State Board of Education s6

These meeting minutes were unanimously approved by the state board on October 19, 2007

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION MINUTES OF STATE BOARD September 21, 2007

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT Jerry Berger, Chair Duncan Wyse, Vice Chair Steve Bogart Artemio Paz, Jr. Lewis Frederick Nikki Squire

BOARD MEMBERS EXCUSED Brenda Frank, 2nd Vice Chair ADVISORS PRESENT Allan Bruner Michael Dembrow Greg Hamann Terry Kneisler ADVISORS EXCUSED

STAFF PRESENT

Jan McComb, Board Cam Preus, CCWD Paula Merritt, Executive Support Officer Specialist

AGENDA PRESENTERS

Vickie Chamberlain, Teacher Connie Green, CCWD Standards & Practices Commission Michelle Hooper, ODE Jon Wiens, ODE Carl Califano, OWIB Greg White, CCWD Joni Gilles, ODE Salam Noor, ODE Colleen Mileham, ODE Randy Harnisch, ODE Deborah Lincoln, ODE Tom Welter, OSAA Pat Burk, ODE Preliminary Business Chair Comments: Berger:  Members have mailboxes where board members will find their expense forms.  Today Legislative Media is taping for the Oregon Channel.  Notes revised agenda

Superintendent Report Superintendent Castillo  SAT scores out, gave us opportunity to talk about new diploma standards. While we do get second highest scores in US, our scores are flat. That is concerning.  AYP: more schools meeting adequate progress. Challenging year for schools; changed cut scores, paper tests.  Homeless number has increased 18%. Federal funds for this population have decreased 10%. More than 15,000 students have been identified as homeless. Twenty seven religious leaders wrote senators and governor saying that this is a moral scandal in the state and are calling on leaders to do something about it.  CSSO conference using data to improve instruction. Good learning opportunity.

Discussion: Tony Alpert stated that new vendor was on board and would be available to create new useful data and reports for districts, teachers, and parents. There will be multiple testing opportunities for students. State Board of Education September 21-22, 2007

Berger: asked audience to introduce themselves. He noted Executive Session at noon. Advisors are welcome.

Commissioner Report  Community colleges start school on Monday. Commissioner Cam Preus attended a meeting at Linn-Benton Community College and viewed the good programs they plan to offer.  She went to Columbia Gorge Community College for an update on the health care occupations program - what is being invested into that. Trend line is going up. Pres. Toda took her on tour of campus. She viewed the wind turbines program. Students are employed before they finish their certification.  She went to the Central Oregon Community College (COCC) board meeting. NW Accreditation visits schools and often recommends more emphasis on student learning outcomes. COCC is no different, and president explained the process COCC is going through to arrive at student learning outcomes. There may be a role for CCWD to help with that. Also, they discussed the trajectory of revenue for that college. There’s concern about the community college distribution model and its impact on COCC.  She serves on steering committee for the Financial Responsibility Model Committee that oversees how some monies are spent for community colleges. Legislature did not allocate full funding of the model and the discussion is about where to ration the aid. Aid for community colleges and four year schools double for students. She, briefly, reviewed the shared responsibility model. There is an expectation that more students will be served, particularly in four-year schools.  Secretary of States (SOS) audit on CCWD travel is out. SOS is pleased that the board took action to review her travel. Discussion:  Do students get more money if they are meritorious, have high grades? The answer is “no.”  There might be an opportunity for board to work on an incentive program such as the Hope Scholarship to include whether the model will allow part-time students to go full-time, whether students will use all of the financial aid that is available and whether more is needed to be done to advertise the availability of these funds.

Public Comment Joe Novella - Lincoln County School District  Novella stated that his district is asking to waive the 50% student residency requirement.  The school already has the support of the district. This is about kids, choices for children. There’s no monetary gain for the district.  The district is attempting to use all the technology available to it to help students.  Many district students take online classes; some took nothing but online classes. Rather than use 40 different programs, would like to create a single one.  Pregnant and parenting students, working students, at risk of dropping-out students could benefit from such a school.  Current schools are not meeting the needs of all students.

Fred Schwartz - Resident of Lincoln County and member of Oregon Council for Online Learning (OCOL) Background is online education.  Fred described OCOL.  He has reviewed the application to ensure that the school meets the needs of students as a priority.  OCOL will play an active role with the Insight School of Oregon.

Deborah Trusty – OCOL  Deborah concerned about dropouts.  Bill and Melinda Gates found that students who leave school have to leave to take care of others - not because they didn’t have the grades.

of 14 State Board of Education September 21-22, 2007

 She taught for many years in high school and saw many students, who, for a variety of reasons, could not attend a traditional school. Not all kids fit the mold.  Insight has a good curriculum and program. They give students the computer and printer and have high standards. Think about kids that are not being served. Insight is ready to go now.

Laurie Wimmer Whelan – Oregon Education Association  Wimmer Whelan testified on OEA’s concerns regarding online schools. Financial concerns - Online schools in other states have been found to operate for fewer dollars than Oregon’s ADMw.  State dollars would be sent to private companies.  Other states have had numerous problems due largely to lack of regulation and oversight.  Clarified that amendments to HB 2037 were not work group consensus amendments.  Profit margin is considered proprietary.

Chuck Bennett – Confederation of Oregon School Administrators  Supported Wimmer-Whelan’s testimony.

Rob Kremer – Oregon Connections Academy  Is in general support of the board granting waivers to the 50% requirement for high quality programs.  The waiver raises interesting public policy questions. Legislative record, from 2005, indicates that the legislators expected that they did expect the board to use their authority to waive this requirement. The amendments to HB 2037 might be a good starting place for the board when it considers the waiver.  Should districts or the state be the sole sponsor for statewide schools? That’s a legitimate issue, but should not delay a decision on this request. Approved schools could be rolled into state sponsorship later.

Laura Stine - Blue Mountain School (BMS)  After nine years of operation, first as an alternative school, then as a charter school, the board terminated the charter.  Stine holds many positions in various democratic school organizations.  BMS serves 5-19 year olds – 60 to 85 students each year. It is a progressive program, yet also serves many disadvantaged children. It is an un-graded school. Students are citizens of the school’s democratic structure and participate in school decision making. Learning is the student’s responsibility. Some students come to Blue Mountain School because they are not thriving in traditional schools. Students succeed at Blue Mountain School. We see them succeed after they leave Blue Mountain School.  There should be options for parents.

Hal Sadofsky – Board Member for Blue Mountain School  We’ve had our contract terminated and are appealing to the board.  Our model of education dates back 40 years in the US and is successful at producing adaptable students and adults.  Democratic self-directed education creates students with essential skills as outlined by the board.  Sadofsky has personal experience with the model; he has gone to those schools. Later got a PhD in math, teaches at University of Oregon, and is on the ODE Math Panel.  As unconventional as these schools are, they create students who take responsibility for their own lives and education and are adaptable. His children are enrolled at Blue Mountain School and the school works well for them. Blue Mountain School meets the goals set forth in chapter 338 for charter school.

Leslie Stine - One of the founders of Blue Mountain School and a product of a democratic school.  Stine learned how to read and write and that her opinion really mattered as a child while attending a democratic school. When you choose what to learn and when, you remember it.

 Education was about learning what you need to know.  She successfully transitioned to a regular public high school and graduated from University of Oregon.  Stein noted that these types of schools are difficult to create.  Blue Mountain opened in 1998. As a founder and administrator, Leslie knows all the students. Their students, who transition to high school, do so successfully. Two were valedictorians.  A TAG student came to Blue Mountain from a district that had no TAG programs. He graduated from Blue Mountain with 18 college credits.  Her goal was to support the current families of Blue Mountain and help the school survive, rather than build another school from the ground up.

Information Items

Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC): Background and Update Vickie Chamberlain, Executive Director, TSPC, was hired by the commission. Commission is named by the governor and confirmed by the senate. Francis Charbonnier is a TSPC school board representative. She has been in the job for five years. She was asked to come and explain the relationship between TSPC and ODE. The public does not understand that TSPC is separate from ODE. It’s important that the two entities have a good working relationship - issues overlap. MacLaren is using unlicensed substitutes, for example. MacLaren has oversight from ODE and TSPC oversees substitutes. The 17 commissioners are a good combination of policy thinkers. There are eight teachers, four administrators, two higher education representatives, and three private members, one of which must be a school board member. In Vickie’s role, she reviews the complaints and makes a recommendation to the commissioners who make the ultimate decisions.

TSPC also does program approval. The standards for the programs that prepare teachers, counselors, school administrators are critical. Vickie noted that many private colleges prepare teachers, more than the public schools. Oregon is known for its collaborative approach of teacher standards.

TSPC does discipline – they take action against the license. TSPC does not deal with employment issues. TSPC is like the state bar or medical board. TSPC requires administrators to report ethical breeches. There’s a fair amount of over reporting. There are a lot of investigations, based on evidence. TSPC actions are permanent on an educator’s record. TSPC turns in names of disciplined teachers into a national registry.

Vickie noted that there is a relationship between TSPC, ODE and OUS. Teaching licensure does include assessment. Because teachers graduate with a Masters in Education, it creates a problem with 2 plus 2 programs and community college teaching. Endorsements are aligned with the state standards. Even though teachers take the same test as others, nationally, test questions are weighted differently, with those aligned with state standards weighed more heavily. Diploma requirements will also run into licensure issues; for example, there are four science endorsements in narrow areas and these will need to be reviewed. The same goes for math. The current licensure system will not accommodate what the board has in mind. Many middle school math teachers aren’t endorsed to teach algebra for example. When ODE did standards visits, one of the things checked was whether schools had properly assigned teachers (right license/endorsement, right course). The state allows up to ten hours of improper assignment a week for an educator (about two periods) without any reporting. TSPC sees a lot of improper assignments in math, science, and special education. Chamberlain suggested that TSPC work with ODE to fine districts that improperly assign teachers. Now, TSPC handles a lot of improper assignments through the discipline process. TSPC works with ODE on teacher reporting. They haven’t had that for two years and that’s caused a problem. TSPC meets with ODE staff weekly.

Discussion: Legal counsel helps with discipline process (AAG sits through process). TSPC has trained investigators. They decided whether there’s sufficient evidence before they charge the educator. It is similar to a criminal process. An educator has the right to challenge findings. The TSPC rarely disagrees with the hearings officer recommendation. An educator, also, has the right to appeal to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. There are about 200 cases a year. About 80 have been dismissed,

and 120 charged. Of those charged, 80 settled. A complaint can come to the TSPC through a variety of ways. The numbers of complaints grow about 20% a year. Younger educators have a higher expectation of privacy and that may clash with public expectations. Substance abuse is a common complaint. The federal “highly qualified” teachers requirement is also a challenge. There is a desire to clarify alternative education licensures. All renewable licenses require professional development. There was a question of whether improper teacher assignment fines should be levied against the district or the teacher.

Diploma Implementation Update Salam Noor, Crystal Webber and Teresa Levy, ODE, provided an update.  Reviewed assumptions. The State Board of Education must establish clear vision, must involve all stakeholders, and must involve all policy makers, both state and national.  Align systems. Develop communication aimed at multiple stakeholders.  Study implications of implementation and unintended consequences.  Must evaluate system capacity/resources to implement new diploma. This spawned five task forces, several contracts, research, and communications strategy.

Teresa Levy, pg. 2 of packet bullets  Including every office in the work.  Pg. 4 has names and roles of players. The end goal of the strategies is the individual success of every student.

Crystal Webber  Reviewed the communications plan  Handout. Front page of web site and print ad. Have print, radio and TV advertisements. They are aimed at parents.  The web page is a resource and reference site. It lists state requirements and when changes go into effect. It directs students to local requirements, too. There are links and other references.  Can add and change to the web pages as work progresses.  All the TV, print, radio ads are on the websites. Will have Spanish, Chinese, Russian, and possibly Vietnamese languages.  Looking for students to make YouTube entries this fall. There will be prizes.  Feedback from teachers is that they are finding the website clear and helpful.

Levy noted:  On the Real website there is more information on task forces and there’s opportunity for feedback.  They are communicating with districts on the transition from CIM and CAM to the new diploma requirements.  They are getting on agendas of conferences and other presentations.  In terms of task forces, the timeline is that they will be completed June 2009; some will be done much sooner.

Noor talked about:  September 26 meeting agenda - Stakeholder engagement, communication, what supports need to be in place for students and schools. There’s been significant progress made on essential skills and they are identifying gaps with current requirements/assessments.  This work will mesh with the standards and assessments task force. Accountability wouldn’t kick in until 2012, but schools and students will implement those sooner. Timeline on page 13.

Discussion followed regarding:  Whether the website could use more energy and graphics for younger audience with design help from kids.  Whether some aspects can be implemented sooner (yes, phase-in).  When will the board be dealing with some aspects such as Essential Skills?  Other models that may be available - need to communicate with districts and legislature.

 Infusing summative assessments into the school year.

Oregon Workforce Investment Board (OWIB) Report Greg White, OWIB, reported on their June meeting. The September meeting is scheduled for tomorrow. Assignment of a liaison to the OWIB board is scheduled for tomorrow and it would benefit both boards to name a liaison. It is important to prepare our children for shortage of health care workers, shortage of skilled craftsmen in the trades, electricians, etc. Carl Califano, chair, OWIB, stated that the board is looking to train for good jobs. How do we set up the training so those career opportunities are there? What is necessary for high school graduates to have? No matter what high school requires, need to reach down and prepare students in elementary grades with a good foundation. Thirty five percent of eighth graders don’t read at grade level. Foundational skills are the same whether student goes on to more education or the trades. If Oregon doesn’t have the skilled workforce, the industry will go elsewhere, the skilled workforce does exist.

Discussion:  There is a need for skilled workers.  How can OWIB, the State Board of Education and local school districts work together.  Why apprenticeship programs are not producing enough workers. Desirability of involving the private sector in schools to produce future workers.

Executive Session The board met in executive session as permitted under ORS 192.660(2)(i). The board reviewed results from board member, advisor and staff surveys on the performance of the board staffer Jan McComb.

Information Items, continued Evaluation of Board Executive Officer Ed Dennis, ODE, reviewed the evaluation process of McComb. The results were generally good. On a scale of 1-4, Jan received of 3.18 – 3.64. Areas for improvement included copying Jan on board member interactions and to enforce deadlines with staff. Berger added that he and the board as a whole were satisfied.

Charter School Waiver Request: 50% student Joni Gilles and Cindy Hunt, ODE, explained that the request before the board is a joint request from Lincoln County School District and Insight School of Oregon. Historically, the board has seen 20 waiver requests, of which, 15 were approved. The five that were disapproved were clearly beyond the law. All but two have been joint requests. ODE reviews the requests according to statutory criteria. The board does not have to grant the waiver. If it chooses to grant the waiver, the waiver must meet at least one of four criteria.

This waiver would be for a school, grades 9-12 and hopes to open in January 2008. The target audience is early-leavers and home-schooled youth returning to the public system. This is the first time the board has been asked to waive this particular statute, and because it could have statewide impact, staff are recommending a public hearing and further direction.

Discussion - The history of caps for charter schools:  Original law allowed up to 20% of school enrollment to be from out of district. That provision was allowed to sunset.  In 2005, the 50% requirement was placed for online schools.  How charter schools establish enrollment caps (charter, facility).  How Connections Academy was established prior to the 2005 law so was not restricted by the 50% provision; when its charter comes up for renewal in 2010 that provision will apply.  How much latitude the board has in putting controls on the school.  Whether the board should hold a hearing on the question.  Whether the board should do a substantive review of the school, given its statewide impact.  Appropriate funding levels and budget transparency.  The need to do due diligence.

 The number of online courses taken by college students.  Whether, instead of statewide coverage, to limit it to a number of adjacent districts.  Financial impact on school districts.  Whether students/parents would have the same connection to teachers/school with an online school.  Could it be limited to the service area of an Education Service District (ESD).  Governance issues. What legislative intent was. What happens if private company goes out of business. How the adverse impact criteria that’s in the law for sponsoring districts would be applied for this waiver. What process would need to be in place for an online school to ensure compliance with state law, state standards.  The type of students being targeted and whether we will know if enrolled students are indeed those students.  Accountability and assessment. Whether providing electronic content the same as instruction. The applicability of traditional models, given the new technology. Whether good national models exist.  The benefits of granting the waiver for a period of time, say 24 months, as a pilot project.  Whether local ESD could be a quality control entity. Efficacy of online instruction.  Unintended consequences of splitting governance and those served.  Possibility of reaching out to all parts of the state with a hearing(s).

For next board meeting: plan of action within 120-day timeframe.

School Improvement Fund (SIF) Items Salam Noor, ODE, noted that this item is on the Friday consent agenda, as well. SB 318 created the SIF, $260 million fund for school districts, ESDs, Youth Corrections and Juvenile Detention education programs. Eligible activities:  Early childhood support including establishing, maintaining or expanding quality prekindergarten programs and full-day kindergarten programs;  Class size reduction with an emphasis on the reduction of kindergarten through grade three class sizes;  Increases in instructional time including summer programs and before and after school programs;  Mentoring, teacher retention and professional development;  Remediation, alternative learning and student retention;  Services to at-risk youth;  Programs to improve a student achievement gap between student groups identified by culture, poverty, language and race and other student groups;  Vocational education programs;  Literacy programs; and  Other research-based student improvement strategies approved by the SBE.

ODE is responsible to report how school used the funds and the results of these targeted funds; so there is a significant data collection involved. The legislation stated that as part of the CIP each district will identify the area that they will be targeting with their grant from the SIF and that each district will also provide a detailed description and quantifiable performance measure for the planned use of the funds at the local level.

Brian Reeder explained that the intent was to link the fund uses with the best practices identified by the QEC.

Discussion:  Uses of key performance measures and targets and need to develop baseline numbers.  Money will be allocated on an ADMw basis.

Expanded Options, OAR 581-022-1362 thru 581-022-1372

Salam Noor and Susanne Daggett, ODE reviewed the changes made to the Expanded Options legislation. There were a number of technical issues identified with the 2005 legislation, and those were addressed in SB 23. Daggett stated that the ODE began work on this in June 2006 and pulled together an advisory group to identify problems with the original legislation. The requirement that students be 16 years of age represented an agreement made by the legislative work group. Dates were modified to better reflect the ability of districts and students to respond to legislative intent. Timelines were clarified. An appeal process was built in if a student wanted to appeal a decision by the school. Funding the program was changed to be a good faith negotiation, which could be appealed to the ODE. Districts will now provide transportation if the postsecondary school is within the ESD boundary. Schools can request to opt out of the program, and those requests can be granted if districts already offer similar programs or if the program would adversely impact the finances of the district. Daggett and Noor stressed the change from the prior 50% ADMw for any number of courses toward actual costs arrived at through negotiation.

Discussion:  Under what circumstances a waiver from the program would be granted.  Whether districts know they can opt out.

Registration of Private Alternative Schools/Programs, OAR 581-021-0072 Drew Hinds, ODE, stated an annual registration of private alternative schools is required, however does not address owner/operators who have been convicted of an offense involving fraud or misrepresentation or has committed fraud, misrepresentation, or deceit or has committed unfair, deceptive, or unlawful trade practices regulated by the Oregon Unlawful Trade Practices Act. Hinds also handed out the just-released audit of alternative schools.

Appeals and Complaints Procedures, OAR Randy Harnisch, ODE, stated that staff had started work on the appeals and complaints procedures prior to the 2007 legislative session, and legislation was also introduced with similar language. During this process, it made more sense to divide the single rule into two rules, one for appeals and one for complaints. There was quite a bit of public testimony, and the rules were revised based on that input.

Discussion:  30-day time period  Whether districts would meet often enough to make that 30-day time period

Charter School Renewal/Non-renewal Process; OAR 581-020-0360,-0361 In 2005, there was legislation introduced for a process for renewing a charter’s school charter. There was a gap in the law – if the charter were about to expire, the district could allow it to expire without any appeal or reason. This rule allows a charter school to appeal a non-renewal to the board who would review whether the process was followed. If the process was followed, then the board would allow the termination.

Discussion:  District procedures for non-renewal.

Board members thanked Mr. Harnisch for his service to the board and department, in light of his pending departure.

Oregon Student Activities Association (OSAA) Event Expectations Pat Burk, ODE, stated that during an event at an OSAA tournament, last year, there were two incidents. Tom Welter, OSAA, introduced Craig Roessler the Superintendent of the Silverton School District and OSAA board member. OSAA had many state championships. An incident happened in March at MacArthur Court in Eugene. A few people made racially insensitive remarks. OSAA is taking steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again. OSAA investigated the incident and have accepted all nine recommendations made by judge Deits. No players were involved in the misconduct. OSAA costs for security went from $20,000 to $54,000 in anticipation of problems, and think that with the exception of these incidents, things went well. Had a diversity training session for OSAA staff to better prepare staff

for future events. Also, they provided a “sportsmanship” banner for all schools to hang in their gym to remind spectators of appropriate behavior. The OSAA takes this matter very seriously. Craig Roessler, OSAA Executive Board, stated that the incident was unfortunate and the board will do what it can to create a positive atmosphere. There’s a wide variety of acceptable behavior from league to league, and that should be made more consistent.

Discussion regarding:  Whether the Spectator Conduct Committee has Native American representation (yes).  Eugene’s own investigation into the matter. The meeting between Roosevelt and North Eugene students to resolve issues.  Whether school mascots should depict Native Americans and whether OSAA has a role in that.

Motor Coaches for Student Transportation Deborah Lincoln, ODE, explained that the department was asked about the use of motor coaches to transport students. Motor coaches are often used by districts to transport student athletes to games. However, a review of current statute and administrative rules suggest that use of motor coaches is not currently permissible. School buses account for six fatalities vs. 48 for motor coaches. Motor coaches are built to different, lower safety standards than are school buses. Windows in motor coaches are often larger and also break, which allows the ejection of students from the coaches, unlike school buses. Also, the roofs of motor coaches are not reinforced to the same degree as school buses. The department surveyed districts to discover how many were using motor coaches: 69 reported that they were using motor coaches. When schools use motor coaches to transport students, regulation falls to the State Board of Education. Also, School bus drivers are regulated; motor coach drivers are regulated, but less so.

Discussion regarding:  Whether motor coaches have a back door (no).  Flammability of school bus seat covers.  Whether state reimburses for activity travel (no) and hence the use of motor coaches by booster clubs.  Whether motor coach industry has incentives to build safe vehicles.  Whether decision should be made by district.  Whether to allow the continued use of motor coaches.  Safety issues of motor coaches.  Whether districts know that motor coaches are less safe.  Whether to notify district that motor coaches are less safe that school buses, more safe than cars.

Administration of Pupil Transportation; OAR 581-053-0002 With the passage of House Bill 2456 school buses with a manufactured date before April 1, 1977 may not be used after August 1, 2008.

Discussion:  Are pre-1977 buses safe? How many of these buses are in use?

Minimum Standards for School Buses; OAR 581-053-0512; -0517, -0527 This is a first read. Hearing on the rule is later this month. The majority of changes are industry driven. An exception is to allow some districts to pilot an electric sign that notifies drivers by flashing that passing is illegal. This better warns drivers. Springfield is doing this as a pilot. Violations have dropped significantly in Springfield.

Discussion regarding:  Whether districts are aware of new minimum standards and the cost of the sign, which is $300.00.  Whether to make these signs mandatory.

Chair Berger noted that the Math Standards item will be held over until the next day. OCCA has invited the board to lunch tomorrow. Berger adjourned the meeting at 5:15 p.m.

Friday Preliminary Business Call to Order, Roll Call, Flag Salute Jerry asked roll to be called. Excused were Frank and Squire, Hamann. Jerry asked audience to introduce themselves.

Public Comment Brian Rose - Insight Schools  Testified that Insight was a Portland company and worked to best serve students. Stressed that the company’s goal was to help kids.  Encouraged the board to be directly involved in the process. Invited members to schools they run.  Over 170 online high schools operating nationally.  No reason for Oregon to reinvent the wheel on this.  Encouraged by comments made yesterday.  Happy to work with the board.  Encourage board to handle request in a timely fashion.

UEE Updates This month’s scheduled meeting was canceled due to the inability of members to attend. If it’s adopted, the major piece of the work plan is to work on the connection of essential skills and community colleges. The two groups are working well together.

Member Updates Wyse stated that the Business Summit is scheduled for Dec. 6 and members are invited. He added that he was encouraged about meeting the 20-40-40 goal via the Education Enterprise legislation.

Berger stated he was working with Superintendent Castillo and the Wallace foundation on leadership. A team has been formed, and traveled to Boston recently. Focus was on classroom learning, teacher skills.

Paz shared that he attended a workshop in NW Portland in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club, PSU, and the housing authority. They removed poor housing and created a new school. The school was designed in four months and built in ten months. It’s a wonderful building, and met LEEDs certification standards. There’s $100,000 in tax credits they need to share; it’s a wonderful partnership. He added that construction costs have significantly increased; need to be innovative in this area.

Superintendent Castillo added that the principal there has done a wonderful job and despite the challenges, the students are performing well. She has created partnerships and the students’ academic success has inspired the community excitement and involvement.

Stakeholder Reports Oregon Community College Assn. Andrea Henderson, OCCA Executive Director, stated that OCCA had a busy summer. Jon Wycoff was hired recently. He was a former advisor to Congressman Wu. They are planning the upcoming convention on Oct. 25-26, in Sunriver. They, also, are taking a large group to San Diego for the ACCT annual convention.

OCCA Statewide Decision Making Report Andrea Henderson, OCCA Executive Director for Connie Lee, OCCA board chair, stated that from the 2006 strategic planning conference, they had been focusing on the governance structure. They started this conversation with a workshop, and one of the key ideas that came from this was that governance is really at the local level, but there was a need for statewide coordination. What does this look like? Some criteria came from this discussion. The OCCA board created a subcommittee to look at this. One of the conclusions the subcommittee came to was that the structure was fine. But how do we have the

conversations? There was a recommendation to have two to three strategic statewide conversations a year. For this year, the two conversations would focus on the goal of 20-40-40; what is the role of community colleges in accomplishing the goal? What do community colleges need to do differently and what help do community colleges need to accomplish this? That would provide the foundation and frame the budget request in 2009. The second focus is on accountability. Community Colleges are accountable for what? OCCA will help facilitate that conversation. OCCA is moving its board meetings to conjoin with SBE; they will be on Friday afternoons so SBE members could attend lunch that day; standing invitation. Annual convention will focus on different ways to have conversations similar to what is described in the World Café book. Board members are invited. Want to provide resources to local boards.

Discussion regarding:  Strength of OCCA leadership.  Benefits in the change in approach; how change in approach will help secure funding from the legislature.  Strengths of board chair Connie Lee.  Value of dialogues across systems.

Board Management Board Liaison Assignments Berger reviewed the current board liaison assignments. Being a liaison does not mean you have to go to meetings, but mainly act as a contact. Changes: OWIB: Kneisler, Paz OEA: Frederick, Bruner, Dembrow TSPC: Frederick COSA: Kneisler, remove Berger PTA : Lew Frederick, remove Bogart OCCF: Remove Bogart, add Brenda Frank YAT: Lew Frederick OCCA: Kniesler, Frank, Dembrow

Fold CCWD budget/distribution formula in Agency Budget Committee

New subcommittee: Agency Budget Committee (ODE, CCWD): Bogart, Wyse

Revised Work Plan  McComb reviewed changes.  Berger noted that work plan is guideline.  Diploma is a priority.  Charter school online schools

There were no objections to the work plan.

Information Math Standards Michelle Hooper and Jon Wiens updated the board on the revision of the math standards. Wiens will focus on K-8 standards. Review began in October 2006 in response to the power standards movement. It takes a few years to change standards, assessments so students will not be held accountable to the new standards for at least two years. National math and science groups are creating core standards, so the hope is we can use those at least as a starting point. Core standards are designed to focus instruction on the key ideas to be covered in each particular subject and grade. Core standards will subsume other content standards and will be carefully articulated to show clear grade level progression in knowledge and skills. There will be 3-4 core standards at each grade. These proposed standards include national consensus and involvement of higher education. At every grade there’s a logical progression of concepts - both conceptual understanding and basic skills. The breadth is not much different, but the topics are reduced.

Hooper noted the resources on the website for educators. This is popular with teachers - makes access to standards easier. Users can customize the data for their own needs.

Discussion regarding:  Clarity of standards.  Adoption of textbooks that reflect these changes.  Importance of being able to communicate to parents what is expected of their students and how core standards help accomplish that.  Value to students to meet higher diploma standards.  Whether organization of standards will facilitate students to progress at their own pace.  The value of meshing standards, curriculum, and assessments.  The value of right brain thinking as well as left brain thinking.

Consent Agenda Commissioner’s Travel Supplemental Transportation Plan, Douglas Co. SD, Days Creek SD PCC Web Site Development Program Approval School Improvement Fund Items

McComb noted that a correction needed to be made to Commissioner’s Travel. Meals for the November 5-6 trip should be $66, not $667.

MOTION: Director Bogart moved approval of the consent calendar, as corrected. Paz seconded the motion:

VOTE: the motion passed unanimously. Excused were Frank and Squire.

Instructional Materials: PE & Health, OAR 581-011-0071 Ray Lindley introduced Drew Hinds who will be taking over the instructional materials of Rays’ job now that he has retired (he is still working on contract). Hinds explained the textbook adoption process. The board adopts, by reference, basal instructional materials for health and physical education.

Discussion regarding:  The ability of districts to use other materials not on the text-book list.  Districts that choose to independently adopt texts must use the criteria the state uses.  The effort to avoid possible conflicts of interest of evaluators.  The need for textbooks to meet state standards.

Community College Class Approval Process Connie Green, CCWD, reviewed the board history regarding this item. The task force has recommended to the commissioner to follow a new process for class approval. Problems arose when local community colleges signed assurances without understanding the steps they needed to take to make that assurance.

Discussion:  How community college staff turnover exacerbates the problem.  Support of private career schools for this new process.

Governor’s Postsecondary Orders Commissioner Preus explained that the governor signed two executive orders on community college issues. The first directs DAS to change the forecasting process for determining the Essential Budget Level for community colleges and creates a Community College Forecast Committee to review the budget forecasts. The second order establishes a commission to create a quality education model for postsecondary education. This order is not detailed as to who should sit on the commission. Budgets are due to the governor in June, so there isn’t a great deal of time for this commission.

Discussion:

 Steps that have been taken to date  Expected life expectancy of commission  Inaccuracy of prior formula.

Community College Strategic Work Plan Commissioner Preus, (handout) reviewed the handout, based on the board retreat day regarding strategies to achieve the 40-40-20 goal. CCWD has identified four key forces driving the agenda for improvement of community college outcomes:  Budgets must connect to outcomes/performance  Performance measures must match desired outcomes  Investment strategies must generate movement in key performance measures to increase student success  Public education must define the need for expanded capacity and the implications with and without resources.

This will facilitate conversations with local community colleges in terms of developing performance measurements. A steering committee will be formed and the proposed make up of the committee would be as follows:  Oregon Presidents Council - 3  Council of Instructional Administrators - 2  Council of Student Services Administrators - 2  Oregon Council of Community College Institutional Researchers - 2  Business Managers - 2  Oregon Council on Marketing and Public Relations - 2  State Board of Education - 1  Oregon Community College Association – 3

The steering committee will likely divide into four working groups: Budget, Performance, Strategies, and Communication.

Discussion:  The interdependence of community college performance measurements with K-12 outcomes  Whether the connection with private sector could be strengthened

Commissioner announced Amanda Richards was leaving CCWD for another opportunity. The board thanked her for her work.

Assessment Purpose Policy Dave Conley, reviewed survey results (2 handouts) key observations on power point. An important policy issue is how much consistency policy makers want among classrooms. A statewide assessment system suggests some degree of consistency.

Kosty thanked Conley for getting this work done in such a short amount of time. Kosty noted that slides 8, 10, 11, and13 contained key policy issues.

 Slide 8: need to connect with legislature on funding  Slide 11: work on standards/assessment group will help inform this.  Slide 13: this is key – what is the purpose of the assessment, what is the role of the state, role of the locals

Discussion:  Whether we are making things too complicated in terms of assessing Essential Skills – good tools already exist  Message to field should not be that we are going to throw out everything.  The desirability of integrating assessments in the classroom

 Resistance of the system to change and added requirements  Benefits of self-evaluation v. third party assessment

Chair Berger adjourned the meeting at 1:00 pm.

Written Reports – distributed, not discussed Strategic Fund Request – Career Pathways Investment Strategic Fund Request – Oregon Pathways for Adult Basic Skills