Minutes from SLT Meeting
December 7th, 2001 @ 7:30 AM
· After School Math Tutorial began Monday Dec. 5th. There are 23 4th graders in attendance
· Saturday Academy starts Jan. 7th and will run until test time which will be in April. - teachers participating include Ms.Green, Ms. Lyons & Ms.Shapiro
· READING STATE TEST NOTICE:
o Note to Parents: Reading State Test for grades 3 - 5 will be given right after spring break - it is highly recommended that students not extend their time away from school and return right after the break
o Also the exam format has changed this year - it will now be broken up into two days, with 2- 50 minute sessions given each day - THIS IS TWICE THE LENGTH OF PREVIOUSLY ADMINISTERED EXAMS (For extended students that time is doubled)
§ test used to consist of 34 questions, now there are 70 questions but only half of them will count
o In previous years the exam used to be administered over 3 days and now it is down to 2 days
o The reason why the test is twice as long now is because half of the exam consists of pilot questions which do not even count towards the overall grade - in the past pilot questions would be given to the students throughout the school year but the decision was made that this way of random testing did not provide for optimal testing conditions - possibly students did not take questions as seriously since they knew they did not count towards their grade
o Teachers are trying to prep the students and do some rehearsal from last year to get kids used to longer passages and longer time periods but at the same time they do not want to shift focus away from regular course work
o The Principle and teachers are very concerned that this may be a problem for the students and have a negative effect on their test scores
o Possible way to change the present format would be to add an extra day
o Ms. Green plans to address this matter with Council Member Karen Koslowitz
o Parents can speak out about this and notify/write to their various State Representatives and voice their opinions on this matter (State Education Commissioner, Chancellor of Education etc.)
§ only solution seems to be to spread the test over 3 days instead of 2
· Grant for Fence Construction
o Project should have already been under way, and now the School Construction Authority seems to be getting pressured to get the project going - the official finish date for the project is March 9th, 2012
o the present fence by little playground and parking yard will get a make-over, it will be stripped, primed and painted - however painting should not be done when temperature outside is below 40F
o there will be a temporary structure set up in front of the building by the flag pole for the materials used for the actual fence construction
o a dumpster will probably be put at 64th Rd near 102nd St
o the permits are all in place
o plans are well planned out
§ 4ft fence on 102nd St: all will be removed, only grass and landscaping
§ 1 1/2 ft fence with shrubs down the side of the building
o plans include designated place to store the garbage in the back of the building