The Next Generation:

January 24th

Committee Members in Attendance:

Goals of the meeting:

o    Continue to build a sense of community
o    Begin developing an understanding of "Best Practices in High School Education"
o    Identify key ideas from the first two Community Forums.

Introduction:

Dave welcomed everyone to the meeting and reviewed the decision making process that is in place for developing an educational plan for high school education in Juneau. The community forums have begun, and on the wall were the recorded comments for all participants at the forum that was held on January 22nd at Filipino Hall.  The questions for the forum include :
Describe the learning environment that you do not want to see in the high schools.
Describe the learning environment that you do want to see in the high schools.
Describe your student (or another student or students in general) when they graduate from high school.
What advice do you have in making the learning environment you want to see in the high schools?
The committee was also reminded that the process for making a decision is short, with preliminary decisions to be made in the form of several proposals that will be presented out to the community and then a final recommendation to the Facilities and Program Evaluation Committees and School Board in May. 

Grounding and Equity Perspectives:

 Since many of our conversations have focused around equity issues, "Equity Perspectives" was used as an introduction activity to help provide a format for having conversations around issues of equity as support for the committee's desire to address issues of equity.  Description of activity:

• After reading the Equity Perspectives, each person will select a perspective that resonates with them.
• Each person will find a partner and share with that person what perspective they selected and why.
• In the larger circle, each person will introduce his/her partner, tell what perspective they selected, and why.

Connections from the last two meetings:

Dave presented to the group the concept of moving towards a vision from current reality.  The vision is being developed by listening to the participants from the forums, the ideas that are represented in the collective statement from the committee on "Best Possible Outcomes," and conversations that will emerge from our continued conversations.  Current reality is the evidence that describes where we currently are.  This is mostly represented from the data that the committee has looked closely at over the last two meetings and the implications developed from analyzing the data.  These implications include:

Statement:  If you're Native, you're male, and you're in poverty, the system is not working for you.
Implications:

• Increase flexibility, choices, culturally relevant curriculum, and education experiences.   
• Curriculum needs to be relevant to today's learner (modernize).   
• Make education flexible to accommodate different lifestyles/home lives.

Statement:  There is a significant discrepancy of graduation/dropout rate in the free and reduced lunch category of students as compared to the rest of the school population.
Implications:   

• There is no one option that works for all students.  More options are better
• Students need to have more access to "real people" advocates who can offer them 1:1 support

Statement:  The data shows that we have a lot of people on the high end and a lot on the low end (achievement gap)--an inverse bell curve.

Statement:  Alaska Natives are over represented in the deficit categories
Implications: 

• Look at instructional design, engagement, and rigor  
• Removal of barriers (funding) to improve access for advanced classes and activities  
• Look at successful students; survey students using assets model
• Continual teacher training so they can prepare students for the real world

Additional Statements:

• Concern over the high proficiency rate of dropouts.   
  
• Under representation of Alaska Nations in AP courses (possible reasons include no connections to teachers, cost)   
  
• We'd like more supporting data-this represents only one cohort group of kids.    
  
• What are the predictors for success?    
  
• More girls are enrolling in AP courses    
  
• More Caucasian students are enrolling in AP courses    
  
• Juneau ACE/SAT scores are higher than the rest of Alaska     
• Most reliable data as compiled here is recent (in last five years). However, it has become more reliable   
• Current data appears not to be a radical departure from prior trends (5+ years and longer)    
  
• Alaska Native graduation rate increased over 10% between 05 and 06
• Poverty increased by 4%, but the dropout rate did not.
• Freshmen Alaska Native students are at a higher risk of dropping out if they have two or more Fs. 
• Girls are doing better than boys.    
• Freshmen with two or more Fs represent a third of all students.  Note: The most Fs were in P.E. (62 of 69)  

Discussion on Best Practices in High School Education (Power Point):

A  Power Point was presented to the group on a continuum designed to portray the efforts being made to reform high schools across the country.  On one end of the continuum was the "Traditional Comprehensive High School,"  in the middle a "Reformed Comprehensive High School," and then at the other end of the continuum "Transforming to Small Schools".  Descriptions for these follow:

Traditional Comprehensive High Schools

• Wide variety of class offerings, activities, athletics, clubs
• Tracked programs
• Teachers: 5-6 classes daily / 150-160 students
• 7 period day/ 50-55 minute classes
• Departmentalized
• Teachers work independently
• Credits determine graduation
• Standard grading policy
• Large schools
• Less rigorous senior year
• Strong traditions
• Leadership hierarchy
• Career/tech offerings separate

• Wide variety of activities, athletics, clubs
• Core courses: interdisciplinary, heterogeneous
• Goal to personalize: small learning communities, advisories, flexible scheduling, reduced number of classes, and lessened teacher/student ratio
• Shared leadership
• Teachers work in teams
• Increased graduation by demonstration
• Intentional effort to move away from sorting kids
• School organized around smaller learning communities
• Increased rigor during senior year
• Career and tech program more integrated into mainstream curriculum

• Choice for teachers and students
• Organized thematically by interests, career, learning styles
• Less tracking
• More interdisciplinary work
• Autonomous--create own identity
• Many athletics and activities, but not always associated with own school
• Teachers work in teams
• Goal to personalize: small learning communities, advisories, flexible scheduling, reduced number of classes, and lessened teacher/student ratio
• Shared leadership
• Core courses: focus on meaningful and relevant curriculum, project based learning
• Usually 400 students or less

Jigsaw on Best Practices:

• Breaking Ranks II
• Coalition of Essential Schools
• America's Most Successful Schools - What Makes Them Work
• School Make Over in Mapleton: Big Picture Schools, Expeditionary Schools, International Baccalaureate, Early College, others
• Indiana Career Majors

• What connections did your group make between all the information presented?
• What aspects of each model do you feel would make a difference in Juneau?
• Was there one model(s) that you feel we should explore in greater depth?
• What questions do you still have about "Best Practices"?

Homework:     

Continue to read about best practices and watch your email for updated information.

Forums:   

The Community Forums will continue with a meeting at Alaska Native Brotherhood on Thursday evening from 5:00 - 7:00.  Please attend as many forums as possible (this is why we are not having a meeting the first of February)

Also reminder of the two all day session on March 2 - 3

Next Meeting:   

Wednesday, February 21, 2007 in the upstairs room.