Secondary Summit April 19 Meeting Minutes
May 17, 2006
Andover Public Schools
Secondary Summit
4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
April 19, 2006
Attendees:
Andy Koenigs
Mark Templin
Peter DeVries
Bob Reed
Brett White
Mark A. Evans
Amber Ingram
Clare Wilkins
Beth Betthauser
Drew Armagost
Dee Moxley
Brent Haynes
Dale Graham
Heidi Wills
Monica Aspergren
Mary Anne Maupin
Keturah Austin
Bob Baier
Dr. Jon Engelhardt
Doub Baber
Jody Huxman
Absent: Craig Gray, Doug Snyder, Mike Calvert, Wade Martin, Lois Rahal, Melinda Easterwood, Connie Zuiss, John Calabro, Ryan Ewy, Reed Harrison, Emily Calabro
Meeting Notes:
Dr. Koenigs called the meeting to order at 4:34 p.m. He verified that everyone is receiving the information from him via mail and e-mail, including articles from Dr. Engelhardt.
The committee will meet in May but over the summer months. There will be a guest speaker next month – a speaker from KASSP about Breaking Ranks. Today Peter DeVries will share some information from the national Breaking Ranks conference he attended. Also – “Breaking Ranks in the Middle” has now been published as well. Doug Baber has been selected as a Kansas Trainer. Congratulations Doug.
Dr. Koenigs handed out “Other High School Data” and “Other Middle School Data.” Included in this handout was information about attendance, dropout, graduation rates as well as discipline data. “Attendance” must be 90% or above for state accreditation. “Expulsion” means for a full 186 days – not just until the end of the school year. “Suspensions” can be long term or short term -- a day, three days, five days, ten days, etc. In-school suspensions are not counted in this. “Violent acts” is not just fights – typically means putting fear or harm to another student. “Drop out rate” is the number of students who have dropped out in a single year – from any grade level. “Graduation rate” considers a cohort group of students as freshmen and compares this with how many seniors walk at graduation. If a student goes onto pursue a GED, they are not reported as a dropout in Kansas. States don’t report equally. “Dropout rate” and “graduation rate” don’t equal 100% because “dropout rate” considers each class, and “graduation rate” considers just the senior class. On page 2, the “Senior Exit Survey” asked exiting seniors about their future plans. At 4:49 p.m., the committee broke into small groups to discuss this information.
At 5:04 p.m. the groups reported out, sharing their reflections on this information.
Reflections (Data)
1. ACMS suspension rate and violent acts – concerning
2. MAP scores for 6th grade ACMS – not as high as we had hoped
3. Perhaps we should get senior survey information after they graduate or perhaps after they get a year of college under their belt. (one-year and six-year follow up surveys were required under the old accreditation rules – with only about a 30% return rate – but this is no longer required).
4. Extremely high number of seniors indicating post-secondary plans.
5. High levels of satisfaction in most all content areas
6. Public speaking and foreign language fairly were the lowest, but others are high – Was the dissatisfaction in foreign language with the teachers, the specific languages offered, or the levels of instructions? It would help to know that. Interactive Distance Learning might help with the foreign language offerings, Clare Wilkins noted.
7. Attendance rates are high. Attendance is related to achievement. Suspensions are mostly due to not serving detentions.
8. Need additional options for suspensions. Suspensions don’t seem to work, and take a lot of time and effort on the part of the school district.
Dr. Koenigs noted that attendance hasn’t changed a great deal with two high schools versus one.
Dr. Koenigs handed out “Dropouts Reflect on Why They Left School” from the “Educational Research Newsletter” and “Maine Survey of 17,000 Students Finds Motivation Low, Expectations High; Ninth Grade is Pivotal Year” from the “Educational Research Newsletter.” Dr. Koenigs also noted a “TIME” magazine cover story about dropouts and public education in general, as well as the coverage of Bill and Melinda Gates’ views on public education recently outlined on the “Oprah” television show. Our dropout in Andover is about 2% compared to the Time Article national average of 30%.
What makes students finish school at such high rates in Andover? Expectations – of their family, friends, community. If they’re at risk, they get hounded daily in a small school. Drew Armagost noted that it would be embarrassing not to graduate, so there is some peer pressure to graduate. Mr. Baier said there is peer pressure both ways – some follow the pressure to drop out. Dr. Engelhardt said engagement is one of the biggest reasons they stay in school. Ms. Maupin said that one teacher showing concern for a student can make a difference – the article noted that a couple of people taking interest in a student can make them stay. Mr. White noted that while they may physically drop out in high school, you can see that some of them actually emotionally and mentally start dropping out in middle school. Maupin noted that dropouts start having problems in third grade on average. Dr. Koenigs noted that the freshman year is a pivotal year – articles suggest students have great expectations going into ninth grade.
Short break from 5:30 to 5:38 p.m.
Peter DeVries handed out “The Basics of Breaking Ranks: Reflections from the April Training.” He attended a national conference on Breaking Ranks. Engagement is one of the big topics in Breaking Ranks – how to do it, both with students and parents. Professional Learning Communities have made some of the building level inservices a lot more meaningful. A CD-ROM that AHS plans to produce for parents can help to get them “back on the team” – the handbook and much other information is on this CD. It will go to freshmen parents and parents of new students. It will also be on the web site – Mr. Baier said it’s an additional form of communication with parents – they can access it either place. “Every student succeeds at something” is one of the things that the conference speaker said. So how do you get them to succeed at school? This is all a lot of work, but if we don’t continue to change, we won’t continue to grow. The committee thoroughly discussed the “student advisories” item Mr. DeVries introduced. Mr. Baier explained how they plan for it to work at Andover High School. DeVries also noted that attending the conference affirmed that our district is heading in the right direction.
Dr. Koenigs thanked Mr. DeVries for sharing this very helpful information. At 6:12 p.m., Dr. Koenigs led the meeting into discussion of the ‘Breaking Ranks” article that was given to committee members earlier. Dr. Koenigs handed out “Results that Matter: 21st Century Skills and High School Reform.” Members are to read this article and it will be discussed at the next meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m.
