or approved by the VDOE for grade six through eight. Um, aspire is under review and might come out on the October cycle four list, we don't know yet. Um, I don't know about the other ones, whether or not they'll be on the October list. So that is why they're listed there in that way, uh,
because we do feel very strongly that students need to continue to have access to those particular interventions in middle school for continuity of education for those individuals. On page six, two more things to highlight. Um, in section three, we do have the requirement around VDOE, uh, modules again this year, but this will only pertain to new teachers. Remember last year was a very heavy lift of all of our teachers having to go through this, and our teachers have completed that. And so we will be focusing on supporting those teachers who are new to LCPS and have to complete that. We think that we can do that within, um, the time we have
during our countywide professional learning days and things of that nature. But we do have teachers who will have to go through, um, those modules again this year. And then the last point I wanted to highlight as changes is on, um, page eight And, oh, sorry, two things, but on page eight, uh, our training overview, especially around, um, savi my perspectives, our new cortex for middle school, we will have opportunities for, um, teachers to start learning savvis in June. Um, those are optional sessions. So there is a required training that teachers will have to complete in August, or they may choose
to complete it in June, um, at the end of the school year, or they'll have to do it when they, um, come back during the countywide days in August with, um, the SAVI team. And then, as I mentioned, ongoing support for those supplemental and intervention materials that are already in use, but we're continuing to refine how we use them. And then one final point on page nine, um, as you know, we continue to be monitoring, um, guidance around bowels testing in six through eight. We do have, um, some additional information around that which has helped to clarify a little bit. But again, we will be, um, using all of these tools
to monitor student progress and assess their growth towards their goals under the Virginia Literacy Act. And we are happy to, um, answer any questions that you might have. Thank you Mr. Rounds. Lee, um, colleagues, do you have any questions or comments? Anything? Um, I just wanted to thank you for your work on this. I know that middle school is gonna be experiencing, uh, I feel like we overuse the word heavy lift. I'm kind of tired of that always being the narrative, but it is. Um, so I thank you for that. I also feel very grateful that we've sort of untacked all of each of these individual components throughout the year in curriculum and instruction.
So to see it all compiled is not a surprise. And so that is exciting. I did wanna ask, um, now that we're a year deep into new elementary curriculum, is there, I, I heard you say that there's an October cycle for the six through eight intervention resources. Is there any ongoing review for elementary and is there any update on you fly being an intervention? Great question. Um, yes, that same cycle that, um, Margaret was referring to, um, in October, there will also be updates to the elementary, um, supplemental and intervention lists.
Okay. Um, from what we've been told is that Uly has been reviewed and, um, so it will, um, we will get a definitive answer in October about how we might be able to extend our usage of Uly. Right now it's just that the supplemental for certain grade levels. Okay. That's great news. Um, and then in terms of these cycles that happen, is there ever a threat of things being taken off of the list? Like, I mean, but we've already adopted a curriculum, we're adopting these things. Like are there, is there a chance that they'll say, well,
nevermind, and then that comes off the list and we have to find something new? That's a really good question and I can definitely take that Structure With the four Blocks isn't working in order to fit in things like Advisory and MTSS and schools want some flexibility on how they can make that work. Thank you. On, um, phase one of this project, and the reason, uh, we can go back off the graphic. The reason we showed, uh, that graphic was because our principals kept asking for guidance on what was allowed and what not allowed was scheduling. We agreed as a group
after getting teacher feedback, um, where students are different and need that one-on-one and need different approaches. Those are adaptive principals can do what they need to do, and there's certain structures that are unique to the middle where that's just the way a middle school is versus a junior high where you're just lectured to. So we agreed on the loose and tight that is now gone forward in working with teaching and learning and their project team. Um, phase one, which is the 26th, 27th school year, uh, we're just analyzing the benefits
but also looking at the barriers to how we use resource Block. Resource block, for example, has been around for a long, long time. Eighth graders sit for 90 minutes in a research block. And I think that we all agreed that maybe at one point in history that was necessary. But all students are different and many of our principals are creating labs, et cetera, where teachers are pulling students out of resource to ensure, uh, it's it's valuable time. We have only six hours with them, so we need to make it as valuable as we can. We're also gonna establish options
and guidelines for principal autonomy, as Beth said, within their schedule to address pathway options and choices for interventions. We know the word intervention is thrown around a lot and, and we've talked with teaching and learning. Um, intervention doesn't mean that I'm gonna teach and whoever doesn't get it goes to intervention. It means that that's unique to that child or that group of students. So after phase one, thinking long term, and this is where the true partnership with teaching and learning is going to be vital. Um, we're gonna be looking at other options and establishing what that may be,
giving guidelines to principals. Um, and that could be just with electives, that's why we listed them, but not limited to those subjects. Um, and we are looking at potentially like how do we do electives differently in the middle level? Um, and then the third bullet is, of course this could have an impacts on budget and staffing. So we would be looking at that very purposefully. And then involving other departments like DDI and HRT, What we all believe is that students need more access to more pathways, not just art strings, et cetera.
Um, we are, we're not recognizing the talent that we have, um, in front of us. And and that's what, together with teaching and learning, we're trying to see how can we keep the core beliefs that we have on that anchoring graphic at the same time aligning with the, um, framework, the instructional framework and the superintendent's vision to ensure that our students still have access with principal autonomy at the middle school. And that's all we had. Thank you so much, colleagues. Questions, comments? No, Thank you again. I mean, this is really great. I think after, on the heels of having our schools
that have had alternative schedules this year presenting, and I did get a sneak peek at some of their preliminary data and it's pretty amazing. Um, so now that we're starting to see that this is data-driven to be flexible and meet the needs of your students, I'm very excited. I, we've been on many visits together and every single one they ask this question. Um, so I think that giving the, the short term phase and the long term phase is, is really great. And if we need to put those budget things in, that is definitely helpful for us to know. And I agree with you and I, I think my colleagues do too. The Pathways conversation is definitely arrived.
So I'm anxious to see how that can morph into the middle school level with course planner and all the different bells and whistles that we offer here at LCPS. So thank you for your work and, um, looks like we'll have to plan some more visits to see how this is, is working out. So I look forward To that. You do keep keeping busy, but we enjoy you at the middle schools. The principals really love the feedback that you, you provide them, so thank you for that. Well, it's been fun to run it through this committee and I'll look forward to, um, the updates along the way. So thank you for your work. Thank you. Alrighty, we will move on. We're moving right along guys. Um, item 5.04, firing Arts Fees, and I believe Mr.
Brownley is presenting tonight as Mr. Pearson was, had a unexpected thing that took him away. So I appreciate you stepping in Mr. Rounds and the floor is yours. I'm happy to be here and I'm very happy to have some real experts on this. Uh, joining me over here we have Julie Galvin, our art specialist, Elaine Sanford, uh, performing arts specialist and Mark Rogers as well, uh, representing music, theater and art. Um, and so they have been instrumental in helping us collect some good data, um, to provide you with today and can help inform some of the work
that is happening in our schools. This really does align, uh, with our strategic plan around enabling core academic excellence. And the key here is for all students. We know how important the arts are, how much it means to students, and we wanna make sure that the structures we have in place support every student being able to access these courses and to make sure that our teachers have the materials and the resources that they need to run fully funded, um, world class programs that, that we have here in LCPS. So we're gonna talk about three types of funding and the way that we fund our fine arts programs. The first one is direct school allotments. The second one is the support
that comes from the fine arts office now. And the third part is kind of the, the part that we wanna share with you and, um, that is new, but doing some work into looking at the fees that are collected at our schools, which courses teachers are charging fees for, why they're doing that. And some recommendations around how, how we might be able to improve our data collection around, um, some of those practices. So the first type is direct school allotments, and you've seen this chart on the next slide before, um, Michael shared with his Mr. Pearson shared this with you in a previous presentation. But these are, this is the current allotment table for the arts, uh,
and what comes to all of our fine arts programs through our current budgeting practices. So at the elementary level, um, schools receive $1 per student for music, um, and then $8 and 62 cents per student in art. At the middle school level, it's $7,375 for music programs, um, $600 for performing arts or, um, exploratory dramatics. And then $14 and 56 do, um, $14 and $56 per student. And then the high school level, $9,600 for music,
$3,300 for the performing arts. And then you can see there's a split between the, um, art electives of 2128 and photography 27 93. Below that is the recommendation for how that money for the music programs is split between our various, um, programs. So of the, for example, $7,375 in the middle school, we recommend that 2000 be allocated to band. And you can see the other numbers there. Same for the $9,600 at the high school level. So that is kind of the, um, the, the base funding
that our programs receive. And on the next slide, our fine arts office does a tremendous amount to supplement that and make sure that our schools have what they need. When I was in middle school, um, principal before I even knew of the great work that happens in his office, I always said, I don't know how Michael Pearson does it, but anything that is needed, instruments, furniture, he found a way to do it. And it was, it's his support is greatly appreciated by our principals. And again, that speaks to his team being so well aware of our school's needs and making sure that we're, um, we're,
we're making people aware of that. So here are some things that are, um, not necessarily included in as a line item in a budget, but through Mr. Pearson's office, we make sure that we support schools in doing so. All maintenance, maintenance and repairs of equipment that would include things like kilns or, um, school owned instruments when they break or have any sort of issue are all covered by his office materials. Program supplies, furniture is a huge one. Making sure that our, um, the furniture in these programs is updated and kept in good working order. Instruments, digital subscriptions, supporting professional learning for teachers,
covering student fees for things like, um, the Virginia Band and Orchestra directors, caps, district 16 events, all of those are fully covered by the fine arts office and uniforms. So band uniforms is one item that is on a, uh, refreshment cycle. So every 11 years schools receive a new set of band uniforms, um, both for their performing concert band and for their, um, for, for marching band. So the, the area we wanted to really dig into, oh, sorry. And there are, this is not just the fine arts office, but we do support other offices, um, in making sure
that our fine arts are fully staffed. So support services are great partners to our team in making sure that all, um, inspections are done, that the stage curtains, lighting, electrical systems are in good working order, none of that would fall to the school. Um, and the same thing for, uh, DDI, making sure all the audio visual equipment, um, the black box areas, that everything remains in good working order and is updated as needed. So this is the part that we really wanna spend some time on and that we spent a lot of time collecting information from schools. Um, so on the next slide, it's kind of a timeline of what we did at the beginning of this year.
Uh, we shared a presentation on the current fine arts supports and needs through this committee. And in March and April of this year, we sent a survey to all, um, elementary, middle, and secondary fine arts teachers across all programs and tried to do some work to define out the kinds of, um, fees that are required for participation in courses, to gather some information around how much they charge and what they're charging for to give us a greater insight. And here we are today to share our recommendations around establishing some allowable and consistent course fees for some of the most common items
that we establish so that we can gather some data on, um, exactly what is needed for these programs to fully function and be fully funded. So you'll see here this, this slide represents high school, uh, and so there's 17 high schools. So what's listed here on the slide is any course where at least six schools charge any type of fee. Um, so we went with about that number is arbitrary, but it's about a third of our schools if a school felt like they needed to charge a fee for a particular class. So you can see for advanced mixed course, 13 of our schools charge some kind of fee
for student participation in that course. Um, and then in art photography was, uh, a consistent course, studio art one and two and theater, uh, a a, a specialized course called Drama Projects where schools put on a, a production that does require some extensive costuming and, and other production aspects. There is a, a fee at six schools established with that. The next slide is middle school. So for middle school, because Watson Mountain is a little bit of a different, they don't have seventh and eighth grade, we went with five schools instead of six schools. You can see that course six, seven, and eight.
We had five schools that charge a fee. And then we have art eight, um, five schools charging a fee for that course as well. We then dug into why are we charging fees? And the vast majority of those fees, the vast majority are associated with a t-shirt or a uniform. Um, and that is really part of the course, you know, to have some sort of consistent dress or, or, um, uniform when performing, which is a, a component of our music courses. But by far that's the most consistent fee that we see charged is to give students, um, those materials. The other two in music are
instrument supplies and accessories. And so that would be, uh, for the teacher to have kind of an emergency supply some extra drumsticks if a student forgets theirs at home or reads if a read breaks during class, but things that allow students to continue moving forward and participating in class. Um, and then print music is another one where we see some number of schools listing that as a reason why they're charging fees. Those two are highlighted in red because we would, um, we will clarify to schools that we don't believe those are things that we should be charging students for. Um, that we do have other mechanisms to supply
and support that, and that does not need to be passed on to students. But it is something that schools listed as a reason why they are feeling the need to charge fees for a course. On the second row, you can see, uh, these are art and theater. And so, um, for art, again, the vast majority of the fees come from the purchase of a sketchbook. Um, which is again, an essential part of that course where students are, are doing their work and, um, creating their work. And then at the high school film and paper, so this is a photography course, um, where just that money that we saw at the beginning of the year for the allotment, maybe it has not kept up with some
of the costs of those supplies and the need to equip that, that classroom. And the last one is production supplies and materials. This would refer again to that theater class that has a heavy production component to it. And students may need to, um, have some level of costumes or set design or supplies, things like that, that go above and beyond what can be covered through the current allotment. So these are our recommendations moving forward. Um, the first one is returning back to Regulation 40 20, which does spell out, um, allowable fees, one of them being consumable materials.
Um, but again, this is a point of clarification to our schools that fees should represent the actual cost of the item. Um, and that we would propose to establish some consistent fees for some of these most commonly charged items in schools, uh, to communicate to our teachers a fee for sketchbooks and photography supplies so that we don't see differences between our schools and to kind of establish, um, a consistent fee that schools are are charging for these items right now. Same for, um, the t-shirt and uniforms or production supplies. That will be really helpful for us to gather some data
around just how much funding schools are, or what schools are funding and how much funding they're requiring through these fees. We also wanna clarify some practices. Um, and I mentioned this already around what fees should be charged for to make sure schools know that we do have ways to support things like emergency supplies and, um, print music, that those things are not part of our fees. And to also clarify how schools are collecting this. So, um, it's, it's kind of difficult to get a view of that data when sometimes that money is coming through a supply list and sometimes it's being charged as a fee.
Uh, we can pull the information of how much, uh, a school is using for sketchbooks if it's charged through the school cash app or it's paid through that. If it's on a supply list, it's really hard for us to have visibility and support how we can make sure schools have what they need for those supplies. So we want to make that consistent in how we do it and how much we charge for those items to give us better insight and visibility into the current practices that are out there. And then on our last slide, there's some next steps for us. Uh, so we wanna distribute a memo that really clarifies this, that schools know the type
of funding they receive, um, the kinds of things that are covered through the fine arts office, and some greater guidance around what are allowable fees and what those fees could reasonably be moving forward. We also know there's a lot of interest in our extracurricular fine arts programs, and that's an area where we need to dig in some more. Um, and that can, that's further work for us to do, especially around making sure that, um, I don't know if you've been to a marching band show recently, but the expectation around sets and lighting and equipment have really drastically changed. And we wanna make sure that what we're providing
to schools have kept pace with what these programs now require and need. So that's gonna require some work for us to gather that and make sure that we are, um, we are making sure that schools have what's needed, and then finally to explore some budget initiatives to support this, um, and make sure that there are no barriers to student participation in these programs and that we are equipping schools with the required materials that, that they need, um, to deliver the kind of instruction that we want for all of our students. And so with that, um, we can take any questions that you might have.
Thank you so much Mr. Ronsley, colleagues, do you have any questions or comments? Dr. Rashid? Thanks, chair. Um, again, I'm a huge, huge fan of fine arts. My kids are really, uh, passionate about this. I, you know, I look forward to continuing to support it and I look forward to it evolving even further. Um, again, excited. Thanks so much Dr. Deans. I think I support the kids being involved. Um, the uniforms, um, and of course this is not fine arts, but you know, even the sport uniforms, you know,
you have to be consistent. So somewhere we need to get everybody the same thing that they need rather than, and, and, and as you said, emergency supplies, emergency replacements of that t-shirt when somebody puts Clorox on it. So, so some consistency. I I, I don't know how to get there, but, but I agree that your next steps are Yeah, and we really, we really look at this as kind of a phase one to get to what you're talking about and make sure that our schools have it spelled out for them exactly what supports they have. And the more that we can clarify
and get consistent around that, the, the more we have insight into how we better support these programs and make sure there's no barriers to student involvement and participation in these things that we know are really meaningful and impactful, uh, for them in our schools. I appreciate the conversation. And you know, I'll admit, like originally when we were, when we go through the budget, we, a lot of times fees are something that's listed to consider and this year we put in the CTE fees to be covered, which is amazing to give access. And I kind of was thinking along the extracurricular line,
but through our conversations realizing that there are also course fees, I think that this is a really great place for us to start because it, it can maybe be consistent. I do. Are there mechanisms in place for kids that can't buy the chorus shirt and that, can you speak to that? I know that there are, but can you speak to that so that right now people don't think there are a bunch of barriers? Sure. 'cause I think we do that for kids. Yeah, Absolutely. Schools do an amazing job of working with family liaisons and other partners to make sure that every child has the opportunity to participate. Um, I, I guess I would say to that, what we wanna make sure is that that requires, uh,
maybe a parent reaching out or letting someone know there are probably, there could be invisible barriers that we're not seeing. Um, and so we would want to make sure that those don't exist and that every child has the opportunity to participate, um, without, without having to have that conversation or without having to, um, you know, seek that help, um, and make sure and know how to seek the help. We want to, we wanna be proactive on that and make sure we've opened those doors for everyone. I would just add to give appropriate credit to the board for including funding for differentiated support students.
So this is not left on the schools to figure out the board was is very intentional, including budget, um, money and the operating budget to support simplicity. Yeah, I think that was a good step in sort of making sure that those loose ends are tied up for kids that wanna, you know, participate and have access. And particularly in, in middle school where we require them to be in the arts, you know, we certainly wouldn't wanna require it and then not be able to cover the fees. I have sort of a quality control question. If we move, and forgive me, my friends over here, I'm not an artsy person in terms of painting and drawing,
but I know that there, my daughter is, and so I know that there are more high quality sketchbooks, there are more high quality materials that you can use as you advance through the arts. So my question is, how do we make sure that yes, we're consistent and yes, we're equitable across and we're making sure that kids have what they need and if we're all purchasing the supplies for them or whatever, or if we're giving them the fee, how do we ensure that the quality that these educators are expecting to have in their courses will remain? Because I'm guessing right now it's not a one-stop shop
for every photography class. I doubt every teacher's asking for the exact same things or maybe certain things that different teachers like to have. So is there a thought process or plan in terms of making sure that they can still have the high quality materials that they want? 'cause often when you go to a bulk approach, you can lose some of that. Um, I think I would say it's really critical that we have some teacher voice in this too. That this is not us. Like this was a first attempt to gather some data. There's probably a much deeper dive we could take with our teachers in these programs to make sure that we are giving them the things that they,
they really need. Um, and there might be a difference between a, a sixth grade sketchbook and a student who is really committed in AP art. Uh, we may have some of those distinctions. Um, but, but so, so we really do need to kind of work kind of class through class and thinking through what's really, um, essential there. But I don't think that would be a decision that would be made in isolation. That's a decision we need to make together, um, with our teachers who are, who are doing this and can speak more to the quality of the materials and the, the type of materials that are really necessary.
Thank you. All right. I look forward to updates on this. I, um, I hope that we can get to a place where we can alleviate some of this for our families. I think that that would be a step in the definite right direction. So thank you so much. Thank you to the colleagues that are here. Appreciate all that you do. Alright, we have one more information item tonight and that is our item 5.05, which is the regulation 50 30 for our assessment and grading common guidelines. And I believe Dr. Ellis is our presenter tonight. The floor is
Yours. Yes. I thank you. Um, chair, I'm sorry. Oh, that's, it's alright. Um, I am joined by Dr. Blake Lock. He is going to share a little bit about the revisions that we have done to regulation 50 30.1. Um, there are multiple regulations attached to policy 50 30, so we are talking specifically about the one, um, related to assessment and grading. Um, and after that I'll talk a little bit about the work that he and Dr. Single have been leading with our assessment and grading work group.
Um, I do apologize there should be a third attachment in board docs. Uh, you may see it. I do not. Uh, they're working on getting it posted. It's essentially an overview of the handbook. Uh, we were hoping to have a final version of the handbook it we are working on making some last tweaks to it and then working with the communications office on, um, making it, um, presentable to the public. So we do have an overview of the headings and that should be in board docs, um, momentarily. I think they're still working on it, so I'll turn it over to Dr.
B to start. Thank you Dr. Ellis. So in looking at the regulations, uh, and making the edits for the updated version of policy 50 30, there was some rearrangement for the flow to put it in more of a logical order, which is something that matches in the policy itself. Um, and then looking at it as far as updating the specific content in it, changing some eighties to seventies, uh, making the adjustments that were in the policy to make it consistent with the policy. We had a work group that worked on the handbook as well. They had a chance to review the po the regulations as well. And we got a lot of great feedback from them as far as
what should be added to it, what should be clarified in it, and what should be done with it. Um, we added that special population section upfront, um, really because we got a lot of feedback about students with disabilities, English learners, and we felt it was really important to put that front and center before you got into anything else. Just so that is in the back of the mind, um, we added some detail to the reasonable effort concept. What is, what is not as far as reasonable effort is concerned. Um, we took the roles and responsibilities sections that were in the previous version of the policy
and we incorporated them throughout. I think they show up the most in the homework section of the regulations, but we just sprinkled them in where they best fit. Um, and we really, like I said, we had multiple option opportunities for the work group to give feedback. There was, um, an example of some feedback they gave was line 42. There was a word timely. They really wanted to unpack that a little bit more. So you'll see like a section below that in like 1 44, 1 45 that actually kind of spells out the purpose of actually giving timely feedback around having the student, how giving the student time
to learn what he needs to learn or she needs to learn prior to that summative assessment. So in terms of going into more detail and providing more support and resources for teachers implementing the policy, we had an amazing group of educators meet three times, um, in the past couple of months. The work group included middle and high school principals, deans, assistant principals, teachers, instructional coaches, um, and instructional facilitators, as well as representatives from the Department of Digital Innovation who are our grade book, our electronic grade book experts.
Um, like I said, the group met three times and also had pretty detailed homework assignments between each meeting, um, to do things offline. So the handbook contains multiple sections, including an overview of the policy and regulation, the philosophy of assessment and grading. Um, more detailed definitions that are easily accessible. So teachers, um, have sort of a one stop shop. Um, it has a section for roles and responsibilities, information regarding the grading scale and then details around grading assignments
and assessments, including different types of assignments that teachers might use, categories that teachers will use in the grade book and what types of assignments can be used in each category. Um, I will say that the DDI, that our DDI representatives have been extremely helpful in thinking through how teachers will actually use the electronic grade book. That is probably the issue that came up the most quickly and frequently in these, in these focus groups. Um, they, they knew that they had to work within the parameters of the policy and the regulation and they had some ideas about
how they could, how we could make their lives easier, um, and less clerical. And particularly for, you know, someone like me as a former English teacher, the math behind the scenes and the grading was not my favorite thing to do. So, um, so they were, they were excited about the, the possibilities there. Um, there are several, um, there's guidance around how final grades are being calculated and again, um, how that will look. In the Phoenix Grade book, there's an expanded section around academic integrity including information about
student expectations and disciplinary guidelines. And then as we have been building out this handbook, we have, um, identified needs for different appendices. So we will have a side by side comparison of the major changes in the new policy versus the old policy. This is all based on feedback and, um, requests from from the group. Um, a flow chart for CLTs to use when determining what type of support students can be provided and reassessment guidelines. Um, so, so we heard loud and clear that, um, a, a checklist
or flowchart would be really helpful. Uh, we had some great example examples, excuse me, from schools, um, on things like their own school-based late work policy. So we are including, um, examples of a late work policy again that, um, schools or CLTs could, um, tweak that's in alignment with the policy. And likewise, we also had a couple schools share examples of their own academic integrity procedure. So what happens when a student, um, has cheated on an assignment or, um, used AI inappropriately, things like that.
So, um, we're providing examples for that as well. Um, just a couple more notes about what is upcoming. So we are putting the final touches on the handbook. We have gotten a ton of feedback. Um, Dr. Sing and Dr. Blake Lock have spent time with all middle school principals, all high school principals, all middle school counseling leads, all high school directors of school counseling, instructional coaches, the Office of Special and the Office of Special Education. So they've definitely taken the show on the road and gotten a ton of feedback based on those different roles.
Um, schools will be provided a ton of resources, um, that I hope will be useful in implementing the revised policy. So again, um, Dr. Single and Dr. Blake Lock have set up office hours for any staff member, um, to participate. Um, they've had pretty consistent, uh, participation in those, even given the crazy time of year. So we're doing those now through the end of the school year and then we'll pick them back up in August. So office hours just for, um, for example, uh, one principal brought his entire leadership team and they were just able to sit down with, um, Dr.
Single and Dr. Blake lock and process the policy with with experts. Um, we will finalize a PDF version of the Handbook for Staff. So if you're the kind that needs the paper, you can print it and have it in front of you. Um, we are where you going? We are also, We're also creating a public facing website for families and students, um, that will be translated into multiple languages. Um, we are again, at the request of, of the stakeholder group, we're developing a poster
with a link to the website that can use in their back to school night materials, et cetera. Um, Dr. Single and Dr. Blake Lock have opened a Let's Talk platform. So if teachers, um, or administrators have questions about implementation, that can come to one central location and we can respond, um, with one consistent response. Instead of, um, emailing the level offices or emailing teaching and learning, it'll be funneled into one location. Um, we're developing a frequently asked questions document and turnaround presentations that principals will be able
to use with their CLTs in August. Um, we've gotten some feedback from all those groups I mentioned on that, um, presentation to make sure it has what they needed. And I think I've touched on everything. What did I miss? Okay, that's it. Uh, so we're really excited and I just, um, huge, huge thanks to Dr. Blake Lock and Dr. Sing for their work in bringing these stakeholders together. Um, I think it's gonna be that much stronger because of all the feedback that we've gotten. Thank you so much for your work colleagues. You have any questions or Comments? It's in board docs now. I saw it and we had it printed. You had it for us. So, um, my question is,
I'm getting some emails about feedback and some things and from parents and even students and teachers alike. Would you like the process for that to be, to send that on to you all and so that you can consolidate that. How should we, or should we just send them to you? Dr. Ellis, would you like us to continue that process? What would be the most efficient way if it's gonna get funneled into the same pool, how would you like us to participate in that? Is the Let's Talk Live yet. It is live, but I believe that was intended for internal uh, purposes. So for staff inquiries, we, you can send them all to me.
Okay. Basically is a short answer and then you'll funnel it and I'll funnel staff inquiries through the Let's Talk process and, Um, work. But should we encourage staff to use that resource, That would be great. Okay. Yes. Awesome. Thank you guys so much. This is exciting stuff. Looking forward to seeing the handbook and this is just really great. So thank you for engaging and all the work that you've done for a really long time on this policy. So, um, is there any with that, we'll move on to new business. Is there any new business? No, I didn't think so. So with that, we are adjourned.