Minutes

Curriculum Committee

December 14, 2016

Present:

Committee members:

Denise Harvey, Board Member

Sara Spaulding, Board Member

Administration:

William McKersie, Ph.D., Superintendent

Kenneth Craw, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent

Lisa Deorio, Principal, Weston High School

Mark Berkowitz, Weston High School Athletics Director

Kim Kus, Curriculum Instructional Leader

Meredith Starzyk, Weston High School Director of Guidance

Members of the public:

Ellen Uzenoff

Gina Albert

Absent:

Elise Major, Board Member

The meeting was called to order at 8:15 a.m.

1. Update on CIL review process

Dr. Craw reported that the consultant from Education Policy Research had to

reschedule his initial CIL review focus groups until after the New Year. Dr. Craw

indicated that the evaluation process would still be completed by the end of the

school year.

2. Discussion on December 8, 2016 draft of the WHS Physical Education Flexibility

Proposal for upperclassmen

Committee members reviewed the draft proposal for physical education (PE)

flexibility for WHS juniors and seniors. The proposal is the joint effort of a

committee consisting of Dr. Craw, the curriculum instructional leader for

PE/Health, as well as the high school principal, director of guidance, and athletics

director.

Dr. Craw opened the discussion stating that consideration revolved around how to

give flexibility to all students and not just one particular group. In recent years,

student athletes have asked for flexibility especially in their junior and senior

years. The Committee focused on how to provide flexibility for all students in the

demanding junior and senior years while staying in alignment with the State’s

physical education graduation requirement.

Currently, the high school is 0.4 credits over the State requirement for physical

education, which is 1.4. The elimination of 0.4 credits would provide flexibility

in one quarter of junior year and one quarter in senior year, allowing students to

focus on academic work and the college application process. Students could still

take another quarter of physical education as an elective.

The proposed reduction in credits would result in a 0.5 reduction in staffing

however, Dr. Craw was quick to point out that budget is not the driving force.

Stress reduction for students and providing a healthy learning environment are the

over-arching goals of the proposal. The extra time will not be used to add another

course to a student’s schedule unless the student so chooses.

Currently, the high school weight room and dance studio are open to all students

after school, as well as the main gymnasium during lunch periods. Mrs. Deorio

stated that they are looking at ways in which they can open and supervise the

weight room and dance studio for flexible student access during the day as well.

The next steps involve presenting the proposal to the Policy Committee in January

as well as presenting the proposal to the PE department.

Committee members acknowledged that when presenting the proposal to the

Policy Committee, it is critical to convey that we are not reducing the minimum

number of credits (24) required for graduation. If the State ultimately raises

graduation requirements to 25 credits with the pending High School Reform

initiative, it is not anticipated that the district will need to add back the 0.4 credit

for PE since our students typically average 27 credits upon graduation. The Policy

Committee also will need to review the section of the Board graduation policy

that requires a minimum of 6 credits each school year for seniors.

Ms. Harvey thanked all those who worked on the proposal for its thoroughness.

3. Follow up on Gauging Progress Report

The Committee discussed a series of follow-up questions from the October 24

Gauging Progress presentation at the regular Board meeting.

Common Meeting Time – The CILs have common meeting time during and after

school to meet with teachers regarding student performance. However, it is more

challenging at the middle school now with teachers teaching multiple grade

levels.

Number of Assessments – Dr. Craw clarified a point from the October 24 meeting

that we are not adding more internal assessments in math. The district is

conscious of not over assessing students.

Gender Gaps – Dr. Craw noted that this gap is not seen in other assessments such

as NWEA. The SBA is different from other assessments in that it does not involve

just filling a bubble. It is possible that the interface with the test may be inherently

biased.

SBA results – Weston’s SBA results were low in comparison to other DRG A

districts for a few grades. Dr. Craw explained that this is still a new test and our

students and teachers are still becoming familiar with it. Other measures indicate

that student performance in literacy and math is strong. However, the district is

taking concrete steps to familiarize teachers and students with this new

assessment, including having teachers take the SBA practice tests.

Reading Intervention – There are support structures in place for students who do

not meet the grade level expectations for the Developmental Reading Assessment

(DRA). Data teams meet to discuss trends in student performance and determine

if students require additional support. There is communication between buildings

when students in need of support transition to a new school.

Math Fluency – This is an area that is being strengthened at the K-5 level through

homework practice and classroom activities. Committee members indicated that

it is important to communicate with families on how to support this goal at home.

The committee members acknowledged the thoroughness and comprehensiveness

of the report.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 9:45 a.m.

The next meeting will be held on January 11, 2017.

Respectfully submitted,

June Curiano

Administrative Assistant to the Assistant Superintendent

1

DRAFT – December 8, 2016

WESTON HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICAL EDUCATION FLEXIBILITY PROPOSAL

Submitted by: Mark Berkowitz, Lisa Deorio, Kim Kus, Meredith Starzyk

Recommendation: Reduce physical education (PE) requirements from 1.4 credits to 1.0 credits,

eliminating one quarter during the junior and senior years. Health requirements remain the

same.

Junior Schedule: Quarter 1 PE, Quarter 4 Health

Senior Schedule: Quarter 2 PE, Quarter 3 Health

Rationale/Need: Weston High School is currently over the state requirements for PE. By

aligning our requirements, we will provide students with more flexibility in their school day

especially during the demanding junior and senior years. First quarter seniors, involved with

their college process, will have additional time and flexibility in their day. Junior year is very

challenging from an academic standpoint. Juniors will have the second quarter as flexible time

to focus on their other academic work and the college process. Giving students more choice

during this flexible time also prepares them for life after Weston.

During the school day, the administration is working to open the weight room and

dance/exercise room for student use in the event that students would like to use an open

period for physical activity. We are still reviewing appropriate means for supervising these

spaces and will report back at a later date. After school, both facilities are open as well.

Currently our students earn 1.4 credits of physical education and are enrolled in physical

education for one semester every year for four years, which exceeds the state mandate. In

addition, 70% of our students participate in interscholastic sports. Therefore, WHS proposes

changing our physical education requirement to better align with the state. Juniors and seniors

would each take one quarter less of PE. The total credit earned will be 1.0 credit. Health

requirements will remain the same.

Impact of Reducing PE Requirement on the following:

Graduation Policy: The graduation requirement for PE is currently 1.4 credits. This will

be reduced to 1.0 credit. There are two other districts in DRG A that also require 1.0

credit for PE. The total number of credits for graduation will still be 24 as per Weston’s

BOE Policy #6146 on Graduation Requirements (See Appendix A). Research has shown

that the majority of WHS students graduate with 26 to 29 total credits, so this slight

DRAFT

2

reduction should not have an impact on students achieving the minimum number of

credits required for graduation.

In the event that the state passes a revision to Connecticut General Statute 10-221

increasing graduation requirements to 25 credits, our district will be well-positioned

since most of our students are already earning over that amount (See Appendix B).

Other Courses/Schedules: This will not have an impact on other courses. Juniors will

have PE first quarter and Health fourth quarter, while seniors will have PE second

quarter and Health third quarter.

Staffing: This proposal will result in reduction of .5 FTE in physical education.

Curriculum: The combined 11/12 curriculum will be split between the grade levels.

Students will only experience each module once. For example, they will only have one

dance unit that will be in junior year. CPR will be in senior year. The curriculum is also

up for renewal, which gives us the opportunity to make any needed adjustments.

Evaluation for Program Success or Continuation: Student survey information regarding the use

of flexible time and impact on PE will be collected and analyzed following the first year of

implementation.

Supporting Research/Data: The following pages include information relating to:

PE Credit Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………p. 3

PE Staffing……………………………………………………………………………………………………..….p. 4

DRG A Physical Education Requirements…..………………………..…………………………….p. 5

WHS Credit Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………....p. 6-7

WHS Student Schedules…………………………………………………………………………………….p. 8-9

DRAFT

3

WHS Physical Education Credit Analysis

2016-17 WHS Physical Education Credit Allocation

Year # school days in semester

# PE classes

# minutes based on 56-minute classes

# of 40-minute class equivalents for credit purposes

Credit Equivalent (40 min. classes/180)

Freshman 90 45 2520 63 0.35

Sophomore 90 45 2520 63 0.35

Junior 90 45 2520 63 0.35

Senior 90 45 2520 63 0.35

Total 360 180 10080 252 1.4

2017-18 Proposed WHS Physical Education Credit Allocation With Increased Flexibility for Juniors and Seniors

Year

# school days in semester or quarter

# PE classes

# minutes based on 56-minute classes

# of 40-minute class equivalents for credit purposes

Credit Equivalent (40 min. classes/180)

Freshman 90 45 2520 63 0.35

Sophomore 90 45 2520 63 0.35

Junior 45 22 1232 30.8 0.17

Senior 45 22 1232 30.8 0.17

Total 270 134 7504 187.6 1.04

DRAFT

4

WHS Physical Education Staffing

WHS Physical Education Class Sizes

Year

FTE

9th 10th 11th 12th Total

2016-17 .58 .58 .58 .58 2.3

2017-18 .58 .58 .28 .28 1.7

Year

Class Size

9th 10th 11th 12th

2016-17 23.5 23.5 24.1 24.1

2017-18 23.1 23.1 22.9 22.9

This proposal will result in an overall .5 FTE reduction

in PE staffing for 2017-18 school year, while

maintaining appropriate class sizes.

DRAFT

5

DRG A High School Physical Education Requirements

District Total PE credits

All Grades Required?

Class Frequency Class

Duration

PE credits count

toward GPA?

PE credits count

towards Class Rank?

PE credits over summer?

Weston 1.4 Yes 4 times in 8-day cycle

for a semester 56 min Yes Yes No

Darien 1.0 Yes

9th/10th: 4 times in 8-day

11th/12th: 3 times in 8-day cycle

48 min No No No

Joel Barlow

1.25 9,11,12 7 times in a 8-day

cycle 48 min Yes Yes No

New Canaan

1.5 yes

9th/10th: 3 times in an 8-day cycle for the full year; 11th/12th: for a

semester

48 min Yes No Yes

Ridgefield 1.0 9, 10 Daily for each

semester 43 min Yes No

Yes, credit

recovery

Westport 2.0 9,10,11 4 times per 5-day

cycle

Varies, 45-65 min

Yes No Yes-up to

0.5

Wilton 1.5 Yes 6 times in 8-day cycle

45 min Yes No No

The PE credit requirement ranges from 1.0 to 2.0 in DRG A. Darien and Ridgefield require 1.0 credit. In

Fairfield County, Greenwich and Newtown also require only one credit. If Weston reduces its

requirement to 1.0, the district would be aligned with other high-performing districts.

New Canaan and Westport provide flexibility by offering PE over the summer.

DRAFT

6

Weston High School Credit Analysis

Credits Earned Class of 2016 Class of 2015 Class of 2014

% out of Students (out of 190)

% out of Students (out of 145)

% of Students (out of 168)

24 1.6 1.4 2.4

25 7.4 7.6 8.9

26 23.2 23.5 26.2

27 31.6 32.4 25.0

28 19.5 18.6 19.6

29 13.2 13.1 10.7

30 1.1 2.1 3.6

31 0.5 1.4 3.6

Total students enrolled in WHS for four years

190 145 168

Total number of graduates 205 163 183

Total percentage earning 24 or more credits

97.9 100 100

Average credit hours earned 26.9 27.0 27.1

*24 credits are required by Board of Education Policy

98-100% of students graduate WHS with an average of 27 credits. The highlighted section

of the table shows the distribution of students earning 26 – 29 credits upon graduation,

which is approximately 80%.

DRAFT

7

WHS Credit Analysis Credits Earned Junior and Senior Year

2014 - 2017

Class Grade

Total

5.0

credits

or more

Total

6.5

credits

or more

%

6.5

credits

or more

Total

6.0-6.4

credits

%

6.0-6.4

credits

Total

5.0-5.9

credits

%

5.0-5.9

credits

2014 11 176 123 69.9 45 25.6 8 4.5

2014 12 173 62 35.8 94 54.3 17 9.8

2015 11 165 109 66.1 47 28.5 9 5.5

2015 12 160 48 30.0 89 55.6 23 14.4

2016 11 204 130 63.7 66 32.4 8 3.9

2016 12 203 61 30.0 101 49.8 41 20.2

Juniors and seniors are required to carry a minimum of six credits in each of their junior and senior

years. Highlighted in the yellow bands, 63%-67% of juniors over the past three years have earned

6.5 credits or more. The white bands show seniors. Thirty to 36% of seniors earned 6.5 credits or

more. The six credit minimum will need to be refined for seniors with this proposal.

DRAFT

8

WHS Sample Junior Schedules

Current Junior Schedule (7 credits)

Period Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4

1 AP Language AP Language AP Language AP Language

2 PE/ Lab PE/ Lab Open/ Lab Health/ Lab

3 Pre-Calculus Pre-Calculus Pre-Calculus Pre-Calculus

4 AP US History AP US History AP US History AP US History

5 Latin 3 Latin 3 Latin 3 Latin 3

6 Physics Physics Physics Physics

7 Intro to Econ Intro to Econ Open Open

8 Drawing Drawing Drawing Drawing

Proposed Junior Schedule (7 credits) with flexibility

Period Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4

1 AP Language AP Language AP Language AP Language

2 PE/ Lab Open/ Lab Open/ Lab Health/ Lab

3 Pre-Calculus Pre-Calculus Pre-Calculus Pre-Calculus

4 AP US History AP US History AP US History AP US History

5 Latin 3 Latin 3 Latin 3 Latin 3

6 Physics Physics Physics Physics

7 Intro to Econ Intro to Econ Open Open

8 Drawing Drawing Drawing Drawing

DRAFT

9

WHS Sample Senior Schedule

Current Senior Schedule (6 credit minimum)

Period Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4

Period 1 English 12 English 12 English 12 English 12

Period 2 PE/ Lab PE/ Lab Health/ Lab Open/ Lab

Period 3 Statistics Statistics Statistics Statistics

Period 4 American Gov. American Gov. Intro to Psych Intro to Psych

Period 5 Open Open Open Open

Period 6 Spanish 6 Spanish 6 Spanish 6 Spanish 6

Period 7 AP Biology AP Biology AP Biology AP Biology

Period 8 Photography Photography Open Open

Proposed Senior Schedule (6 credit minimum) with flexibility

Period Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4

1 English 12 English 12 English 12 English 12

2 Open/ Lab PE/ Lab Health/ Lab Open/ Lab

3 Statistics Statistics Statistics Statistics

4 American Gov. American Gov. Intro to Psych Intro to Psych

5 Open Open Open Open

6 Spanish 6 Spanish 6 Spanish 6 Spanish 6

7 AP Biology AP Biology AP Biology AP Biology

8 Photography Photography Open Open

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX B