• Fr. Carter is concerned with the Math proficiency in general for High School students. 
• S. Wilson asked the academic team to explain the Math approach at IHSNO in preparation for the EOCs. 
  • A. Berger stated that in the state of Louisiana, students take the EOC test to determine whether or not students are ready for the next academic chapter. 
  • The state standards are implemented at IHSNO through the creation of units. 
  • Teachers within the same subject group have common planning time. This serves as an opportunity for teachers to plan across levels of the same subject. 
  • Teachers get together to create one assessment based on the standards per subject and per unit. 
  • Teachers are using backwards design to teach based on the standards covered in the unit. 
  • Teachers also plan activities together to teach the same content in similar ways. 
  • We started double block for Algebra I. It has proven to be successful. This means that students are taking Algebra I doubling their exposure to the content  and practice the standards they are learning and achieve mastery. 
  • At the beginning of the school year, before being placed in classes, students were assessed during orientation on their current level to have a better idea of where they are and which students need more support. 
  • In addition to that, we use a web-based program called Study Island. This is personalized practice for the students so each student's proffiiciency is assessed in order to implement remediation when needed. 
  • To address another concern that Fr. Carter had brought up in terms of word-problem solving, A. Berger explained that at the beginning of the school year, the English department lead efforts to standardize writing across subject matters. 
  • In addition to this, we have after school tutoring. We have established different partnerships with other organizations for our students to receive the support they need to be successful. 
  • We will be double-blocking English I for next year to make the impact Math double-blocking is currently having on our students. 
  • Fr. Carter asked if we are preparing our students to understand proportions, fractions, ratios. R. McGee explained that that is a dynamic observed on schools across the city specially students entering the 9th grade. Due to this lack of preparation, other high schools are also opting to double-block students on math. 
  • R. McGee explained that the current elementary school standards are not stressing the importance of learning how to make those calculations instead of just throwing numbers on a calculator. 
  • Dr. Thomas asked that if students are taking a double block of math or/and English, what are students missing? A. Berger stated that students would not take an elective in order to make space for the double blocks. 
  • Double blocking will be done on the front end of the student's career, We are not foreseeing that students will double-block for long, just the necessary intervention. 
• C. Allen asked if we know anything about ACT results and how has after school tutoring impacted those results. 
• A. Berger stated that Math tutoring sessions are the most attended over the English tutoring. 
• We are aiming that our students score 22 to be college ready. Our average score right now across the board is 18. 

Committee goals will be the first item on the next meeting. 

Dr. Thomas would like to know more about foreign languages. 

S. Retzlaff asked when will we look at the dashboard again. 
F. Carter mentioned that a smaller dashboard will be created for the committee and that will be communicated to the board at large. 
S. Wilson stated that he will have the dashboard ready for next month's meeting. There are some items that need to be added to the current dashboard. 
Fr. Carter mentioned that the committee will get a broader dashboard from administration and then a more specific version will be presented to the board at large. 

 

We will reschedule next meeting from a Monday to a Tuesday since Fr. Carter will be flying in to town at that time