Hackett Community Engagement Team Meeting Minutes
Monday, 12/16/15, 6-8 pm
Minutes prepared by: Anne Erling
The meeting began with introductions for new participants. Mimi Morse, the Hackett student who
attended last month’s meeting wasn’t able to be at this meeting, so a recommendation was made to
have an additional student available as a stand-by member, so that we always have at least one student
present. Dr. V was able to attend this meeting, but not Mr. Paolino. Assistant Principal Mr. Moultrie
served as the representative from HMS administration.
Following introductions, Barbara Smith informed the team about a conference call she’d had that
afternoon with national members of the My Brother’s Keeper organization (which in Albany is known as
My Brother and Sister’s Keeper) on the new federal replacement for No Child Left Behind. The new law
will have reduced emphasis on testing, among other things.
Approval of Last Month’s Meeting Minutes: Following a motion that was seconded, November’s
meeting minutes were unanimously approved.
Discussion about the CET’s Role: There has been confusion about the role of the CET. Kate Russel read
from the SED website:
“The Community Engagement Team is charged with developing recommendations for
improvement of the school and for soliciting input regarding their recommendations through
public engagement. This public engagement may include, but is not be limited to, public
hearings or meetings and surveys. The CET will work with the Superintendent Receiver to
review the SCEP plan, the 1003(g) School Improvement Grant (SIG), or School Innovation
Fund (SIF) plan submitted to the Department for the 2015-16 school year, and determine
whether revisions are necessary. After the plan receives Department approval, the
Community Engagement Team will work to assess the degree to which the school’s
Comprehensive Education Plan or Department-approved intervention plan is being successfully
implemented and provide on-going recommendations at least twice annually to school
leadership. All such recommendations and the efforts made to incorporate them, including a
description of which recommendations were incorporated and how they were incorporated and
which recommendations were not incorporated and why they were not incorporated, must be
included as an attachment to the Department-approved SCEP, SIG or SIF plan.”
From SED’s Frequently Asked Questions, Section D.1
http://p12.nysed.gov/accountability/de/FrequentlyAskedQuestions.html
This implies an active role, reviewing the school’s progress under receivership and making ongoing
recommendations. Dr. V. agreed that this is the work we’re charged with doing. In order to accomplish
this, though, we need to organize ourselves for more productivity. A first step is to create a timeline of
what we need to accomplish over the next 5-6 months. In this time period we will need to create two
reports, and before its due date we will need to weigh in on the 2nd Quarterly Report to SED. (The due
date for the 2nd Quarterly Report is set for 1/29, but HMS has petitioned to have that date moved back
to early February to allow time to finish winter NWEA testing first, so NWEA data can be included in the
report.)
Katherine Malle-Sipos stressed the importance of efficient access to data. The CET needs to evaluate the
status of each initiative in the Continuation Plan and assign an appropriate color (green, yellow or red)
identifying levels of success at addressing each initiative, but to do that we need data. These
determinations can’t be based on personal opinion. At the same time, we need to be mindful of the
time needed by school staff to produce this data and make sure our requests relate to our monitoring
role vis a vis the Continuation Plan.
We have a range of opinions on what we should focus on in our monitoring role. One option is to focus
on the language of the Continuation Plan recommendations – not the indicators per se – determining
whether the school is moving from red to green on implementing each recommendation, not on
whether student data is improving. A contrasting view is that we need to ready ourselves to make
recommendations for next year. Keeping an eye on student indicators will help us determine the level of
success a particular initiative is having in moving the dial at Hackett – which will help us make
appropriate recommendations for next year. Probably we should keep our eyes on both.
Review of the Status of the 10 items on the Continuation Plan (CP) that were coded as yellow or red in
the 1st Quarterly Report:
1. CP Strategy #3 - Partnership with local colleges and universities to provide more intensive 1:1
academic tutoring for identified students. HMS will provide additional literacy and math tutors
for the after-school extended day program: The CET asks if it’s happening, and how many
tutoring sessions have been held with how many students and how many tutors. If it isn’t
happening, we ask what the timeline is for implementing it. Also, it would be good to know that
there’s an evaluative tool being used, and we’d like to see evaluative data on the sessions.
2. CP Strategy #4 - Ensure full curriculum in all core academic subjects: We requested the
curricular status of each Hackett course – core and non-core classes -- in our November
meeting. We would like to see a chart that, for each course at Hackett, identifies if that course’s
curriculum is fully developed, developing, or undeveloped, as well as whether that curriculum
has been rolled out in Hackett’s classrooms such that SED would give that course a passing
grade for curriculum development in their walk-through this year.
3. CP Strategy #9 - Develop and implement the Albany Peace Project’s Mindful Moments (APPMM)
program at HMS: In response to a question of whether it’s happened, we learned that the
contract was approved, teachers had their first PD on the topic, and mindful moments will start
school-wide in January.
4. CP Strategy #11 - Partnership with In Our Own Voices (IOOV): The CET would like to know if this
partnership has begun. Dr. V. will check.
5. CP Strategy #12 – Development of Comprehensive Parent/Family Engagement Plan: Anne
reminded the group that the language for this strategy in the First Quarterly Report inaccurately
identifies this receivership year strategy as that of developing a plan. In fact, in HMS’s SED
approved Continuation Plan, our goal this year isn’t just to develop a plan, but to implement the
various steps identified in that strategy. That language needs to be corrected in the remaining
quarterly reports for this year. The CET would like to know the status of the various steps in that
plan. Has any progress been made towards surveying parents as described in the plan? What is
the status of the development of informational materials as described in the plan to help
parents understand what their student should be learning in each class, and how to monitor
how well their student is meeting those standards? What is the status of preparing job
specifications for the planned new community outreach workers, and recruiting for and hiring
these individuals? What is the status of work to build partnerships with community
organizations to maximize the impact of this community outreach effort? What about the
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planned trainings for parents in ELA and math standards? The Fall math and literacy night did
some of this. Are any other events in the planning stage, and any efforts being made to make
this information available to parents unable to attend the events? Dr. V. invited and collected
names of CET members interested in joining a work group to focus on this strategy. She will
contact interested individuals to set up a time to meet.
CP Strategy #15 – Purchase Compass Learning to provide weekly progress monitoring of all
students receiving AIS interventions: This was purchased this week and trainings are happening
later this week.
CP Strategy #17 – HMS will continue to expand the use of technology by providing electronic
access to textbooks and other online resources: What progress has been made on this? Does
HMS have money budgeted for this?
CP Strategy #18 – HMS Community Engagement Team will explore the concept of instituting a
full-service Community School Model: Has there been any concrete movement on studying
implementation of a community school model? There’s a need for a team to develop this. HMS
is in the process of trying to locate a person to lead this work. Tomorrow there is a meeting with
the SUNY Dean of Social Welfare and Provost for Community Engagement. There also have been
conversations with County Executive Dan McCoy. Once the new SIG hire is onsite, that person
will be able to focus on this and help move it forward. Also, Chris (last name?), a meeting
attendee this evening, is engaged in doing research related to full service in community schools.
She invited us to be involved in efforts to establish a map of Albany that identifies community
resources in each neighborhood. We can contribute by helping identify resources in our own
neighborhoods, within a particular radius distance from our home. Chris will talk with Barry
about this GIS work she’s doing as a start to getting others involved in populating the map with
resources in their neighborhoods.
CP Strategy #19 – HMS will provide intense daily small group (2-5 students per group)
instruction in ELA for students currently at Level 1 on the NYS ELA assessment: Is this
happening? How many students have been identified for this? A teacher member commented
that groups of 2-5 are too small – that they can’t meet all needy students with groups that small.
Hackett is servicing more students by refining its Tier breakdowns to ensure they target those
students who really need services.
The Community Engagement Team: It’s appropriate to keep the status of this initiative coded
yellow since we still struggle with establishing a membership that’s reflective of the Hackett
community as a whole. We also don’t have a concrete plan for completing our required public
reports and community outreach. We haven’t charged anyone to be our public spokesperson.
There are two additional lines coded as Yellow in the first Quarterly Report. These deal with the school’s
progress in meeting its selected indicators, and since Mr. Paolino isn’t at this meeting, we can’t get
clarity on these issues. We will want to get an update on how well we’re meeting these indicators
before the second quarterly report is prepared.
Additional requests for information to Dr. V and HMS staff from CET members:
1. Katherine Malle-Sipos asked for answers to questions asked formally at last meetings. Dr. V
provided an answer to one of them: The additional money provided administrators in this year’s
contract was provided as one time stipends, not increases to base salaries.
2. Katherine also requested an update on plans presented at the press conference at Hackett in
early November with community leaders. At our November meeting Mr. Paolino didn’t have any
information on whether anything was developing in that area.
3. Connie Centrello asked that the CET be provided a budget narrative for this year’s Continuation
Plan budget that provides a timeline for expected budget expenditures, and asked that we
receive such a narrative when we receive next year’s budget spreadsheet.
4. Dahlia Herring recommended that the CET receive a presentation at an upcoming meeting from
someone related to HMS’s full service center. Ray Gifford was recommended.
5. Sam Shipherd mentioned the surveys filled out at the Open School days and the Math and
Literacy night and asked that the CET be given a report on survey responses.
6. CET members requested current figures for the indicators HMS selected for the Continuation
Plan. Ideally, we would like to see the NWEA data presented as a comparison chart showing
NWEA scores for Spring of the prior year, and then Fall, Winter and Spring of this year. Samuel
Carrera mentioned that other schools in receivership monitor student learning every 6 weeks,
not only every 3 months as we do with NWEA testing. Ideally we should have a more regular
way to see if students are moving forward as needed.
7. We requested information about the Friday afternoon professional development for teachers,
the extent to which topics are aligned with improvement goals for teachers, and whether Mr.
Paolino recommends specific PD topics. In response, Deb Calvo-McNicholas gave the group a
primer on Friday PD sessions. Mr. Paolino has incorporated looking for evidence of WICOR
(Writing to Learn, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading to Learn – the five guiding
principles in the Advancement Via Individual Determination program that Hackett has just
initiated this year for a select group of 7th graders, with the broad concepts being disseminated
to all teachers throughout the building) in his regular building class walk-throughs, and has a
form where he records what he sees. Friday PD topics arise out of deficiencies in what he sees in
these walk-throughs. For example, he wasn’t seeing a high enough percentage of classes using
the kind of reading strategies recommended in AVID, so the Friday PD was used to teach
teachers how to use close reading strategies in their classes. They had teachers practice using
the strategies, then translate those strategies to content they’re using in their classrooms. The
goal is that Mr. Paolino will see a consequent increase in the percentage of classrooms
demonstrating use of these close reading strategies in his next walk-throughs.
A CET member asked whether all PD is tied to the AVID program. PD’s goal is to teach effective
learning strategies, and the AVID program has effective strategies that are being shared with all
teachers. Other than this, though, AVID is not a building-wide initiative. It’s a specific program
open to a small number of students who elect to join the program. In this first year it’s open
only to a classroom sized group of seventh graders.
A CET member asked if any PD targets classroom/behavior management. Not directly, to date.
There is a school behavior strategist who rotates through team meetings every day and helps
teachers develop plans for their specific challenges. Beyond this, when teachers apply successful
strategies in their classrooms, the material ceases to be inaccessible to students, which cuts
down on behavior problems.
We asked for responses to all outstanding questions before our next meeting, so that we will be
prepared to weigh in on establishing an appropriate status (red, yellow, or green) for each strategy and
indicator in the next Quarterly Report.
Discussion of how we might move forward on CET issues so that we can move our own CET status from
Yellow to Green:
Piggybacking on school events to disseminate information on the CET: We need to communicate our
work to the wider community. Deb Calvo-McNicholas mentioned that as the AVID site coordinator she
also is charged with publicizing that program and has made use of other events at the school to do so.
We can make use of the ENL parent night on 1/21 or 1/27 (date not fully set, but there will be
translators there, so it will provide a great opportunity for us to get word out to people who don’t speak
English), Open School Week in February and the World Culture Night in March to staff a table to provide
information about the CET’s work. There was general agreement in the CET that we should get on the
schedules for these events and identify one or a number of volunteers to attend and share information
about the CET with attendees.
Preparing a “cheat sheet” that describes the work of the CET and invites participation: To do this
effectively, we should prepare a document that describes the CET. Susan D’Entrement volunteered to
draft a one page “cheat sheet” that describes the CET, what it does, and invites people to get involved.
Anne Erling will also help. The goal will be to complete a draft by 1/10, send it to CET members for
comments, and by 1/13, send it to the District to be translated in time to be available for the ENL event
at the end of January.
Project management planning for CET deliverables: Ford McClain volunteered to prepare a project
management tool that we can use to keep track of the specific tasks we need to accomplish, along with
point people and target dates for each task. He will meet with Barry Walston to put this together.
Preparation of required CET reports: One thing that we need to include on our timeline is the tasks
associated with preparing at least two reports on our work, since the SED receivership law charges us
with this requirement. Dr. V will seek clarification from SED on why the CET needs to prepare these
reports when Dr. V is already submitting quarterly reports. Kate mentioned that our reports might be
intended to have a broader scope than the quarterly reports – rather than just commenting on
indicators and strategies, perhaps we are to add a broader perspective on the work. Assuming that we
do need to prepare these reports, Anne suggested that we make use of a couple of meetings to address
issues in a manner appropriate for these reports, and use the minutes of those meetings to serve as our
official reports. Dahlia added that we may need to revise the format of the minutes to make them
appropriate for such a report.
Use report card mailing to disseminate information: There was general agreement that the report card
mailing is a great way to disseminate information to Hackett parents. The CET cheat sheet can be
distributed in the next mailing.
Finally, Connie told the group about billionebookgift.org where anyone can download 50 children’s
books for free. Books can be downloaded to computers, phones and tablets.
Next Meeting: 6-8 p.m., Wednesday, January 20, 2016 in the Hackett library. This will give us time to
meet before the ENL meeting, scheduled for either 1/21 or 1/27.