001Okay, now you're live. >> Okay, I would like to call the October 7th meeting of the ECI committee meeting meeting to order. Um, we will begin with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. All right. This is the October 7th meeting. We will begin with the approval of minutes. Do I have a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting? >> So moved. Second. >> All in favor? >> I. And the minutes are approved. Next up is student travel. >> Okay. Um good evening everybody. Um today we just have two items for student travel. Um both involve the North Pin High School Key Club. ski
002club. Not the key club. We do have a key club. This is a ski club. Um we have 80 to 86 students that will be going to Killington, Vermont, January 29th through February 1st. And then we also have 40 to 44 uh ski club students who will be going to Stow, Vermont, February 26th through March 1st. Um in both cases, the students will be picking up the majority of the expenses. However, there are um opportunities for students experiencing hardship. >> Um I see in the recommendation, is it 80 to 86 or 40 to 44? >> There's two different trips, Dr. G. one uh the trip going to Killington has 8 students and then the other trip um to Vermont 40 to 44 students. >> Okay, I see there's different dates there. Okay, thank you. >>
003Okay. Um can I have a motion to move this forward? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any comments or discussion? All in favor? I. Motion passes. I hope the students have a great time on the ski trip. Okay. Excited for this next one. Strong start to kindergarten. >> Yes. So, Dr. G, if you recall, um I guess it was back in August, um we had a presentation on strong start as we were kicking off the year and we said we would come back to give you an update. And so, I'm going to ask Dr. Hart to introduce um our two presenters tonight so that they can share how things are going um with strong start across all 13 buildings. So, Dr. Hart, >> thank you so much, Dr. Waters. Good evening, everyone. I'm delighted to
004be here this evening uh to introduce Jen Suzinski, who's the principal of NAP Elementary, and Marica Nissan, who is our um coordinator for um early learning. Um we have been working really closely together over the past few months uh to really kind of kick off um strong start to kindergarten in all 13 of our schools. Last year we did a pilot in five buildings. Got a lot of feedback which was really positive. Um and really wanted to have an opportunity to make sure that um all 13 of our schools had an opportunity to uh really engage in this um transition into kindergarten which is a little bit different than we've done it traditionally. Um and so I'm delighted to give them an opportunity to talk about uh what has worked really well um and then
005our next steps. Um, so I'm going to turn it over to you, Jen and Marica. >> Hi, good evening everyone. Will someone be sharing our slides? >> Yes, >> Mary will take care of that for you. >> So, I just wanted to share that I'm excited to be here. Uh, NAP has been a part of strong start since the beginning and I'm delighted to tell you how it's going and the implementation at all 13 buildings. So, the objectives from strong start remain the same um as last year. We wanted to provide equitable foundations of support with every student in mind um and also strive to develop those well- balanced kindergarten classrooms to um meet the needs of individual students. So, one of the best parts about Strongstar is that we have so many staff members
006involved throughout the entire process from the beginning um all the way up to our finalization of our classes. So, it's our kindergarten teachers, our reading specialists, our special education teachers are involved, our K assistants, of course, our special area teachers are able to give their feedback of student observations from a different setting, our ELD teachers, our guidance counselors, and of course, our principles and our building and principal secretaries. So strong start uh for all students in our kindergarten teams starts really um back in April with a you know PD session. Marica has been fabulous with utilizing our K think tank as kind of a starting point but also making sure to get all of our kindergarten teams across all 13 buildings on board to be able to share the objectives and a universal plan. A
007communication was also shared out with all building staff because it really is all hands in the center and takes everybody to lift off the ground. Um, back in August, our kindergarten teachers participated in a halfday planning session within each of our home buildings. And then throughout the process of strong start, they're gathering data, they're taking notes. Um, it really involves a lot of people in the classroom spaces. And then it ends uh it ended on 95 which is when we use all of that data that has been collected to develop these wellbalanced class lists. And finally it concluded with a survey which we will share the results with you. So a little synopsis uh the students begin of course on the second official day of school. the first day they're coming in for their orientation.
008And when our kindergarten students are coming in on the second day of school, they have 5 days of rotations. Um their rotations, as you might know, are shapes and um different color groups and they have this ability to connect with a variety of peers and all of the kindergarten teachers. Um after each session, the kindergarten teachers are kind of coming together with the different people that have pushed into the classroom space to take notes and it really helps us guide the final classroom placement throughout the rotations. There is a universal lesson plan that was developed by our K team and that really ensures that all of the students are getting that same experience those first five days of kindergarten. And then students uh start the following week on Monday the 8th in their new assigned
009final kindergarten classroom. So we certainly were striving to provide a strong start for all of our kindergarten families. And along with that came a communication that was sent to all families that were registered for kindergarten. The initial communication, which was just anformational piece that I've linked there by way of a s'more newsletter, was sent in early June to anyone that was registered for kindergarten. And then we proactively created a scenario where anyone who registered thereafter in addition to their registration confirmation received that same communication so that everyone who registered for kindergarten was aware of this approach. All kindergarten families were invited to attend our virtual kindergarten information session which was held on July 30th. Um all families are invited to complete our social emotional questionnaire which we implemented with the start of full day kindergarten
010back in 2019. Um it has since been enhanced and revised every year. We now offer it I believe in 16 different languages which has proven to be very helpful. Um, in addition to that questionnaire, we also have some additional kindergarten registration questions. So, when kindergarten families register their children, there's about 10 questions that we have online to help get the most information possible from those families. Families were then invited to um bring their children in to complete that kindergarten activity portfolio. That happened back in our buildings um in the spring and then in buildings and at the ESC during the summer to try and capture as many registered kindergarteners as we can in that process. Um families were all invited to attend that kindergarten orientation which is held on August 27th. Um the first day
011of school for 1st through 12th is that orientation to welcome those kindergarters in a small group. Um and then after completing our strong start rotation, all families were notified of their child's home room teacher on that Friday by way of um a letter home and then an update in Infinite Campus the following week. So a strong start for all kindergarten students. Um they are incredibly important part of our kindergarten process. So, keeping in mind the needs of our kindergarten students, we intentionally connected all students with a strong start teacher. Um, if you remember our update last year, we originally used the term home base. Um, thanks to our great surveys, we got a little feedback that home base and home room was a little bit confusing. Um so that strong start teacher is just the
012teacher that the child um does their arrival and dismissal um and the family utilizes as a point of contact contact during that strong start. Um all kindergarten begins their day with exploration stations and so the kindergarters do remain in that strong start uh classroom for their exploration stations. Um, and that information, much like home room teachers for first and up, the strong start teacher is available in Infinite Campus so that families do know who their point of contact will be for strong start. And then a strong start for all kindergarten students. Obviously, our students are all invited to attend that kindergarten orientation. Um, we invite the kindergartenner with up to two responsible adults. Um, each kindergartener gets to experience that full day kindergarten experience, um, including lunch specials and recess. Um, all of our students
013are explicitly taught those classroom routines, procedures, and expectations. Um, all students had the opportunity to interact with all kindergarten teachers. So, that was a pretty important part of Strong Start. Um, if there was a two-person team, a three-person team, or a four-person team, we intentionally made sure the students rotated through all of those teachers. And then we also made sure that the students had an opportunity to interact with a variety of peers. Um so the color groups allowed us to interact with all of the teachers and then the shape groups allowed us to have a variety of peer um interactions. Uh all students did follow a personalized schedule. So based on your color and your shape that sort of dictated where you spent your mornings and your afternoons through the strong start. Um after last
014year we really were able to streamline that to make it as organized as possible so that the students were able to move smoothly from classroom to classroom. Um and then all students engaged in learning allowing for relevant data collection. So just teams that came in and collected that data that really allowed us to then on that fun Friday make very intentional and thoughtful decisions for the classrooms. And then finally the conclusion of strong start is what we call fun Friday. So the students do arrive to their strong start classroom and they enjoy exploration stations and morning meeting with their strong start teacher. Um at which point then some type of subcoverage comes to the classroom and our strong start teams join together. They bring all of the data that's been collected kaps. Um, we have
015data collection trackers that we created. Um, and they really put the finishing touches on those class lists. Lots of rich conversation. I had the opportunity to travel to six different buildings this year to be a part of those conversations. I know that Pam um, and several other people had the chance to be in other buildings. The conversation was so rich um, and just so thoughtful around where best fits would be for students. Um the students that are in the classrooms do engage again in those universal lesson plans. Um making sure that they're all, you know, fully engaged and enjoying their time. And then our amazing secretarial staff um works diligently to get the students updated in Infinite Campus so that um starting the following week attendance can be taken and families can see where their
016student is. So following strong start uh last year, Marica had created a very um detailed survey that went to both our staff and our families which also went out again this year. So we wanted to take an opportunity to share that feedback with you to let you know um some direction for the future. So we'll start with our staff survey. Um this is some feedback from the survey questions. So just overall positive 88% for their experience with strong start and um one of the interesting ones is making the adjustments. Our second question so how much did we really adjust that strong start homebased classroom? So 33% of staff said they made significant changes. 51% said they made some and 16% said they made minimal. Um components of strong start. You can see that most of
017our schools really stuck to the plan with fidelity of using 98% color shapes and color and shape groups. 93% stuck to the exact lesson plans and activities. 98% had all students in teacher rotations. 77% had students peer rotating. and a 100% of our schools used the data collection. And so finally, overall feeling that their students had a positive experience. 100% of our staff agreed with that. We just wanted to take a minute to highlight some of the positive comments. I obviously won't read to you um but you can take a minute to look at the screen. Um, one that really jumps out to me and why I am such a big um, proponent for Strong Start is loving the way that it builds a whole kindergarten community so quickly for our staff and students. So,
018it's very, you know, we have 5-year-olds coming into the building. They're very nervous and it's a really big deal to start kindergarten. And when you can get to know all of the teachers and most of the students in your grade within those first 5 days, um you're really feeling loved and you're feeling a part of that school community. So, I'll just give you a minute to read some of the highlights. Okay, Mary, if you want to go to the next slide. So, of course, with anything that's new, um, there's always challenges. So, this was a question that really asked staff what made it difficult to really implement strong start with fidelity as prescribed. Um, some of the feedback were from specific groups of teachers. Special area teachers talked about the difficulty of really starting the
019year with routines that they would want to establish right off the bat. Um, but having different classes those first few days and not knowing those groups of students. Um, and then just having our K teams really meet as a district level. So, if you remember in the plan, we really met within our building. Uh but that collaboration across our district to really be able to bounce ideas off. There were five schools that implemented it last year. So to be able to reach out to those teachers this year, there would have been, you know, that benefit to that to collaborate Okay. So in the future um what would help us as a staff to really implement strong start with greater fidelity um I think it's that collaboration again to be able to talk to one another
020um there's you know conversations about how much change that we made maybe streamlining streamlining data collection there were some really great suggestions for you know identifying identifying students that might need uh a different type of teacher like who really needs that structured teacher or what students really got along well. Um, you know, what students are in need of strong role models that we can make sure they have those in the classroom. Um, so definitely some really good feedback from our teachers and you know, of course, the support is always in need, extra staffing in the classroom to be able to have that data collection, having our special educa education teachers within the classroom spaces for more of those beginning days. Okay. Uh suggestions from our teachers. Obviously, we are we move to a district-wide model
021and we really want to continue to strengthen this program. So, I think the continued collaboration and planning early on um clarity in some communications that were sent to strong start families. Right before the start of the school year, we had some district communications on time. So, because of having early schools and late schools, some principles made some adjustments to their timing for K orientation or different things on those beginning days. So, really just making sure that everyone's on the same page. Um, there's definitely talk of the kindergarten assessment process and whether you know that information we need. It sounds like through this feedback from teachers, they really felt like that data was still really valuable through strong start and then teachers, you know, gave the feedback, hey, we need to do seven hours of flex
022during the year. We would love to collaborate early on in the summer and get started with this much earlier. So, that was fantastic to hear. But overall, super positive from our staff. Um, so yeah. Is that the end of our presentation? >> We have family feedback. >> Yeah, >> go ahead, Mary. So, I'm going to cover um the family feedback. Um the um since creating these slides, um we have gotten 180 responses. So, that's great. Um the percentages did stay very much the same, but you can just sort of glance through this. I tried to highlight for you um just in general, you know, families who gave positive feedback um and families who sort of fell in that neutral um like a three, many of their comments aligned with it was a good, you know,
023um good experience overall. Um across the board, very positive feedback. Um, you'll make note that there may have been some people who didn't maybe have the most positive experience. While small in percentages, their feedback is very valuable to us. Um, and some of their comments, you'll see highlighted later, really great suggestions for us to make some small adjustments and grow. But looking in general, um, students and their families really felt like they had a positive experience. Um, they felt like the information session was helpful. Um, orientation helped to prepare them. um an adjustment we made from last year had to do with social interactions and that um that percentage really jumped in a in a good direction. Go ahead, Mary. So, this we just wanted to gather some information. You know, we asked the question,
024how helpful was the information session? So, I really wanted to know how many families were we getting to attend the information session. If you look at this um you'll see that we have an okay amount um 53% um we do have a decent amount that um was not able to attend um knows it's available to watch. I would love to improve that. I know that we um advertise the session and then we send the link out. Um, but I would love to look see if we could maybe improve that so that more people are watching it because there is some really good information to help families really be comfortable with the approach that we're taking. Go ahead, Mary. And then these are just the questions that we asked with some highlighted feedback. So, um, what
025did your child share with you regarding their strong start to kindergarten experience? Um, so on my end, I just bolded some to draw your attention to. So, it looks like that wasn't updated on here, but um one that really stood out to me was she was worried about getting a new teacher, but liked all of them, made new friends quickly in her new class, and liked her new teacher a lot. Um, another one that I thought was kind of worth looking at um is two below that. We asked a lot of questions to our child to understand his days and he always responded positively. It was definitely challenging for him to keep all the names of the teachers straight each day with all the switching. Um, but yet they do highlight the positive response. So,
026I'll let you scan those and then we'll go to the next question. Go ahead, Mary. What did you see as the greatest benefit of strong start um to kindergarten for your child or family? Um so balanced classrooms to start offschooling. I thought that was a pretty good observation from from a parents perspective. Um and then I liked that a parent put I think strong start is a great way for the teachers to see which students will work or not work together since they haven't met any of the students before. Um I also like that somebody included equality in there. It was just nice to see the feedback from families really just um t were tailored to the objective that we had in mind and they seemed to really understand um the purpose of that. Of
027course, along with knowing the greatest benefit, we do ask, were there any challenges or concerns um that were experienced with Strong Start, taking into consideration your child's needs and abilities, um we did have some really great feedback here. Um one that stood out to me, um was he wasn't sure to talk to when he was upset. Um, so while on our end, we very intentionally, you know, align a student with a strong start teacher, um, we really thought that through as a point of contact for the family, I think moving into next year, that'll be a great place for us to grow, right? Making sure that we have that conversation that maybe that is the person that that the child could talk to when upset, but also really building on that kindergarten community and meeting
028all of the safe adults. The other one um that would that really stood out to me was maybe that friends were made during the process prior to the class being defined and explaining to their child that not all of their friends would be chosen for the same class. Overall happy with the process though. Again, great feedback on those peer-to-peer social interactions um in the strong start. And then the last question we asked um was we asked parents to please provide any additional feedback regarding the strong start to kindergarten program that you would like us to consider. We had a lot of great feedback here. It really gave us um some room to reflect and see where we could refine and make it better. But things that really stood out to me um more daily touch
029bases on how the kids were doing adjusting to the rotation. So based on feedback from last year, I felt like we did a really nice job of communicating with families detailed information prior to strong start. Um then some great information at the conclusion. I love the suggestion of maybe providing those daily communications. Um really easy to do on our end because we have those universal lesson plans. So I feel like that can be provided with without taxing um too much of the teacher's time. And then I love the one next to it. I wish that North Penn would have started this program sooner. I think if the district continues with it, it will truly help the teachers and students in the long run. So, I'll give you a moment to look at that one and
030then we'll wrap up with where we've been and where we hope to go. Go ahead, Mary. So, finally, much like we did last year, um I tried to sort of take all of the great feedback that we got. I looked at trends in the comments, um and I tried to look at what where are we right now and then where do we hope to go? Um, we went from five out of 13 schools implementing to 13 out of 13. I would certainly love to maintain implementation in all 13 elementary school buildings. Um, this year we did have some planning and prep time based on the staff feedback. I would love to consider increasing that prep time and providing a summer flex opportunity. Um, as I just shared, we had a great family communication sent before
031and after. I would love to consider creating that universal communication so that each day of those first several days of kindergarten, families are getting something that tells what their child did for the day and maybe even gives them some of those key questions to ask because we all know sometimes it's hard to get that information out of kiddos when they get home. Um, universal strong start to kindergarten lesson plans and activities were created and shared and we used them in year one and we did use them again in year two. I think moving into year three, it's a great time to maybe revisit and refine them as needed. Um, one suggestion that we saw was um, we provide a book every day for the students or a suggestion for a book, the possibility of looking
032at making sure all teachers have them um, and providing them to teachers if not. And then the one area um I believe Jen highlighted it in her staff feedback. Um students attended special area classes with their strong start group this year, which is different than what we did the year before based on some feedback. Um and what we'll need to consider is the impact that had on our special area teachers and maybe take another step to refine that part of the process to make sure it's the best it can be for everyone involved. And with that, we can move to questions. >> Are there any questions or comments? >> I have a couple, I guess. >> Okay, Mr. Pusca. >> Um, first, uh, thank you for the presentation. This is, uh, a cool approach to
033starting kindergarten for sure. I do have some experience working in kindergarten classrooms. So, I I know how I don't want to say chaotic, but I think that might not be totally inappropriate. the the very beginning of that school year is with the kids coming in. Um so of all the things that were discussed, I guess I'm a little curious about um just the data collection process. Maybe somebody could just expand a little on that and talk about, you know, what that looked like. Um and also the uh I did notice about the um special education teacher, there was a comment uh just sort of like the role that they played in this, you know, large mix of of students. Um thank you. >> Sure. Sure. So, I'll talk about data and then Jen, I'll tag
034you in for special education. Um, so a great question. Um, last year we had data collection suggestions. Um, and based on some feedback, we were able to refine that this year and we created a universal data collection tracker. Um, so after talking with the kindergarten teams, we decided that um, the academic piece was important, the social emotional piece was more important. Um so we sort of have all domains um represented. Uh we had that created for each classroom and then each team member that came into the room had access to it. Some classrooms had it on a clipboard. Some classrooms had them on index cards for students. Um but it allowed for um data to be collected around those learning domains for the beginning of the year. and then teams really sat together and were
035able to look at that and really look at okay who seems to need what and who would be who would be a great fit. So what we did was we just tried to take what we did last year and sort of refine it and make it more useful based on um what we know helps to make students in a in a um successful classroom. >> Okay. And I would say the biggest difference in the data collection from my perspective from last year to this year was on our on our day where we were forming all of our classes fun Friday. Last year we had stacks of different data collection from different individuals who were a part of the team. Um this year we've really refined that to that clipboard binder whatever the teacher utilized to
036be able to have one picture of that homebased classroom with different notes from different team members. So, it really streamlined it for us. Um, as far as the special education teacher and I think that comment from the staff member about maybe not having them in the process as much as they would like. I know for my building, um, we have a special education teacher that's split between kindergarten and first grade. So, in those first five days of school, they're also still supporting their first grade students, of course. So, they're not present for the entire day. Um, but they are team members. They're coming in for data collection. They are getting that sub coverage on fun Friday to be a part of the conversations just as much as the kindergarten teachers because we want to make
037sure we're not only creating these classrooms that are balanced and equitable, but that have the resources and support that the students need academically. >> Yeah. And I truly think that's probably the most important part of it is making sure they're collaborating and as they're figuring out the strengths and and needs absolutely who should go where. >> Um Yeah. Okay, cool. That makes sense. And I'm going to preempt before somebody brings this up. Again, having worked in kindergarten classrooms myself, SEAL is more important at the beginning of kindergarten because you can't learn every anything if you're not ready to learn. And we are talking about 5-year-olds. Um, so it is extraordinarily important that we get them ready to learn, which is really what this whole process is about. So, thank you. >> So true. >> Uh,
038Mr. McBain, do you have any questions or comments? >> Well, Mr. Fusco, I was not going to disagree with you if that's who you meant, but uh no, thank you for this. Uh my wife is an elementary school teacher who teaches second grade and uh I I like to go and help and and visit uh back in the day when I had the time. And boy, that kindergarten group is a handful. And logistically, this is just such a a task. And you can tell that it's been very thoughtfully uh run through and and thoroughly done. And I think a lot of those comments that mentioned things that could be done better next time, a lot of that uh comes from experience of the teachers getting through it one time as well. So that's that's pretty
039important. A little bit in line with what uh Mr. Fusco said, uh what exactly is the role of guidance counselors through this process? I know that it's a big school obviously and there's a lot going on, but how uh how available are they to the kindergarteners through this process? >> Yeah, that's a great question. Um, coming from a building administrator standpoint, our guidance counselor was one of our data collectors. So, getting eyes on these students from the very start, really kind of feeling out that emotionality. Our guidance counselors in most buildings are also part of our KAP teams. So, they've met a few of these kiddos back in June and, you know, name stick with you. So, they're like, "Oh, I remember doing her KAP like and now here she is with other peers and
040I'm really seeing it in action." Um, so definitely a critical component of the team >> and I think any way we can support that moving forward, you know, I think we're open to those. Thank you very much. >> I do have one last question. I'm kind of curious. We talked about, you know, students maybe wanting to be with peers or a specific teacher. How much reach out did you guys get from parents requesting specific teachers or pairing of students or that type of thing? Was it significant? Was it pretty insignificant? >> I think that goes building by building, but I can speak to at NAP, I try to be proactive as I think a lot of the elementary principles do. You know, in May, I want to hear about, you know, any social situations or
041anything that's kind of going on with your kid. But you know, we're not promising such and such as your child's classroom in a positive way. Um, we really rely on our team and the data that we have for your student to make the best choice. And I can say through this process, I maybe had two parents um reach out and say like my older child had so and so and it was a great experience and I kind of reached out and just reminded them what the purpose was behind this and that you know we feel really confident that we will be able to make the best choice to meet their child's need because even as a parent I know my children as learners are very different. Um, so that's not always the best experience just
042because one child had that teacher. So I think when you connect with parents and you know kind of give them that lens. I didn't really have any push back and there wasn't there wasn't through the process parents who even felt like their kid got connected to a certain teacher. Um, they see all of them pretty equally. So it doesn't feel like that strong start teacher is preferred. Um, and if anything, it might just be peers. Like maybe the parent already picked up on a peer situation, which if they're picking up on it, our staff probably is making note of it, too. So, it's more on the preventative side and proactive. Um, but pretty minimal. >> I think it's actually speaks a lot to the effectiveness of the program itself because, you know, you would expect,
043I think, more families, I mean, just in general, to reach out. And I can say our our building did it last year, so there's a little more trust in the process. Yeah. >> Um for some families knowing that this was year two, positive feedback from last year going into it again, but yeah. >> Cool. Thank you. >> Sure. Thank you. I believe Mr. Fusco took all my questions. He he usually steals all my questions. Um just thank you to the team and to the teachers. I know that this is having experienced this exact program myself, I know um all what's involved in pulling this off in the first few days of school. So, I really appreciate that. Um I think there were I'm sure you're looking at themes and themes throughout the feedback that you're
044getting. Um, I did notice quite a bit around um, planning and having that opportunity for teachers to be able to across the district, the kindergarten team be able to connect. And then one of the other things I noticed was ensuring that the for the lesson plans that teachers had the books that were in the lesson plan. So I certainly would like to see us ensure that we have all of the materials that are needed for the program. So, if the lesson plan says, "I need this book." Let's make sure that we purchase that book for every kindergarten teacher in the district. Um, because just the logistics of this program is enough. We want to make sure that we make the things like the lesson plans as easy as possible. Um, but thank you for the
045presentation. We appreciate it. Um, and now we'll turn to Dr. Waters for the next part of our presentation, please. >> All right. Thank you. And I just also want to thank um both Jen and Marica for a great presentation and the entire team, kindergarten teachers, and all of the staff that support this amazing program. I loved seeing it in action um when school opened and that was my favorite part of the day, seeing the little kindergarteners adjusting to their new schedule. So um you're welcome to jump off and go on with your night. And um next up, we have uh two surveys that you've uh definitely heard about in the past. Um every other year we come before you to talk about both the pay survey and the belonging survey. These are both surveys that
046we've been doing for a little bit now. The pay survey, Pennsylvania youth survey we've been doing for several years. And then the belonging survey we started doing a few years ago. Um and we do that every other year. And that's a survey that's really important to us because our uh students actually get involved with helping to create some action steps around the results. So I'm going to ask Dr. Brockster to first uh talk about the pay survey and then I will talk about the belonging survey. >> Thank you Dr. Waters. I appreciate it and appreciate the board's ongoing support of the Pa uh you survey uh that Dr. Waters alluded to. we've been participating with since 2021 uh was North Penn's first year of participation. Um do you have our slides there? There we go.
047Um we can skip next that next slide already. Um as alluded to it's a Pennsylvania youth uh survey. It's sponsored by uh the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency PCCD uh the drug and alcohol programs from the state of Pennsylvania and the PTE. Um the benefit of that is those organizations often are involved in grant um development at the state level. Um and one of the benefits of participation in the the pay survey is getting being able to use the data that we collect from um the results not only for our own internal planning and and planning purposes to support our needs in the district um from a professional development lens and from a resource lens. Um it also um is provides us the opportunity to use some of that data to um apply for
048grants and in the past we've used our pay data and several opportunities uh specifically for PCCD grants related to some mental health supports. So if we move forward just to give a refresher in terms of the structure um on that next slide uh what is involved in the survey. So it surveys students in grades 6 8 10 and 12th grade um across the entire district. Uh it asks questions about behavior, attitudes, um their knowledge regarding alcohol, tobacco use, other drugs, uh even violence. Um it also includes some uh questions and inquiries around um mental health um and bullying and those types of things as well. Um as part of that survey, uh it is administered across the state every two years. Um it helps assess our it looks at two things mainly, our risk factors.
049So those things that uh potentially students may be engaging that are harmful. uh behaviors. Uh but it also I think is a positive. It lets us look at what are some positive influences in students lives. What are those protective as they describe them? Uh factors that can helpfully uh buffer against some of those risk factors. So we get to kind of explore both sides of the equation with the pay data which is really helpful. Um last October I did get an opportunity to present here at ECI around our 2023 data. Um, so I'm looking forward to continuing to look at our trends and uh seeing the positive movement hopefully we're making uh by the supports we have in place uh to support some of that data. So this particular fall our administration window will be
050from November 10th to November 21st. Uh so it gives us a solid two weeks before that Thanksgiving break. Um in case there's any technical issues, uh we do have until December to be able to make the submission window for um for pays. Uh but this gives us a window to make sure that we can get all the results possible. At the high school level, it's given in 10th and 12th grade. Um that will be done during a night zone, a midday night zone. So uh the high school will be moving uh their night zone to about midway through the day. Um in the past, we've seen some really encouraging results uh for using that format. I think Dr. Waters, we used that with our last um district-wide input survey. Um and I think that was
051really powerful to use that window. um at North Bridge. I I am the principal there as well. Uh we don't have too many 12th graders there, so they'll be taking primarily our 10th graders will be taking it in social studies class. Um so we'll be able to have a nice focused uh given our size um not worry about being able to achieve some participation. Our middle schools will be using pen time. Uh the eighth graders will use pen time and then our elementary schools in sixth grade uh will be conducting that in social studies, science or health. uh depending on the uh collaboration between the building principal and the sixth grade teachers where they feel it fits best uh within that uh twoe window. Survey takes approximately 40 minutes uh which is approximately one class
052period at the secondary level. Um it's about a good chunk of a period for uh the elementary level. Um and that survey also includes a video and proctor instructions. So students do watch a standardized video before they take the assessment to inform them of some important components related to the survey. Um and I'll share those next with our last slide here. Um just to keep some things in mind, the survey is completely anonymous. Um the students get an anonymous link. Uh the only really identifiable, not even identifiable piece of information they share, um that's collected is the school in which they're um in the district which they're in, not even to the school level, just the district. Um and then grade level. Uh it's just to make sure that they don't collect results by accident
053from a student that's not in the proper uh grade level. Um students are informed in that opening that they can skip questions they don't feel comfortable answering. So there's no obligation to to answer questions they don't feel uh that comfortable about doing um or they don't understand. Um sometimes we've gotten feedback uh at the elementary level. I'm not sure my sixth grader will understand that question. Students are uh informed they can simply just skip that question. There's no obligation to participate. Um and then also they're they're you know informed if they have any questions or concerns that might come up after they take that survey their school counselor or trusted a vault would be definitely available to speak to them and um support them. Terms of communication uh communication will go out to parents on
054October 20th. Uh it's a passive consent uh communication from principles informing them of the details of the survey uh links to frequently asked questions. It'll also include a link to where parents can actually request uh through the provider um access to what those questions look like to help inform their decision um whether they'd want their child to opt out of participating. Um if the child opts out, they simply inform their principal by submitting a form. Um and then the principal comes up with a you know obviously non-punitive alternative place for them to to be during that assessment window um to avoid any you know obviously stigmatizing anyone that would elect to not participate in the survey. Uh so those that's the basic overview. Um and we're looking forward to uh seeing where our trends in
055the data u now going on. This will be our kind of our six-year trend at this point at the conclusion of this window. Okay. Um, are there any questions or comments? >> Can you pull up that last slide for a second? If you don't mind, >> I think we need Miss Figish. Would you be able to pull up the slideshow again? >> Uh, give me a second. I actually >> I'm sorry. It was got rid of it. a comment about Yeah, actually see what the comments >> I already closed it and pulled up the other one. One moment >> I think it was about just the way what is it that we did with the students that didn't participate. What was the point? >> So the parent the parents would indicate that they're opting out
056and then we their principal will come up with a um you know an alternative place for them to be without you know kind of being viewed punitive or anything. >> Okay. So you're basically saying they were not in the room while >> Yes. >> pretty much the way you kind of said they had like some alternative activity to perform or something. >> Uh okay. Yeah. Okay. Good. >> I know this didn't completely um we didn't go into this and I don't necessarily need the answer now, but I am curious um what it looks like. Well, part of the way you framed this is that students then kind of take part in creating the action steps that would come from is is that what happens or or the students are giving us the information and we're
057creating the action steps? >> Yeah, I'm sorry that you I might have confused you. That's for the next survey where some the student ambassadors help with that. Not for this one. This will just be our counselors and administrators. >> Okay. So, they're creating some action steps from this that will hopefully move student belonging forward. Um, and so since we do this every two years, do we have some manner of determining from our last one if the action steps that we put in place were successful? Um, are we reflecting on the things that we did and whether we need to continue to do those things or whether we need to be more intentional? um in our schools in a different way. I'm just curious about that >> from the pay survey side of things. Um that
058definitely is a part of the process and review of data. So we uh when we got our first results um from the 2021 results, we set goals based on that and areas we wanted to improve these measures. Um and then 2023 gave us our kind of first progress check to see, hey, are we moving in the right direction? For example, we may we want to say, hey, we want to reduce the percentage of kids that indicated they've thought about suicide within the last 3 months. We want to incre decrease that percentage by such amount by typically they had us set goals over a 10-year period. Um so then we set benchmarks along the way. So we'll be looking at those benchmarks to see, hey, are we making progress on those benchmarks in the areas where
059we set goals and what do we need to adjust based on that that feedback and data. >> Thank you. Dr. Waters. Um, is Dr. Broxterman doing the next slide as well or is that >> I'm gonna do the next slide. >> Okay. Dr. Broman, >> I'm sorry. Could I chime in real quick for a question? >> Oh, sorry. I'm sorry, Mr. McBain. >> No, that's fine. I appreciate uh you know, just for folks at home, this is an incredibly important survey that asks about uh whether a student feels comfortable at school, if there's enough opportunities for that student, whether they feel like they have social groups to connect to. I would like to mention that uh as time goes on, what types of issues students are facing is going to change over these next 10
060to 15 years. Um in no small part because of how uh co impacted uh daily lives for a couple years, several years ago, and I think we're already starting to see there are certain developmental uh lags in certain age groups as they're moving through the school system. And I think this is a survey that's going to allow us to identify what those are as new students get to new levels of their education. I think it's really important. I just wanted to ask that uh we get the results. I think it's in April typically when the state comes back. Is that right, Dr. Boxman? >> We get the complete comprehensive profile. We get some sneak peeks that come out in typically end of December, beginning of January that kind of give us like some big arching
061pieces as a district, but the complete comprehensive view comes out in April. Is correct, Mr. McM? >> That's great. That should be enough time to, you know, take a second look at what we need to look at before the coming school year and hopefully make adjustments as needed. Um, and I just hope that we can all uh, audience members uh, and community members understand that uh, this is going to be a shifting look as time goes on in education. Thanks. >> Thank you, Mr. McBain. I think that was a helpful frame for families at home, too, is about the survey in terms of layman's language of what this means for students. Um, okay, Dr. Waters. >> All right. So the next um the last uh item that we have for you tonight um is just
062that second survey which is the belonging survey and this is also something that um we've presented to you in the past. I believe this is the third time and again this has been done every other year. So the sense of belonging survey the psychological sense of school membership is what I'm going to share uh quickly next. Can you go to the next slide please? So again kind of what I stated earlier this survey is really important to Mr. McBain's point also because it really ascertains whether or not students feel that sense of belonging that we hope they all feel. It is really important and you've heard it throughout many presentations from all of us that we really want our students in North Penn to feel welcome to feel good about school that it's a positive
063experience for them. And so this survey does really give us a good idea of whether or not that is the case. Um and then we have a group of students at the high school that we uh call the student ambassadors. They are tasked with kind of taking this information and coming up with some action steps um at the school. I will say that the principles and the school counselors are also a part of the process. They also take a look at this information and that helps kind of guide what they need to do, you know, at their own schools. And it's also something where we can see if things are improving um or not. So this survey is uh administered in second at the secondary level only. So grades 7 to 12 take it. Very
064similarly to the PACE survey. It will be within that same window. So we will try to make sure they also take this survey prior to Thanksgiving break during those same times that Dr. Brostman spoke of. This survey does not take as long. There's 18 liker scale items that are asked and then uh Qualrix is an online platform. They collect these responses and export the data that then comes back to us. We get a pretty in-depth analysis from the University of Pennsylvania. They work with some school districts to give us that information. And then of course, like I said, we make sure that we take a look at it here at the ESC, our counselors, our principles, teachers, etc. and our students um up at the high school who work specifically um on some things that
065they help or think help will help um move the high school in the right direction. Um you can go to the next slide. This gives you a glimpse of what it looks like. These are actually the 18 questions that they'll be asked. So nothing to hide here. I want to be full fully transparent. Things like I feel part of my school. um most teachers at this school are interested in me. Teachers here respect me. Um I feel proud of belonging to North Penn School District. Those types of things. So you can see what the questions are there. They are in the um presentation for you. And um that's really all I have on the sense of belonging. If you have any questions for me, happy to answer them. Any questions or comments? Mr. Fusco, Mr.
066McBain, uh, Celia or Malachi, I know you probably have taken part in these surveys. So, any questions or comments from you? You don't have to have a question or comment, but asking if you do. No, I don't have any um questions or comments. Um I have done obviously I've done the blowing surveys multiple times and then I'm also part of the student ambassadors who also work um after we get the feedback and the data back and trying to figure out like where we can improve. So thank you. I appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Dr. G, is it okay if I just take a quick moment to introduce our new student reps? >> Oh yes, absolutely. I'm sorry. I should have done that for the public. I met them before. So, >> yes, I know.
067But yes, I'm just so very excited to welcome to you um Malachi Nisbet and Celia Francois. They will be the reps for this year. I've had an opportunity to meet with them about ECI in preparation for their new role. Um they interviewed, they did a a what did you guys do? A video. Um and they are just the perfect two uh for this committee. They're very passionate about curriculum and instruction and so very happy to have them here. >> Awesome. We're going to have lots of questions for uh you two. Um I am that that was a perfect introduction because our student update is next. Um our student student representative update. So, Malachi or Silia, if you want to get us started or share anything that you would like to share um with us about
068uh what's happening at the high school or anything that we should know, we are happy to hear it. >> Um hi again. My name is Malachi. Um Celia's mic isn't working, so I guess I will be speaking on both of our behalfs for the night. Um, personally I don't have anything um to add as for or to report from the high school. Um, Celia, text me if you have anything to say and I will the message. >> Malachi, I have two quick questions from um uh regarding just um wondering um how night zone is it still called night zone? >> Yes. Wondering how zone is going this year? Um so that was my one and then my um other question was um uh how like second chance learning was going this year. So night zone
069second chance learn >> um night zone personally has been very very um helpful um for me and a lot of my peers. Um it it gives us like multiple chances to work on things we needed to work on. I um had missed a few days and night zone was like the because in my schedule during the day I don't have a lot of study halls to catch up on what I had missed. I either I have two AP classes so I try to catch up on like try to get a jump on that before I go home at the end of the day. Um but so night zone gives me the perfect opportunity to to make up the work I miss, ask my questions if any. Um and then if I don't get to all
070of the usually I don't get to math and math support is during lunches through um all the periods. So I feel both night zone and math support are super duper beneficial. Um and then I blanked on your last question. I'm so sorry. >> Uh second chance learning. >> Second chance learning. Um Sely, do you have anything to say on that one? >> Dr. G, is that something you would want to do as a um topic here? >> Sure, we can. I was just I was getting brief since I didn't have a specific I was just getting brief like >> Sure. >> So, as long as we're asking how things are going, um, anybody who's not spending their days in the high school sees a lot of construction equipment around the building. Uh, Malachi, you want
071to just talk for a minute about like your experience being in the high school with everything going on. Is there any disruption or is finding things are working out smoothly? you have a point of comparison because you were there before the construction. So curious your insights. >> Um I would say that for the most part everything is running smoothly. Um mainly the construction is in like K pod and I do have a class in Kod. So it's some disruptions during um class periods because obviously they do have to work. Um so during the class we might hear whatever they're doing upstairs. So, it is a little disrupting, but like it's manageable. It's nothing that's we had to we did have to leave the classroom one day because it was too loud for us to to
072learn. >> Um, but for the most part, it was just run super duper smoothly. >> Um, >> was there a plan in place for that? like if something like that were to happen like just um >> that our teacher has talked to um our class about and then in this specific incident it was kind of unexpected her construction issues due or I I think are unexpected. Um so our teacher had talked to Mr. Hassler that morning and so we were quick and easy. We got into the auditorium. It was a sign on the door and we were in the auditorium for the remainder of the class period. I think that by the next class period, uh, Mr. Hasher had resolved the issue. Um, and we're back to regular scope of program. >> Okay, great. Thanks
073for that update, Malachi. Welcome. Welcome, Celia. Looking forward to working you guys. >> Thank you. All right. Um, well, thank you both. And, uh, Dr. Waters, I believe that gets us down to, uh, any additional topics. um and the um anyone who might be interested in addressing the committee. So I can ask Miss Fakeish if we don't have additional topics if there's anyone who would like to address the committee. >> Hi. Yes, we do have one hand. >> Okay, let me read the guidelines for addressing the committee. Uh just one moment. Okay. Uh, in order to meet the requirements of Pennsylvania Sunshine Law, it is necessary to record the names of all citizens who speak to the committee during the meeting. To assure compliance with this requirement, it is essential that those planning to address
074the committee state their name and municipality. Members of the audience are asked to limit their questions and comments to no more than 3 minutes. This limit will permit time for all those who wish to speak to the committee. Whenever members of the audience exceed this time limit, the committee chair may ask the individual to yield to the next speaker. And with that, >> um, Mr. Laneir, when I unmute your mic, you may address the board. Please state your name and municipality for the board. Uh, Jason Laneir Lansdale. Uh, looking at the presentations, you know, the I guess the first one regarding the the kindergarten preparation. Um, okay. It it a lot of that seems there's a lot of coded language. It seems like there's a lot of terms and expressions used when planer language could
075be adopted because you know like there was equitable foundation which seems very what does that mean equitable foundation? I mean, when I look this up, it it comes back with a lot of sort of left-leaning uh educational systems, but okay, fine. We we want to practice these sorts of things, and if it's actually beneficial to kids, I'm all for it. I guess my point being, is it actually beneficial to kids? And I don't think the benefit is a measurement of in, you know, seventh, 8th, nth, 10th, 11th grade or whatever when they take these surveys whether or not they feel welcome in the school or part of the education system. That's that's not really I I'm not sure how much good information you're going to get from a survey. I would lean on the sort
076of the the quantitative information that you get from these students. And that is where the problem lies. But if this is all all of this sort of these these programs with with SEAL and everything are going to be beneficial then where's the proof that they are doing what they are intended because it doesn't show in the proficiency rates. I know I' I've kind of hammered this a bunch of times but nobody really seems to want to address how is this going to get improved by doing the programs which you're implementing. And again, I'll refer to the keystones because Fusco mentioned this time one time, but you know, don't don't look at the PSSAs. That's such a snapshot of not the the the best uh you know, age of of young males is in seventh and
077eighth grade. They're not necessarily the most serious students. But if you look at the keystones, you know, from from 10 years ago to today or 2024, there's a huge difference in in the proficiency rates. It's so much so that, you know, back in 2015, there was really only, you know, all student proficiency grade and historically underperforming historic uh proficiency rates. And the kids that are historically underperforming in algebra, for instance, in 2015, had a 78.1% proficiency rate, that beats every group of kids in 20 20 uh 2024. Every group of kids, no exception. Nobody's above a 78.1 now. And most most groups, and however you want to break it up, are doing much much uh much more poorly than that. So I I want to know how we're doing all this emotional, you know, feeling
078towards the system of education, but are we doing something to promote the actual uh necessity of education and and having a well-informed uh population is is really important and I'm not sure we're doing that with this LCL and stuff. I'll leave it. Mr. >> Lier, thank you. Okay. Do I have a hand up here or is that Oh, okay. >> That that is all. That's the our only um audience member to talk. >> Okay, great. Thank you. Okay, so we are moving forward uh student travel to our um to action and um we do not have any additional items. The next meeting of the ECI committee will be will take place on Wednesday, November 5th at 5:30 in a virtual format. Does anyone have anything else? If not, can I have a motion to adjourn
079the meeting? >> So moved. >> All in favor? Meeting adjourned. I hope everyone has a great evening. Thank you. >> You too. Thanks. Good night, everyone. Thank you.