MCCPS Board of Trustees
Minutes
Academic Excellence Committee Meeting
Date and Time
Monday March 29, 2021 at 7:30 AM
Committee Members Present
Ellen Lodgen (remote), Jessica Xiarhos (remote), Kimberly Sullivan (remote), Matt Cronin (remote)
Committee Members Absent
Meg Upton, Molly Wright, Sarah Plymate Ragozin
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
Jessica Xiarhos called a meeting of the Academic Excellence Committee Committee of MCCPS Board of Trustees to order on Monday Mar 29, 2021 at 7:34 AM.
C.
Accept Remote Participation
Jessica Xiarhos made a motion to In light of the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, Governor Baker issued an emergency Order on March 12, 2020, allowing public bodies greater flexibility in utilizing technology in the conduct of meetings under the Open Meeting Law. This committee makes a motion to accept this Executive Order for this meeting of the Academic Excellence Committee, on March 29, 2021.
Ellen Lodgen seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Sarah Plymate Ragozin |
Absent
|
| Matt Cronin |
Aye
|
| Jessica Xiarhos |
Aye
|
| Molly Wright |
Absent
|
| Ellen Lodgen |
Aye
|
| Meg Upton |
Absent
|
| Kimberly Sullivan |
Aye
|
D.
Approve Minutes from 03/01/21
Kimberly Sullivan made a motion to approve the minutes from Academic Excellence Committee Meeting on 03-01-21.
Matt Cronin seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Matt Cronin |
Aye
|
| Molly Wright |
Absent
|
| Kimberly Sullivan |
Aye
|
| Meg Upton |
Absent
|
| Sarah Plymate Ragozin |
Absent
|
| Ellen Lodgen |
Aye
|
| Jessica Xiarhos |
Aye
|
II. Academic Excellence Committee
A.
Update on Draft Criteria
Compiled draft - eliminate periods, colons under section headings
Art update - Draft with Dominique still in Mass State Standards format. Looking to find the right "grain size" with limited knowledge of visual arts.
Matt to send Art draft to Ellen and Jessica
"Revised by"? - eliminate; working document. Any future revisions to go through Jessica/Committee
2nd page to include contributors (Academic Excellence Committee of the MCCPS Board of Trustees), bookmarked links to subjects, list of committee members, faculty, Mission statement of Ac. Ex. committee
B.
Next Steps - Website?
Learning at MCCPS - when ready, post a link.
Posted under "Family Documents" as well.
Work of this committee will shift to alignment.
Training for the Staff. Documenting projects, units, assessments.
Presented by Matt (as head of curriculum) to faculty.
How does this become a living document?
Portfolios.
For 21/22, use as a planning document.
Parents want to see how student is progressing compared to these standards. Standards based grading versus "He got an 'A'".
Grade on an assessment doesn't just come solely from calculation, but scored against use of the standards.
Criteria in Schoology.
Spend more time investigating what we want out of assessing students.
Mapping out where major criteria will hit. Do we hit all these every 5 years?
"Soft -opening" of document for trimester 3. Have faculty start aligning criteria to assignments/assessment. 2 or 3 main criteria for every assignment, not 20.
C.
Accessibility of Document for Students and Parents
III. Closing Items
A.
Action Items
Jess and Ellen to review Art Criteria
Next meeting to be in person April 26th.
B.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 AM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jessica Xiarhos
Documents used during the meeting
None