HiCap Parent Council
Meeting
December 15, 2022
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Hybrid: In-person & Zoom
Discussion Topic - How Can So Many Students
Be Invisible? Large Percentages of American Students Perform Above Grade Level
1.
Reminds of Seattle Times article about how Accelerated
models work well for all learners
2.
Frustrating for parents about teaching to least common
denominator
3.
Gap between kids gets wider as kids get older
4.
Differentiation is possible, but requires effort by
teacher and support from principal
5.
Footnote – Myths of Giftedness. Differentiation is akin
to separate gifted program and that teachers can effectively differentiate
within the classroom.
6.
Myth that do not have to differentiate within a gifted
classroom
7.
Conclusion – “Not surprising math percentages are not
as high as reading.” Could we dig into our SBAs to determine if we are doing
better in having math students test higher? – We often test low on SBA because
kids are so accelerated, they need to review earlier lessons prior to SBA.
8.
Is every child getting what they need when they need
it? Aspirational goal, and definitely the goal, but difficult to achieve.
9.
Conversation about home schooling and how it meets
individual child’s needs, but not in a scalable way. And why parents will and
will not test if in NFP, unless they are planning to transition back into
public school.
10.
At 4th and 5th grades, there is a
large jump in students who are performing at least 1 grade ahead. Does NSD see
a similar jump and do we capture it? How do we discover them? For 5th
graders, via SBA.
Amity Updates
11.
Testing
update
a.
For
4th and 5th graders, twice as many qualifying via SBA as
IOWA. In 6th grade, qualifying via IOWA and SBA are about the same.
b.
Thank
you to proctors! Superhuman, flexible and driven from one end of the district
to the other. Requested feedback from proctors regarding potential improvements
for next year.
c.
Makeup
testing at middle schools is getting scheduled. Not many students, but a few
are Naglieri which needs to get done the first week after winter break.
d.
No
IOWA testing the first week after winter break, especially since some schools
have kids who will still be in India.
e.
Need
more proctors for Wellington tomorrow.
f.
Trying
to fill in gaps so that kids who are already qualified are not mistakenly sent
for testing – or not supposed to take the test.
12.
Naglieri
Q
a.
Have
not brought up before.
b.
Opportunity
for test Naglieri General Abilities Cognitive Test.
c.
Going
to pilot test with 4 schools, 1 in each region. Just with 1st grade
students who qualified to take IOWA. Small sample.
d.
New
math, non-verbal math test. Looking for test that is not dependent on content
and curriculum they have had. Focus is on thought processes and mathematical
thinking.
e.
Have
only seen more than a few questions so far.
f.
Limitations
are can only be used for younger students because of the way we accelerate
HiCap students. Does not require younger students to have been exposed to
specific content skills.
g.
Sending
letter to parents saying it is not being used at all this year. Just for
comparing how students do relative to how they performed on IOWA. Parents will
not see the scores. Looking to close gaps among marginalized students being identified.
h.
IOWA
math requires a lot of reading. This tests math without the reading
requirement.
i.
Testing
will happen at end of January at: Shelton View, Kenmore Elementary, Ruby
Bridges and Woodin.
j.
30
minute test
k.
Not
a screener. It would potentially replace the assessment phase, i.e., IOWA math,
for grades 1-2 and maybe 3. Unlikely to use in higher grades.
l.
Asking
parents to opt out instead of opt in. 110 students so far – some did not give
permission and some qualified via NNAT3 so they did not take IOWA.
m.
Test
provides its own test tickets! (Way too much enthusiasm about this.)
13.
Beast
Academy Pilot
a.
Art
of Problem Solving is created by a bunch of math gurus/geeks.
b.
Very
small pilot with online 4th and 5th grade (fewer 5th
than 4th) single qualified students being served by Lisa Wong,
online delivery of Edunuity. And one teacher at Hollywood Hills. (She has
capacity because her partner teacher is handling new ELA curriculum implementation.)
Most teachers do not have time to implement this and ELA.)
c.
Could
be something that eventually supplements, not just for EAP but also a bridge
for students who accel in math throughout the district but have not qualified
yet. Could encourage them to test or just provide challenge to high-achieving students
who need it.
d.
Must
more engaging for kids.
e.
They
have a 1st grade curriculum now, but did not used to. So if/when
pilot goes well, could potentially provide to 1st grade teachers
(pre-EAP).
f.
Kids
will have access at home too.
g.
Focus
is problem solving, deep thinking and logic. Not on rote math skills.
14.
East
Ridge – FYI only
a.
Families
are interested in having EAP return to East Ridge from Sunrise.
b.
Lots
of factors involved in making such a decision: demographics, transportation,
school size.
c.
Enrollment
Demographics Task Force (EDTF) is meeting tonight and will discuss it.
d.
Strong
growing desire across district for all kids to be served in their neighborhood
schools. District is not opposed, but lots of factors make this difficult – building
capacity being a leading factor.
e.
If
all students at Sunrise returned to East Ridge, there would probably be enough
kids at East Ridge for an EAP class at each grade level.
Council Questions / Updates
15.
Would
be nice if HiCap had public community events at elementary and middle schools
since most parents are not aware of HiCap Parents Council, HiCap options in
general within the district, 2E, etc.
a.
HiCap
reps should also do casual presentations within their school’s PTA.
b.
Parents
like hearing from parents, not just the administration. Like hearing pro’s and
con’s, especially when it comes to their child switching schools.
c.
Amity
cannot visit every elementary school, but could do by region. Too many people
to do all in one night. Could use Admin Board Room. (Contact Ingrid.)
d.
January
event would be for families who have to make a decision to accept an EAP
placement. Fall meeting would be educational about HiCap program and testing
process in general.
e.
In-person
meetings are preferred over virtual, but could record the meeting for people
who cannot make it.
16.
Should
we post the high school course catalogs again? Should we be more proactive
about this?
a.
Online
catalog came about thru work with District trying to create a common course
catalog and have more course consistency among the high schools.
b.
Yes,
general agreement that the catalog is useful, albeit not necessarily HiCap
related, and that we should implement the catalog.
c.
How
can we communicate about it to the NSD community?
d.
More
user-friendly than PDF.
e.
Easy
to see options available at other schools.
f.
Could
publicize thru middle/high school PTAs and Northshore Council.
g.
District
will likely not be willing to host outside-generated code but otherwise should not
be considered controversial.
17.
Posting
the Inglemoor HiCap guide to the website.
a.
Danielle
Bird Voeller and Brenae Brix
b.
Will
be posted to HiCap website.
c.
Should
also submit to Inglemoor Facebook page.
18.
Is
there a support group for 2E parents? Is this something we’d want to start?
a.
Not
all parents want to be public about their child’s 2E designations.
b.
Community-building
parent group for parents of 2E kids who feel isolated.
c.
Could
be a parent support group, but not necessarily labeled as for 2E. Could include
other sub-groups as well: dyslexia, autism, ADHD, etc.
d.
Existing
Facebook group could serve some of those needs. (But not all parents use
Facebook or are willing to post personal issues publicly.)
e.
Agreed
there is a need for such a group. But is anyone willing to make it happen?
f.
Will
follow up with parent who requested this to get more details on exactly what
they have in mind, and whether they are willing to commit to organize it.
19.
Schedule
for February meeting: evening? What times/days work for Amity? (January meeting
will be in the day and Cathi Davis is planning to come to give us an update on
how HiCap works at Ruby Bridges.
a.
Cathi
Davis needs it to be during the day.
b.
February
14 is a daytime meeting. No support for Valentine’s Day meeting at night. Could
move to Wednesday, February 8, 4-6 or 5-7.
20.
MailChimp
Subscription
a.
Need
a list of requirements to determine our needs
b.
We
have some complexity about organizing groups.
c.
May
not be worth changing, especially if not substantial savings.
21.
Who
is responsible for responding to emails to the council? How do we want to
handle this going forward? Do we want to change to designating a person who is
responsible for sending an initial response?
a.
If
someone replies, should Reply To All in general
b.
If
relates to a particular school, that rep should answer
c.
If
you know the answer, you are welcome to respond
22.
Austina
is in final stages of graduate program. Next step is actually writing a
dissertation. Will be a case study on the District. Will be interviewing people
in administrator and leadership, but also focus groups with principals and
teachers. Goal is to capture a snapshot of HiCap state of the world in the
district, including how HiCap influences the district. Looking for ideas on
questions to ask.
Ongoing
Questions / Concerns
23.
What
goals do we have for improving the situation for hicap students?
24.
Insurance
for events
a.
AIM
– Association Insurance Management
b.
Hiscox
