Provide funds, help, time, and excitement for CCSD administrators and teachers.

Obtain grants from state and national foundations.  Plenty of grant funding is available for science and tech education.  

Locate and arrange benchmarking visits to exemplary Colorado schools.  Also, locate exemplary national schools to benchmark at a distance.

Arrange connections with the following communities and resources: business; science and engineering; university science, engineering, and product innovation programs; the Arapaho Project and other science labs in Colorado.

Time is the most critical issue, and most valuable resource for teachers

The district needs short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans

Professional development for teachers must be: relevant for the district and the teachers’ careers, time-effective, sustainable

Do not want CCHS to become a Science & Math magnet school.  Want to keep curriculum diversity.  “CCHS is a great school.  Never forget that.”

CCHS could use another full-time or part-time science teacher.  If another science teacher is added, what subject area would lose a teacher?

Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate program: which is best for CCSD?

Need more and better counseling and Career Day events

Critical-thinking skills will include more than just science and math courses.

Other courses would include English, communications, social sciences, particularly We The People

Should develop integrated courses that combine disciplines, such as, math & music, math & science, etc

Need to get the parents and community members (e.g. the Araphao Project) more involved

Need to start interest in science in early grades [How early? Which grade?]

Need Smart Boards, refurbished science labs, and FOSS kits for K-6 and CCMS

Alternative ed students need hands-on projects and emotional intelligence skills training/practice

Where did the STI program idea come from? Is there a demand in the Clear Creek community for a science and math focus?  Is this similar to science and math emphasis in 1950s after Soviet Union Sputnik in 1957?

How CCEF can help:

Use a simple business model:

	Compete for students by offering a better education
	Market the better education to students/parents in neighboring districts

Where did the STI idea come from?

We need to determine the ability and capacity of the district

Need time for professional development

Should have continuous staff development

Need short-, middle-, and long-term plans

The district has brilliant people

Need to move toward a global curriculum

Time was a critical issue.

Time to talk to each other

Time to plan for subs

Time often more important than money

Administration working on this (one day a week to create an opportunity)

How can community, CCEF create this opportunity for teachers and administration?

Sometimes just need time to implement what the teachers already know

What about principal release (for their own development as well as to help staff)

Make sure in-service or other time is valuable to all participants

Difficult to find adequate substitute teachers for math and science and other courses (not just baby sit, but advance curriculum and contribute to growth of students), how to let teachers hang on and let go at the same time? Need someone of equal talent that will add value

District needs more collaboration and self-evaluation

How CCEF can help:

Critical thinking skills a key focus.  Would cover all classes, not just science and math

How about focusing on academic innovation in all areas, not just science, math, and technology?

Is there a demand in the Clear Creek community for a science and math focus?

What other models are there out there?

Model to consider: Barbara Bath’s $12.5 million program with Univ of Colorado – Denver to improve middle school science and math education at __ schools.  Funds provided by a grant from the NSF.

Pay for additional time?

Credit for additional time?

What do teachers want/need?

Teachers usually use personal time for professional development

Are we ready for a great leap forward in math and science education?

There are many talented people in the district.  They need time to be effective teachers.

Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate program comments

Take a look at Parmalee Gulch IB program

An IB program at CCSD could be a draw from Jeffco

People in the District, especially those in Evergreen and vicinity are really hungry for it, and some leave our district to go to Littleton or Lakewood for high school, or to the Parmalee Gulch Elementary for their Talented and Gifted (TAG) magnet program.

We currently have a successful AP program.  What would an IB program add?

FYI – The district offers one AP in each dept each year

IB is elitist.  What about the other students?  How do we make sure we don’t leave anyone behind?

IB is not elitist.  For example, check the IB program at Eugene Field Elementary School in Littleton.  According to Denise Hayden, it serves a large population of at risk students, especially those for whom English is a second language, and the IBO web site states that it has offered the IB curriculum since 2004. (Note: schools in Colorado [as well as throughout the world] are listed at www.ibo.org).  There are other IB schools in neighboring districts as well, including Summit Middle and High School in Frisco to our West, and Lakewood and Littleton High Schools to our East.

For an IB program to be successful, internal buy-in from all the teachers is necessary.

Check IB program in ________ School in Lakewood

Does an IB program require more staff? What happens to the ratios of classes that are not IB (or AP)?

We should consider using an IB program to raise the bar of the entire district. It offers an integrated plan

How could Math/Science, or whatever we do, reach and motivate all staff and students?

Need short-, middle-, and long-term plans and goals

Evaluation, assessment of plans and goals

Bits and pieces or wholesale direction needed

Establishing credibility of CCEF?

Low hanging fruit

Commit to one thing in the short term (simplify)

Start with short-term projects, such as Smart Boards in every classroom

Smart Boards at King-Murphy

Marion Jennings has attended courses on how to use Smart Boards effectively

CCSD students don’t know much about job opportunities.  Need better counseling and Career Day events

Relevancy is important (Why am I doing this, when am I going to use this)

Community may be able to help teachers with this part

Sustainable professional development is important

We need to provide the teachers the time and resources for their professional development

Colorado School of Mines has many programs for teachers [So does NREL]

We should develop integrated courses that combine disciplines, such as, math & music, math & science, etc

Clickers – another technology-based teaching aid

Elementary school FOSS kits need to be replenished

Robotics, Lego kits

Voice enhancement technology (Not discussed on Sep 20 , but has come up in other venues)

Community members become a co-sponsor with a teacher (CCEF or other group gets community member with interests, teacher helps sponsor)

Proxima – begging to have mounted ______[???]

Career day at middle school/high school/Carlson (kids don’t know what jobs there are out there)

Advanced classes – why are we using Red Rocks and not School of Mines?

Where does the alternative school fit?

Sustainability of our efforts including professional development (also ability, capacity, willingness related)

How do we create a learning organization?

Is this just putting more on teachers (capacity comment)?

How do we get to more of the untapped resources of the county ($, people)

Programs like the Fire Science program

Other items brought up (heart monitors for PE)

How does what we do create a “brand” or marketing opportunities to support the Gain/Retain objective of the strategic plan? (Need a link or a draw), need to get more buy-in from more people

Also need something to get ALL kids engaged, excited

How do we get parents more involved and engaged? Is what we’re doing contributing or hurting? Getting the current parents involved also part of the discussion.

How to add value to lives (students, staff …)

How do we develop a virtuous cycle?

What are the needs of the grant makers and how can we mesh with those?

Concerns of many CCHS teachers:

May lose resources in other areas. 

Do not want CCHS to become a Science & Math magnet school.

Mentoring by exemplary teachers for new teachers

Benchmarking other Colorado schools: 

visit exemplary schools to learn what works

visit failing schools to learn what isn’t working

Critical-thinking skills will include more than just science and math courses:

English and communications courses

Social sciences, particularly “We the People”

Need additional staff to adequately teach science at CCHS

One additional full-time position or a half-time position    

Extra-curricular activities could/should have ties to science courses

Science-phobic students entering high school

Not enough emphasis on science in K-8 grades    

Need to start interest in science in early grades [Start science in which grade?] 

Integrate science into other subjects  

Use a simple business model:

Compete for students by offering a better education

CCMS has talented science teachers

Issue at CCMS: Science labs are old, none are adequate

Want to offer opportunities for students

Need to offer many classes due to various learning-rate levels

What is the result?

Math and science teachers are different

Middle school is a formative stage for most students      

Teachers need continuous professional development, classes

CSAP tests

Necessary

Can be useful if test-score info is used properly

[Can CSAP tests be designed so that “teaching to the test” is in alignment with curriculum?]  

Need more emphasis on science in elementary grades

Hands-on experiments, labs, and  lab equipment

Priority for K-6 teachers

Science, Technology, & Innovation program name/label is misleading.  Will tend to discourage lower-level, non-college-bound students 

CCSD is experiencing growth in lower-level students.  These are the students who need help, not the college-bound students

Colorado and CCHS curriculum for university-bound 2011 graduates:

Math                                4 years

Science                          4 years

Social Science              3 years, 3.5 years at CCHS 

English                            4 years

Foreign Language         2 years

Fast track math and science courses

After calculus there is no convenient way to take advanced math courses.  Driving to           Colorado School of Mines is not convenient.

CCHS could use another full-time or part-time science teacher

Science and math emphasis is OK, but CCHS must still focus on:

Art

We the People

AP qualified programs

Need internal measures of teachers’ abilities

Professional development is needed and appreciated                        

Advanced pre-college vertical team

CollegeBoard.com

Training

Concern: 

Moving resources from areas other than science, math, technology

If 1.0 or 0.5 people are added to science and math teaching staff, where would this person come from?

IB program at CCHS?

IB program is too rigid, too structured

AP route is better, more flexible

Critical thinking skills

Currently sending social studies teachers to professional development sequence

Need deep subject matter to teach critical thinking

Problem for elementary teachers, most material in elementary grades is not “deep”      enough

Starting at lower grades is important

“CCHS is a great school.  Never forget that.”

Discipline

Has always been important at CCSD

New teachers take professional development courses on discipline

Out-of-state visitors to CCHS have commented that they are surprised at how disciplined, studious, and mature CCHS students are.  “They actually studied in the library.”

CCSD is a “public private” school

[A public school that has the discipline and learning ethic of a private school.]                                                          

Concerns:

Emphasis on science and math.  Is it necessary?           

Colorado Music & Arts Council stresses emphasis on music, arts, etc

How will a Science, Technology, & Innovation program help arts education?

Do we (CCSD) really need help in these areas?

What about a Science and Math Booster Club?

We (CCSD teachers) already feel that we’re emphasizing critical thinking skills

Art courses need more time.  That’s where we need help.

Shortage of science and engineering graduates?

Similar situation to Russian launch of Sputnik in 1957

Created huge emphasis on science and math in US schools

“I was forced  to take Trigonometry in high school. Why for an arts major in college?”

Would like to teach the science of art

Should start teaching science in preschool

Need science materials and supplies

FOSS kits

Lab equipment

Other

Each Georgetown Community School teaching team will email a list of science & math-related needs and wants

Needs List from Georgetown Community School 1^st,2^nd,3^rd

human body plastic models

portable planetarium

any kind of electricity teaching kits

invention convention

Needs for primary side of Carlson Elementary

purchase FOSS Kits for lower elementary grades

inventory the intermediate FOSS Kits and restock them

purchase supplies teachers can use to teach science across the curriculum  (science units that would go along with the reading themes or math topics)

purchase books, videos, computer programs, etc. that would go along with science units teachers are teaching

have someone come on a regular basis (once a month??) to provide science assemblies (Mrs. Rinehart has names of at least 2 people that have done fantastic science assemblies in the past.)

Carlson has a science lab, but it needs organized (cabinets labeled, equipment checked to see if it is working, materials put together for units, etc.)  If there was someone hired by the CCEF to take care of the lab, there could even be plants, aquariums, small animals, etc. in the lab.

If the lab was fixed-up ---the lab could be used for an after school Science Club.  However, this would require someone to teach the club, and teachers are already tutoring after school, attending meetings, etc.  Maybe the CCEF could pay someone to head a Science Club after school out of our lab???

The person in charge of the lab could organize units for the teachers. 

For example, if I was going to do a unit on weather, it would be so       helpful if I could give someone the list of materials I need, they put the materials together, purchase/order materials needed, etc.  Possibly even give suggestions for experiments, Internet cites, etc. to use

Maybe the person in charge of the lab could come and assist in the teaching of the units or even teach some units during normal science class time.

CCEF could possibly work with the PTA to provide an even better Science Fair (The Computer Club leader could teach students how to make graphs on the computer to display Science Fair data, the Science Club leader could help students develop science fair topics, teach the scientific method, and help students conduct experiments correctly.)

CCEF could organize and provide funding for science/technology field trips

Technology: it would be nice to have Smart Boards.

We have a nice computer lab --- maybe CCEF could hire someone to teach extra computer classes to our students after school --- a Computer Club.

The same person in charge of the Computer Club could come during regularly scheduled computer class time and teach computers to the students.  It is extremely time consuming to put together good creative computer instruction for students, so that would be very helpful.

All of the above ideas would help teachers instead of adding to their job. The amount of curriculum we are required to teach keeps increasing.  We need for CCEF to provide extra learning opportunities without adding to our already burdened teaching load.

Now, I’m not sure what I suggested above is what is considered a “Magnet” School.  The Carlson staff is very sure that we do not want to have to delete anything we are already teaching.  Our main focus is on reading, writing, and math.  We take pride in providing our very diverse population a well-rounded education.  We are not willing to change that about our school.  However, if it is possible for CCEF to do the above suggestions, it would make our school a much stronger Science and Technology school without deleting any of our time for reading, writing, and math. 

It would be saving teachers’ time, instead of adding to our workload.  Also, it would not exclude any students from wanting to come to our school.  Carlson would be providing the same education as before, teachers would be teaching the same curriculum, but the CCEF would be strengthening our already existing computer/science programs, and providing extra learning opportunities after school to those who wish to take advantage of them.

Immediate needs for Carlson Elementary

Smart Boards

FOSS kits

Staff time to develop innovative science class activities

Science curriculum materials

Science Fair volunteer advisor, maybe someone from Arapaho Project

Other

Critical thinking

Gifted program

Emotional intelligence

Social skills: Respect, Responsible, Safe program

PBS: positive behavior support

Alternative ed students

Short attention span

Usually not headed for 4-year college

Occasionally destructive, sometimes break lab equipment

Science course

Focus on current events in science

Robotics