The 2010/11 Early Release Calendar 2010-2011 (pdf).

You can find Kim Whitworth’s take on the 2010-2011 school budget here.

The Eckstein budget for the 2010-2011 school year has been approved by staff.  The documents below show the 2009-2010 (this year’s) budget and the 2010-2011 budget.  Some highlights:

Item	2009-2010	2010-2011
Total	$6,350,855	$6,119,759
Allocated Teachers	44.75	43.25
I-728 (class size reduction)	$199,450	$0
Projected Student Population	1156	1134

Note: I-728 money was used to pay for just over 2 teachers.

Projected student population breakout at the time of budgeting (actual enrollment varies slightly)

Grade	2009-2010	2010-2011
6	370	406
7	372	362
8	414	366

2009-2010 Budget, page 1 (.jpg)
2009-2010 Budget, page 2 (.jpg)
2009-2010 Budget, page 1 (.pdf)

Full Inclusion Committee

October 26, 2009

Purpose: The purpose of the Full Inclusion Committee is to review research and data regarding full inclusion and to make a recommendation to Eckstein staff and families for the ‘10’11 school year.  This movement would only affect Language Arts and Social Studies; Math would continue to offer Honors classes.

Attending: Kara Golgert, Liora Minkin, Kathy Sherman, Eric Miller, Ruthann Allan, Josh Hanson, Kim Whitworth, Miriam Hart, Stacey Norman, Jodi Gedansky, Terry Elrand

Summary of Meeting: At this meeting we read an article out of Education Leadership that outlined the rational to replace tracking with heterogeneous grouping in schools.  This helped us identify benefits and challenges to this model.

• Benefits:
  • High expectations for all students
  • Differentiated instruction that meets the needs of all students, including advanced learners
  • Our science and elective classes are already heterogeneously grouped
  • Acknowledgement that students come with multiple intelligences that are not identified in our current advanced placement testing
  • Students who didn’t get into Spectrum but are highly capable would be better served
  • This addresses working on 21^st Century skills
  • Many of our students are already coming from a full inclusion model
  • This model moves us closer to fulfilling the Districts philosophy of social justice as well as Eckstein’s philosophy of inclusion for all

• Challenges:
  • There would be more pressure for teachers to articulate how they are meeting the needs of all students
  • We would need to provide ongoing professional development for teachers in the areas of differentiation and rigor
  • We would need to ensure that the classes are balanced in terms of the program ratios
  • Parents will want to have their children in a pull out Spectrum model regardless of our assurances that we will meet the needs of students in a heterogeneous model

• Next Steps:
  • Gather feedback from the full inclusion pilot we’re doing at Eckstein
  • Look at more research on heterogeneous grouping
  • Gather input from Language Arts and Social Studies teachers
  • Get information out to families via, PTSA meetings, website and listserv

• Calendar:
  • November 9 – Share our work with PTSA in an open meeting
  • November 23 – Full Inclusion Committee meets to share information on benefits and challenges
  • December 14 – PTSA Parent Forum
  • Parent and Staff survey during this process

Supporting Documents

The Case for Untracking (.pdf)

Tracking and Ability Grouping in Middle Level and High Schools (.doc)

Tuesdays
HR/7 (8:05-8:55),
Period 1 (9:00-9:55)
Period 3 (10:00-10:55)
Period 5 (11:00-12:35 incl. lunch)

Wednesdays
HR/7 (8:05-8:55)
Period 2 (9:00-9:55)
Period 4 (10:00-10:55)
Period 6 (11:00-12:35 incl. lunch)

Here are some important dates for the Eckstein 2009/2010 school year:

September
9—First Day of School
29 – 2 Hour Early Dismissal (Eckstein) PGE
30—2 Hour Early Dismissal – Technology (District)/ After school Dept.

October
27—2 Hour Early Dismissal (Eckstein) PGE
28—2 Hour Early Dismissal TBD (District)/ After school Dept

November
6—End of First Quarter
11—No School (Veteran’s Day)
25—1 hour Early Dismissal
26, 27—No School (Thanksgiving Holiday)

December
18—1 hour Early Dismissal
21-1—No School (Winter Break)

January
18 No School (MLK)
28—Last Day of Semester
29—No School (Day Between Semesters)

February
2—2 hour Early Dismissal (Eckstein) PGE
3—2 hour Early Dismissal (District) TBD/After school Dept
15—No School (President’s Day)
16-19 No School (Mid-Winter Break)

March
2—2 hour Early Dismissal (Eckstein) PGE
3—2 hour Early Dismissal (District) TBD/After school Dept
19—Professional Development Day (District) PGE sharing
29-2—No School (Spring Break)

April
16—End of 3rd Quarter

May
18—2 hour Early Dismissal (Eckstein) PGE
19—2 hour Early Dismissal (District) TBD/After school Dept
31—No School (Memorial Day)

June
22—Last Day of School (1 hour Early Dismissal)

Eckstein Schedule 09-10

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:05 – 9:00	1			1	1
9:05 – 10:00	2	SEE	SEE	2	2
10:05 – 11:00	3	BELOW	BELOW	3	3
11:05 – 12:35	4 – Lunch			4-Lunch	4 – Lunch
12:40 – 1:35	5			5	5
1:40 – 2:35	6			6	6

	Tuesday	Wednesday
8:05 – 8:55	Homeroom (50 min.)	Homeroom (50 min.)
9:00- 10:35	1 (95 min.)	2  (95 min.)
10:40 – 12:55	3 – (95 min.)/Lunch	4 – (95 min.)/Lunch
1:00- 2:35	5 (95 min.)	6 (95 min.)

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY LUNCHES 1ST LUNCH 10:40 – 11:05 Class (25 min.) 11:05 – 11:40 Lunch (35 min.) 11:45 – 12:55 Class (70 min.) 2nd LUNCH 10:40 – 11:40 Class (60 min.) 11:40 – 12:15 Lunch (35 min.) 12:20 – 12:55 Class (35 min.) 3rd LUNCH 10:40 – 12:15 Class (95 min.) 12:20 – 12:55 Lunch (35 min.)

MONDAY/THURSDAY/FRIDAY LUNCHES 1st LUNCH 11:05 – 11:35 Lunch (30 min.) 11:40 – 12:35 Class (55 min.) 2nd LUNCH 11:05 – 11:35 Class (30 min.) 11:35 – 12:05 Lunch (30 min.) 12:10 – 12:35 Class (25 min.) 3rd LUNCH 11:05 – 12:00 Class (55 min.) 12:05 – 12:35 Lunch (30 min.)

Discussion of Schedules: Feedback and questions raised via email and conversations are included below.

A/B +C SCHEDULE

Feedback:

• • Need for more concrete information on what activity looks like
  • Missing one A or B day is like missing double classes
  • Kids do need HR; maybe it could be shorter
  • Make sure that literacy is taught across the board
  • Activity could rotate within teams
  • Homeroom was important for 6^th grade
  • Math and Science could be teamed in a A/B schedule
  • Boredom in longer class periods
  • Not as routine as seeing students every day; could be difficult for students
  • Longer classes could mitigate a need for HR
  • Professional development needed for teachers for longer periods
  • Strong support for PE waivers
  • Look for creative ways to fulfill the PE requirement

Questions Raised:

• • How will Activity classes be accountable so that they are meaningful and effective?
  • How do students choose Activity?
  • How will all students get an Activity that they want?
  • How or is Spectrum affected in this schedule?
  • If we lose HR, will we notice the loss of it more than we think?
  • How would non-standard week schedules be handled?
  • How do endorsements of certificated staff affect this schedule?
  • Could the Activity time rotate quarterly?

Social Studies/PE Semester Schedule

Feedback:

• • Multiple stakeholders noted that this required least amount of change
  • Concern that Social Studies is not being valued as a school
  • Parent feedback more focused on need for full-year Music and World Language
  • Strong support for PE waivers
  • Would not be good to lose the alignment work between SS and LA

Questions Raised:

• • If you have a PE waiver, could you take an additional half year of SS?
  • How can we incorporate World Geography curriculum into other classes?
  • How clearly do people understand that SS is a placeholder in that schedule? How realistic is it to interchange SS with another subject?
  • Was the familiarity of this schedule an appeal versus making larger scale change?
  • Is simpler better? Is routine better?

7 Period Schedule

Feedback:

• • 45 minute classes seem too short
  • Strong support for PE waivers
  • Too many transitions in the school day
  • Could be better suited to the mindset of student attention span
  • Routine and repetition could be helpful
  • Loss of HR for 6^th grade would be difficult
  • Loss of prep time could be tough for teachers (5 minutes per day)

Questions Raised:

• • Number of preps? Minutes? For a teaching day

General Thoughts (italics show comments from last week)

Information we need to continue on all schedules:
·       How will the staffing be affected in each schedule? Will we need more staff? Less staff? Different staffing assignments?

1 What data should be used to make this decision?
2 What set of principles will be used to guide this schedule?
3 What percentage of staff need to vote to agree to necessary waivers?
4       What preparation/communication is needed for parents/guardians, teachers, and students in order to make the transition to a new schedule?

5 How many TAs are there in every current class period? Is there enough room in the schedule to eliminate the option of having TAs?

Constraints that may affect schedule decision:
·       Budget
1 Staffing
2 School enrollment
Eckstein Policy for P.E. waivers for the 2009-2010 school-year:
·       P.E. waivers will be available at 7^th/8^th grade (religious, health, or directed physical activity) if students are taking 2 of the year-long electives listed below

1       Year-long electives are: Band, Orchestra, Choir, World Language, Art
2       A year-long TA position does not allow a student to get a PE waiver
3       Specific information will follow in terms of how students can obtain this paperwork

To gather input from parents and teachers about factors that might affect the schedule surveys were sent out.  The initial results are described below.  If you’d like to take the parent survey it can be found here: survey.

Parent Results (pdf)

Teacher Results(pdf)

There were many excellent comments in the surveys.  Some of the themes to emerge include:

• A later start time is desired by many parents.
• PE Waivers (not requiring students to take PE if they can demonstrate participation in an outside physical activity) are highly desired.
• There are concerns about whether PE as currently taught is a good use of time.
• Many calls to keep the Music program.
• Foreign language instruction is important to many parents.
• Homeroom for 6th graders is more important to parents than is homeroom for 7th and 8th graders.

Initial feedback from teachers regarding the sample schedules was gathered and discussed at today’s BLT meeting.  Notes are below.

---

Discussion of Schedules: Feedback and questions raised via email and conversations are included below. Please keep in mind that there are many opportunities to provide feedback to BLT. If you want to make sure your voice is heard, please take the time to email BLT reps, attend a BLT meeting, or meet with Kathy on Monday or Kim on Friday.

It is so important that we remain open, flexible, and supportive of one another.

A/B +C SCHEDULE

Feedback:

• • Teachers being asked to teach more hours per week (2.5 hours)
  • Teachers have less prep time (down 15 minutes)
  • Seems like we can keep everything while also adding to it
  • Offers the opportunity to go in depth in our class work
  • Allows time for projects during longer periods
  • Students won’t have as many transitions to make
  • Best for students; other schools have used it (Nathan Hale)
  • Huge benefit to ASD students due to less transition and more time in one place
  • More options in terms of scheduling inclusion
  • Math, World Language, Music—concerns that all classes won’t meet everyday
  • Attention span of middle school students: are classes too long?
  • Professional development for teachers is needed! Longer class periods require change in teaching methods
  • Better way of building relationships with students due to more time in class period
  • Concern over what exactly students would do during Activity
  • In order to accommodate P.E. requirements, some of the “Activity” classes will need to be P.E. OR a full year Music class OR a World Language
  • Science dept. overall liked A/B schedule

Questions Raised:

• • How do we keep each teacher’s student load under 150 students total without adding a great deal more staff? (quantify how much more staff is needed)
  • What would teachers teach during Activity?
  • How would students sign up for the Activity?
  • Could a teacher teach 4 days of Activity and then have 1 day as a study day/SSR in order for teachers to have additional prep time?

Social Studies/PE Semester Schedule

Feedback:

• • Science happy with that schedule although concerned about SS teachers and if we would need new staff
  • Not reasonable to scale back SS in both 7^th and 8^th grade
  • Just because the district/Eckstein doesn’t have a clear idea of SS, the state does and we can use that to guide curriculum
  • Add more semester-long electives (Music and World Language)
  • Moving World Geography to 6^th grade in conjunction with Eastern Hemisphere
  • 6^th grade level—LA and SS work together on literacy skills together—cutting SS might impact literacy
  • Literacy may become more of a burden for LA across the board
  • This schedule has the potential to create divisiveness among staff: pits SS against full-year electives
  • Big value in this schedule is that it is staying as close to our current schedule as possible

Questions Raised:

• • What happens to some of the SS staff?
  • Why are we not putting the option on the table that parents/students have to choose between Music and World Language?
  • Could PE be offered year-round two days per week (T/Th) and a World Language/SS/Music the other three days per week (M, W, F)?
  • Could we add a Zero period to alleviate the pressure on SS/Music/World Languages?

7^th Period Schedule

Feedback:

• • Science doesn’t like this — periods are way too short to run labs
  • Math — difficult to teach in 45 minutes
  • Teachers would have to teach 6 classes per day instead of 5
  • Fewer students in classes (150/6)
  • 45 minute class periods with 7 periods may produce a more frenetic environment
  • Easier to schedule inclusion classes due to more periods offered during the day
  • Gives students the opportunity to take 3 electives

Questions Raised:

• • How do we keep each teacher’s student load under 150 students total without adding a great deal more staff? (quantify how much more staff is needed)
  • In courses supported by district curriculum, what are the expectations for time per class?

General Thoughts

Information we need to continue on all schedules:

• • How will the staffing be affected in each schedule? Will we need more staff? Less staff? Different staffing assignments?
  • What data should be used to make this decision?
  • What set of principles will be used to guide this schedule?

Updated List of “Things We Know”:

• • P.E. waivers will be available at 7^th/8^th grade (religious, health, or outside physical activity)

Constraints that may affect schedule decision:

• • Budget
  • Staffing
  • School enrollment