Additional Details

District and Community Relations Committee Meeting

AGENDA

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

5:00 PM

DeLayo-Martin Community Room, Alice and Bruce King Educational Complex, 6400 Uptown NE

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Minutes of the District and Community Relations Committee Meeting

Board of Education

Albuquerque Public Schools

A District and Community Relations Committee meeting of the Board of Education of Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) was held Tuesday, September 25, 2012, beginning at 5:00 p.m., in the DeLayo Martin Community Room, Alice and Bruce King Educational Complex, 6400 Uptown Blvd. NE.

I.          Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m.

1. A. Roll Call

Present:  Analee Maestas, Kathy Korte, Lorenzo Garcia, and David Peercy; by phone were Martin Esquivel and David Robbins

Absent:  Paula Maes

1. B. Adoption of the September 25, 2012, District and Community Relations Agenda and the Approval of the August 28, 2012, District and Community Relations Minutes (Discussion/Action)

Chairman Lorenzo Garcia asked for a motion to adopt the agenda and approve the minutes; Joseph Escobedo requested that the order of items III and IV be exchanged.  David Peercy made the motion with the request; Analee Maestas seconded the motion.  Board members unanimously adopted the September 25, 2012, District and Community Relations agenda with the aforementioned change and approved the August 28, 2012, District and Community Relations minutes.

II.         Public Forum

There were no participants in the public forum.

III.        Developing Early Literacy in New Mexico

Joseph Escobedo introduced Matthew Pahl and Michael Weinberg, staff of the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee (LFC).  Mr. Pahl and Dr. Weinberg presented the LFC’s findings in a report on Developing Early Literacy in New Mexico, which included visits to Griegos, Emerson, and Dolores Gonzales elementary schools.

Student performance is highly influenced by economic and language status and student attendance.  In school year 2011, 53 percent of students were considered proficient or above in reading in the 3^rd-grade reading portion of the New Mexico Standards-Based Assessment (SBA); 10 percent of students were within a point or two of scoring proficient.  Improving the scaled scores used to determine proficiency by two points along with focused efforts to improve attendance for at-risk students would help overall performance levels.

Early education improves performance, but lack of coordinated resources and inconsistent quality limits success.  A high percentage of students show up to kindergarten far behind expectations and are at-risk of academic failure.  New Mexico, along with the federal government, spends more than $117 million on pre-k, Head Start, and special education pre-kindergarten that help narrow, but not fully close, achievement gaps.  The different programs do not collect or analyze data in the same manner, making it difficult to determine effectiveness.  Standardized early learning assessments, however, indicate that students have similar growth from both the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) and the State of New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) pre-k programs.

New Mexico’s K-3 Plus program is making positive differences for the neediest students, but there needs to be better alignment with pre-k programs and improvement on how the programs are implemented.  The Legislature increased funding for the K-3 Plus program so no one would be turned away.  Many districts view K-3 Plus as an optional add-on program, and decline participation in the summer program because of an expectation of low attendance; it is a struggle to get teachers as well.

Mandatory retention policies are typically coupled with increased intervention, making it difficult to determine whether retention policies, interventions, or the combination of both are impacting student achievement.  Retained students are at an increased risk of dropping out of school, earning less income, and engaging in crime.  Short-cycle tests (DIBELS-Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) show a higher percentage of proficiency, while SBA scores (comprehension) remain flat.

Quality teaching, along with teacher evaluation and preparation, are the most important school-based influences.  Recruiting and retaining high quality principals is a challenge for districts, but results in less teacher turnover and better reading scores.  More collaboration between the district and the state is needed.  Mr. Pahl suggested that APS look at ways to add to the implementation of the pre-k and K-3 Plus programs.  The Utah report will be released soon.

Committee members requested the following information to be brought back:

• Where are pre-k and K-3 Plus programs being utilized;
• How many students qualify who are not being served;
• An estimated cost to make a concentrated focus;
• The Legislature’s plans for evaluation of the programs;
• The estimated cost of transportation to and from the programs (which has been a barrier in the past).

The committee advised of the importance of making the necessary adjustments to keep assessments comparable.

Discussion included:

• The error range with regard to the “Frequency of Grade Three Reading SBA Scale Scores, FY11” chart presented on page 14 of the report and how one converts raw test scores for closer data analysis.  As scores differ from year to year, one can only compare scores within a given year.
• A two- to four-day decrease in absence and a 40 to 80 percent overall reduction in truancy have been revealed through Dr. Peercy’s and Dr. Winter’s study of students that move from an old school to a new school.
• An update for Race to the Top grant will be provided soon.

IV.       Legislative Conversation with the Honorable Jimmy Hall

Carrie Menapace, legislative liaison and policy analyst, introduced Rep. Jimmy Hall, member of the House Education Committee and Legislative Education Study Committee.  Rep. Hall distributed copies of the New Mexico Public Education Department’s August newsletter and addressed the educational topics being discussed by the New Mexico Legislature and the Executive Committee.

There will be changes in House and Senate leadership, depending upon the election, which may affect the direction of funding in the future.  No change is expected with Governor Martinez’ or Secretary Designate Skandera’s efforts concerning education, grading of schools or evaluation of teachers.

Rep. Hall anticipates the LFC to change the definition of “small school” in the funding formula so that charter schools won’t take away from the intended small, rural schools districts.  There is no desire to close school districts as that can kill communities.

The other 88 school districts in the state are concerned that APS may exert more influence, and receive more money, at the expense of the other districts.  Currently, about a third of the districts no longer have 4-H programs, which are vital to rural communities; they also have different transportation needs (i.e., four-wheel drive buses).

The new budget predicts $270 million more in state revenues; how much will be allocated for capital outlay is not yet known.  The LFC will take a closer look at the funding expenditure for the K-3 Plus program; not all the funding was used and there was transportation money built in.

Rep. Hall desires to see the PED and CYFD program models become uniform.  The differences are in licensure for private enterprise (day care centers, etc.).

Beginning Spring of 2013, teaching candidates will be required to pass a phonetics-based reading test to be eligible to be licensed.

Rep. Hall encourages APS to reach out and concentrate on the business of educating kids in Albuquerque, and helping small school districts by providing opportunities for them to be heard.

Committee members expressed their appreciation for the information and committed to take the lead on opening communications with the smaller districts: Suggestions include: 1) take field trips to the rural areas; 2) collaborate with legislature to find ways to help one another; 3) develop a network with all parties.  The committee desires nonrestrictive pay for teachers, an across-the-board raise for teachers, and finding a way to get rid of ineffective teachers.  There was agreement that the district should identify programs that have tangible results and direct resources into those.  There is hope that, with enough focus on pre-k, retention won’t be necessary.

V.        Presentation on the Association of Latino Administrators and

Superintendents (ALAS) Superintendents Leadership Academy

Eddie Soto, associate superintendent for Secondary Education, introduced Martin Sandoval, principal, Eldorado High School, and Yvonne Garcia, principal, Rio Grande High School.  The two APS high school principals have been selected to participate in the ALAS academy during the 2012-13 school year.  The ALAS organization, formed in February 2012, is an affiliate of the national organization and has about 140 members.  ALAS de Nuevo Mexico will soon select its first interim board and complete its bylaws.

The mission of ALAS de Nuevo Mexico is to advocate for public education by inspiring and cultivating the development and promotion of Hispano/Latino educational leaders for the benefit of all students.  The purpose is to establish networks that support educational advancement for all students, advocate for the improvement of the educational process, develop pathways for leadership opportunities, and provide mentorship and support for aspiring leaders and administrators; the latter includes a $10,000 scholarship.

National meetings bring to light differences and complexities between districts, as well as new ideas.  APS is well ahead of many districts in professional learning, use of data, professional development, common core, experience in the classroom, and what has been put in place to address the achievement gap.

Committee members remarked that rural communities are a good place to begin outreach.

VI.       Update on the APS Calendar Committee Process

Andrea Trybus, assistant superintendent, Human Resources and lead administrator for the APS calendar committee, discussed the development of the 2013-2014 Instructional School Year Calendar.  The calendar committee must meet the procedural requirements of 183 days divided among instructional days, teacher preparation days and professional days.  School days must comprise five and one-half hours per day for kindergarten through sixth grade and six hours per day for grades 7-12.  The committee may consider holidays and breaks historically scheduled by the district as non-instructional days and other considerations that have come to pass over time, such as employees not missing a pay period, fall break around balloon fiesta, etc.  Principals and parents will be added to the calendar committee.  The first meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m., October 9, in DeLayo Martin; they will reconvene in November.  The District and Community Relations committee members are invited to attend.

Mirroring what was done this year, the next school year would start Aug. 12; Spring break preference is to have it either with UNM or after testing in April (the latter would not coincide with UNM).  Rio Rancho mirrored what we did this year.  Many major cities look like us; others go longer into June.

Committee members requested that this item be brought back in November for further discussion.  APS’ primary goal is to educate and guidelines need to be set.  Discussion is needed on what is lost and if those things are critical.  SBA testing should be taken into consideration and allowing teachers enough time to review; community needs can be considered after education requirements are met.

IX.       Next District and Community Relations Committee Meeting

Chairman Garcia announced that the next District and Community Relations Committee meeting would be held on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, at 5:00 p.m., at the Alice and Bruce King Educational Complex in the DeLayo Martin Community Room.

X.        Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 7:03 p.m.