Innovative Schools Committee

Purpose

• Provide the Board with recommendations that will support the Sylvan Union School District in addressing the needs of students and the community for the future.

Background

• First Meeting – June 2010• Meetings continue every 3-4 weeks• Committee Facilitators Met Each Week– Analyzed data, researched best practices, and

planned for meetings• Information was shared in meetings and online

password protected web site.• Committee consisted of parents, teachers,

principals, community members, business leaders, the Superintendent, and a Board member.

Actions

• Brainstormed and identified needs of the students and Sylvan Union School District.

• Prioritized identified needs together.• Identified Best Practices that support our

needs.

Activities

• Interviewed students.• Visited other school sites.• Consulted with professionals in alternative

education• Lots of research, and shared findings

electronically• Using the research we developed and shared

practices that could be used as a models based on the research for classroom instruction.

Development of Recommendations

• Developed over series of meetings.• Constructed out of our research.• Debated, dialogued, and continue to discuss

recommendations to support the board in their direction to guide the district to a better future.

• Importance of expanding the conversations.

Five Recommendations• 1. Digital Revolution

– Instructional programs that include latest technology advances: online learning, personal digital devices, the digital delivery of differentiated student instruction that is easily shared, combined and reconfigured.

• 2. Meaningful Assessments– Age appropriate assessments that measure student knowledge based on current world expectations and

those of the individual learner.

• 3. Home School/Communication– Utilizing the current tools of communication to expand and enhance home to school communication.

• 4. Changing Roll of the Teacher– Instructional design that incorporates standards into more student collaborative, “hands-on” pedagogy

where the teacher is more a facilitator of learning.

• 5. Global Relevance– An emphasis of educating the whole child and instructional practices that address the learners entire

education process, pre - kindergarten and beyond eighth grade.

Stay tuned…

• Over the next five board meetings we will address each one of the five recommendations in more depth.