PROGRESS AND PROCESS EVALUATION

PROGRESS MONITORING AND PROGRAM and PROCESS EVALUATION

AT

VERGENNES UNION HIGH SCHOOL

(Prepared by: Ed Webbley, Peter Reynolds, Tom O’Brien, and Carol Spencer)

Meetings, Discussions and Studies about further participation in NEASC

1. Ed’s Points About Adopting NEASC or HSOM (December, 2005) (Also see Appendix VI for extended notes)

No one canned initiative will do it all
We need to develop our own handshake 7 – 12: articulated public agreements about our program
Use the new School Quality Standards
What should a student get out of his/her four years at VUHS?
Move towards the Branford CT model of graduation requirements
Set up advisory system that helps students move towards completion of grad requirements
One of the problems with the NEASC report, is that is doesn’t come to roost in the classroom or individual level of accountability needed to make significant change towards becoming a more academic institution
How many gods can we answer to: NEASC, AYP, School Quality Standards, and Grade Expectations
Power Tools: Walk throughs by the principal and the Skillful Teacher model
What will work best is a vision

Literacy and numeracy based school
Coupled with other supportive initiatives
Rich school culture of instruction
Vertical teaming towards AP courses
Curriculum on the internet
Flex schedules so there is remediation during the school day
Move towards a trimester
Strong student self assessment
Understanding by Design (Grant Wiggins)
With a close look at how the school functions

Rick Dufour’s ideas about teaching and assessing based on the learning opportunities in grades 9 and 10, then
Students choose a path – either college path or voc ctr path

ISSUES THAT WE ARE GRAPPLING WITH

How to see Expeditionary Learning through to its full implementation
Creating a strong 9^th grade program so that students make a successful transition into high school
Leadership in embedding literacy into all classes
Mishmash of courses that don’t add up to or lead to programs per se
The lack of a cohesive English scope and sequence
Mindset that students here are not smart enough for AP courses
We are tracked mentally even though we are not tracked actually
There is a lack of direct instruction in the classrooms
The use of multi-level materials is tracking within the classrooms
People do not teach bell to bell

What to do next:

Hold a conversation with the faculty and come to an agreement about what we should be good at and go from there, rather than laying any one initiative on them.