Instructional Council Agenda and Notes

The Instructional Council, led by Asst. Supt. Anne-Marie Harrison and consisting of all deputy/assistant superintendents, the superintendent, and academic directors, meets regularly to discuss academic matters. Here is the past week’s meeting agenda with notes:

Instructional Council Meeting

Aug 15, 2022 In attendance: Michelle Eldredge, Karen Brock, Suzy Cox, Anne-Marie Harrison, Suraj Syal, Clay Bingham, Jason Cox, Todd McKee, Doug Finch, and Kerry Crockett Not present: Judy Rose, Jason Garrison, Alex Judd, Keith Rittel, and Ron Twitchell

1. PD Course Credit Requests Karen Brock Nothing today
2. Secondary Course Credit Requests Todd McKee
3. Academic Initiative List Discussions: Review and Update Anne-Marie Harrison 30 min Today we need to look at the whole document and reassess. Review of Academic Initiative Planning 22-23 Document
4. EL Tech Tool, Ellevation Michelle Eldredge 15 min Michelle needs to know from Alex and Todd when to share this tool with principals. Michelle shared the Elevation data dashboard for ELs. This syncs to Powerschool daily for data. All Title III compliance can also be viewed here. It also provides lessons and EL strategies tied to them for each student and teacher. This will be covered by EARS funding. Michelle will send logins today for every teacher that has a Powerschool login. Todd would like to schedule a separate principal/admin for training on this tool.
5. Math Professional Development Karen Brock 10 min Into Math presenter came and modeled 4-6 grades in each class in each elementary school. She taught 39 different lessons across the district for where the teachers were at. Teachers saw resources they hadn’t used before. Most teachers were using spark your interest incorrectly. She modeled how to differentiate, check for understanding, and implement exit tickets. Teachers are using the process incorrectly. We added voluntary coaching. Each teacher received a stipend and a credit for following the four steps with coaching. 50% of teachers utilized some level of coaching. Carla is doing extensive work with all secondary teachers to have them on the same pacing guides. All secondary schools/principals involved in planning. There will be monthly PD. There is a course for teachers. Carla will be modeling in classrooms throughout the year with classroom discussion.
6. Mastery Connect Set Up and Usage Suzy Cox 10 min We were able to get a trial run last year, but we’re stalled at the moment because we need a leadership session before implementation can take effect. Anne-Marie: This helps with assessments and grading. This has been on Keith’s initiatives list for 7 years, and we’re now jumping in. Michelle: Can they imbed accommodations on this? Suzy: We’ll look into it.
7. Utah Early Learning Plan–approved version Anne-Marie Harrison 10 min
8. 22-23 Curriculum Review Cycle Judy Rose & Anne-Marie Harrison 10 min This is becoming more political. 1: library media – we’ll be taking a draft to the board for their vote. It will create some pain and some work. 2: curriculum – our process and procedure cover what was discussed. The big message for both of these is transparency. We must be very transparent with our procedures. Our cycle aligns with the state review cycle. We need to adjust ours a bit to allow more time. Phase 1 – Curriculum Needs Assessment. This year: secondary language arts (6th grade will be part of secondary now) Michelle Eldredge, Ron Twitchell, and Julie Hagen will be leading this group Phase 2 – Curriculum Review and Recommendations. This year: World Languages Led by Clay Bingham, Judy Rose, and Paula Heyn Phase 3 – Professional Development. This year: English Language Arts K-6 Led by Karen Brock, Tiffany Evans, and Christine Whatcott
9. Next Meeting on Aug. 29 Anne-Marie Harrison 5 min Todd and Alex report on Academic Initiative List: Standards-based Grading/DISC & Early Learning Plan–Anne-Marie Finish reviewing the initiatives document Preview: Library books policy

Information provided by Kerry Crockett