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Voices for International Business and Education

Minutes

Academic Committee Meeting

Date and Time

Monday June 19, 2017 at 7:00 PM

Location

International High School of New Orleans Community Room 727 Carondelet St. LA 70130
Voices for International Business and Education http://public.boardontrack.com/VIBE_1

Committee Members Present

C. Allen, J. Carter, L. Crowe, L. Lopez, R. McGee, S. Retzlaff, S. Thomas, S. Wilson

Committee Members Absent

A. Berger

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

L. Lopez called a meeting of the Academic Committee of Voices for International Business and Education to order on Monday Jun 19, 2017 at 7:02 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

S. Retzlaff made a motion to approve minutes from the Academic Committee Meeting on 04-24-17 Academic Committee Meeting on 04-24-17.
S. Thomas seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Academic & Culture

A.

EOY Report

  • The EoY recap was presented by SW 
  • The report starts with college readiness percentage. Modest decreases can be observed. We have identified the areas to improve and measures will be taken to improve those numbers. 
  • ESL camp is currently taking place for new and returning students to get them ready in their academic preparation for the new year. 
  • In order to prepare our students better, we will double block English and Math. Therefore Business Computer Applications and Music classes were removed from the Curriculum. 
  • Retention for staff was presented 
  • IHSNO students will participate in the IB summer camp. It has been postponed from June to July 
  • This year we had the most number of seniors participating in the IBDO testing 
  • 72 Students were recognized as students of the month embodying the IB learner profiles this year
  • The IBDO at IHSNO faces some challenges that have been identified and remedies have been put in place for next year. 
  • Our IB French class has reached more students being promoted in higher language levels than other years. 
  • iStudio had more visitors this year than last year expanding the showcase numbers from 4 to 7 
  • PD will look different for next year. It will be tiered to ensure that all teachers get the required training they need for DP level classes. 
  • Remediation program after school. A survey was conducted to query students' satisfaction with the support received in preparation for the EOC testing. 
  • When looking at the results in EOCs we noticed that the teacher getting the lowest results was a non-IHSNO teacher. This suggests that our own teachers may be the best remediation teachers for our students. 
  • The IBDO enrollment has increased over the past couple of years. The diploma numbers however have decreased. We don't yet have the numbers for this year. 
  • We are looking at the number of ELL retained in order to decrease such number. 
  • SR asked if we will ever have more SL classes options for our students. 
  • SW stated that at the moment the priority is to get our students math-ready to be better equipped for high school. 
  • Algebra and Geometry had more students scored "proficient" in comparison with last year. 
  • We have identified the areas of growth in the English department looking at the EOC results 
  • US History presented some challenges with the class to which low scores were attributed to. A plan has been crafted to improve this area. 
  • English presented a challenge with students that needed extra support. Proficiency in the department has been addressed with the department chair to move the department forward in a successful direction. 
  • CA asked if the team has analyzed other variables contribuiting to the drop of scores. SW stated that the English department was the only department that refused to make use of the diagnostic tests MAPS. All other departments did. This provided a baseline, for teachers to work with. 
  • The math department did an great job tracking and analyzing data to monitor students' growth. 
  • Diagnostic testing will become a norm for students coming in once the school year has started. This will allow for us to track and monitor their academic growth. 
  • The math department had some challenges with Algebra teachers in dealing with student engagement. 
  • We'll have TFA teachers next year teach these classes. 
  • Fr. Carter asked about the Science course progression. SW stated that the course progression is planned so students only take three EOCs at the time (in one year). 
  • Diagnostic testing is also being conducted for ESL students. Students have shown that trying time after time, has resulted in improved scores. 
  • Sped. Our Sped enrollment grew by 10 students from last school year to this year. 
  • There is work that will be done with remediating the gap between the Sped students need and the general population. This is not a challenges only faced by IHSNO, rather the state. 
  • We will have a graduating percent increase from last year. We are not where we want to be yet, but will work toward closing that gap. 
  • Dual enrollment numbers present a shift in the Bard early college. Our hopes are that students who enroll at IHSNO, they are here for the IBDPO, and not share their attention with Bard. 
  • Bard early college is a direct competition with the IBDPO. 
  • Social Work. The social worker at IHSNO monitors attendance and the progress of students facing socio-emotional challenges as well as leading other student support initiatives. 
  • Our full-time nurse has put in place 27 IHPs, spearheaded our first Health fair, facilitated vision and hearing  assessments and glasses. 
  • Remediation services have now changed from a one full-time position in to two part-time positions. 
  • Culture. Infractions have decreased from last year. Now we have adopted restorative approaches and implementing mediations to mitigate challenges. 
  • This year we have adopted the In-house substitutes with our two full-time employees. We still request Kelly services when needed. 
  • After school student life is still developing along with athletics. 
  • We have had great opportunity to partner with the community to support the growth of our students. This year we partnered with Spirit to serve, Entergy ACT prep, Tulane Service, Community Works. 
  • Transportation is pretty costly. 
  • Transportation options will be explored by the administration. 
  • SR asked if we will ever add the music class again. 
  • SW stated that at the moment we are prioritizing our students' growth in Math and English for the '17-2018 school year. 
  • SR asked how are we encouraging students signing up to the IBDPO not meeting their requirements. SW stated that the adults in the building connecting with students are key players in motivating students. Also IBDPO teachers take the lead in monitoring the progress of students in such classes. 
  • SR asked what are we doing about ACTs and college counseling and how it translated in college applications. RM stated that the number reported to the board mid-year was a self-reported number from teachers. The number of college applications confirmed by the counselors was a higher number at the end of the year. 
  • SR asked if new teachers could shadow a more IB experienced teacher to better learn the IB philosophy. 
  • Fr. Carter asked about the academic dashboard. 
  • SW stated that the EOY recap is reflective of the academic dashboard. 

III. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

S. Thomas made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
S. Retzlaff seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:43 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
L. Lopez