Edgar Allan Poe Elementary School
SDMC Minutes
September 25, 2012
I.
The minutes from May 30, 2012 meeting were approved
II.
The idea of a Dual Language Class at Poe was discussed in length. Mark Twain agreed to allow a
committee to visit their Dual Language Program. A committee of teachers and SDMC members
volunteered to explore and research the idea of Poe going Dual Language. Further discussions
and decisions will be based on what is best for the school (Poe). The first grade level we would
start with is Kindergarten. The current Kindergarten bilingual class would be split into two
classes with Native English speaking students and Bilingual students in a 50/50 split. Committee
members: Mrs. Blewer, Mrs. Zientek, Mr. Kahanek, Mr. Hernandez, Mr. Warren, Mrs. Gomez,
and Ms Molina. (Let Mr. Amerson know if you would also like to serve.)
III.
Grade speed – The idea of consistency in grading was brought up by Mr. Amerson. He feels that
grades, and what we take grades on, need to be consistent across grade levels. If planning is
completed as a team, the Grade Books should basically look the same across the grade level.
There are a few exceptions of why the grade books look different, but all grades need to be
entered into Grade Speed and use “re-teach” to access the grade for any poor outcomes. The
standards are set and assessments can be modified to fit each grade level. SDMC members will
take this discussion back to teachers and discover what and how grades are decided upon. This
was the beginning of a conversation Mr. Amerson wants us to continue to have.
IV.
Intervention was discussed and the different Tiers were made clear, a day after school could be
reserved to discuss the more serious situations guided by Mrs. Zientek.
V.
Covering the TEKS by Mr. Amerson: He shared a form that he was working on that listed the
TEKS covered and tested each year and would allow teachers and students the chance to track
progress on each. He brought this to get feedback. Some of the teachers present said they liked
the idea. He would like to see something (a form like this or something) with the TEKS/SE listed
and columns would be attached to help keep up with Mastery of each subject per each student.
The students would have a Kid Friendly version to keep up with the Mastery of each TEK/SE in
each subject area. It was brought up that we can already do this with our benchmark exams
through Campus Online. If we could create all assessments in a way that they can be scanned
and run through Campus Online, then all of our data could be analyzed at the end of each unit.
Ms. Garza expressed an interest in looking into this further. There is a way to create our own
answer documents so that we can scan our own in-house assessments.
VI.
Meeting concluded @4:55pm